“When you wake up in the morning, which work would you rather do?” This question rang in Rena’s mind and ultimately became the starting point for her transition from litigation paralegal to housing advocate. 

Rena’s career initially started somewhat behind the scenes. Since 1997, her journey has taken her from legal secretary at a private firm to paralegal at the county government office. She’s always been surrounded by attorneys and day-to-day legal work, which has helped her see the legal system's inner workings firsthand. Rena’s hard work led to increased responsibilities at a private firm and, eventually, a new and exciting opportunity to help people more directly.

Fast forward to 2023, when a unique door opened when Rena reached out to Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), looking for volunteer opportunities to help more people and gain more knowledge. That one ask blossomed into much more than the paralegal duties she was used to. 

This was an opportunity I could not pass up. 

Rena’s interest in housing, strong understanding of the legal field, and desire to help people facing real-life issues led her to join a community justice worker program at CLASI, where she trained as a housing advocate in their Housing Unit. At CLASI, the Fair Housing unit includes assisting people facing housing instability, unsafe living conditions, eviction, and housing discrimination. This work brought the law out of the office and into the everyday realities of the people who needed it most.

Rena’s robust training gave her access to attorney-backed resources and lessons, helping her expand access to legal help while maintaining important client protections. For example, in one case, Rena helped a community member dealing with a housing issue get a case shielded, creating a better opportunity to move forward and look for housing without the case continuing to create a barrier.

They want to be assured that someone is listening to them, and somebody is taking their situation seriously as they are.

Helping people understand and exercise their rights, deep-listening, and explaining options became the hands-on work she was doing, rather than watching the legal process unfold from the sidelines. Only three legal aid organizations in Delaware offer affordable and accessible help. Rena averages 45 open cases at any given time.

The population of people that we work with, as you can imagine, there aren’t attorneys that do this type of work on their behalf. If there are, there are probably very, very few. 

A big part of Rena’s work is advocating for people and empowering them. The team at CLASI is committed to teaching people how to advocate for themselves at community events and through one-on-one counseling, which is naturally part of the organization’s representation. Rena also participated in a discussion group informing the Maryland State Bar about the levels of community justice workers. 

The legal system can be difficult to navigate, even for experienced people. For people who don't, a trusted person who can explain the process and help them understand their options can make a meaningful difference. When more people can get that kind of help, together we can reach more people. The goal isn't to replace lawyers. As Rena believes, this work is about adding more people to the team, not replacing anyone on it.