"Where a white legal professional might see stats, I see people. Because, after all, the systemic issues that affect my clients have also affected me."
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My name is Latoya White and I am a Partners for Justice Client Advocate placed with the Delaware Office of Defense Services (ODS). Earlier this summer, my colleague Ryan Cieslukowski and I helped organize a Summer Community Resource Fair. We partnered with the Food Bank of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Justice to bring resources and job opportunities to the communities in the southern counties of Kent and Sussex.
This was my first time planning an event at this scale. Ryan, myself, Maria, our supervisor from ODS, and our partners with the DOJ all put our heads together to find the right date and location. We knew we wanted to have the fair during the warmer months and that an outdoor location would be ideal. We also knew there are transportation challenges in southern Delaware, so a central location would be key. We settled on working with the Food Bank of Delaware, which has a brand-new facility in Milford, which straddles the border of Kent and Sussex Counties.
The day of the fair was my first time visiting the Food Bank and it left me in awe. The facility was huge. We were welcomed with music and tables of over 40 vendors ready to provide resources to our clients, varying from doula services and employment to gun violence intervention. It was a joy to see many faces–for our clients, it was a space to gather resources or a job opportunity to assist in challenging times; for our community partners, it was a space to learn about other organizations assisting our clientele and building stronger bonds to continue to do this work. We informed patrons about ODS’s continuous efforts to provide zealous representation, how they can obtain legal counsel, information regarding knowing their rights when engaging with law enforcement, and our expungement and pardon services.
During the event, the Food Bank offered tours of its new facility, which opened in January this year. On the tour, I viewed various parts of the facility and learned about the programs offered to the community, like the Food Bank’s 12-week vocational Kitchen School Program, culinary training, and the L.O.G.I.C training program that connects individuals with vital technical certifications(think OSHA and forklift licenses.) Outside, there are views of greenhouses and planting grounds featuring fresh produce that will be harvested for the community and used in the Food Bank’s kitchen. And the food trainees create is sold in the Food Bank’s café! The warehouse was vast, wall to wall filled with food, connecting to a volunteer center where packages are prepped and a mini grocery store where families can curate and tailor their food package to their needs. I love that the Food Bank also provides home delivery options for patrons who are housebound or lack the means of transportation. I have to say one of my favorite parts of the tour was getting blasted by the frigid air from the warehouse’s freezer section on that warm June day.
As a Client Advocate and worker in the criminal legal system, attending and creating events for the community in this way is one of the highlights of direct service work. I love participating in expungement events, job fairs, and resource events. In a way, it feels as if we are directly connecting people to their future, whether that be a job, their next treatment provider, or a place to supplement food when the groceries are low.
The resources in southern Delaware are often harder for our clients to access as it is a more rural part of Delaware. Public transportation methods are very limited in the rural areas, making it harder for clients that rely on public transportation to get to and from. Crime, housing instability, food insecurity, and poverty, among many other things, plight the community and the individuals that I work with face such challenges daily. But events like the one we helped organize at the Food Bank give me hope.
I eagerly await the day when more can be done to provide for our downstate community—with more community events and collaborations between legal system stakeholders, that day could come sooner.
