Hear Ye, Hear Ye

2020 NBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Journal

LAURA BAKER, President MICHAEL ABELOW, President-ElectJournal BRANT PHILLIPS, First Vice President TRACY KANE, Second Vice President BART PICKETT, Secretary JEFF ALLEN, Treasurer JUSTIN CAMPBELL, Assistant Treasurer GILBERT SCHUETTE, YLD President LELA HOLLABAUGH, General Counsel LAURA SMITH, Immediate Past President LYNNE INGRAM, First Vice President-Elect DANIEL BEREXA, Second Vice President-Elect

HON. MELISSA BLACKBURN BRIGID CARPENTER RAQUEL L. EVE OLUYEMO LORA BARKENBUS FOX MARY TAYLOR GALLAGHER JEFF GIBSON WILLIAM “PAZ” HAYNES MARTESHA JOHNSON HON. ELLEN HOBBS LYLE MARLENE ESKIND MOSES JUNAID ODUBEKO LIZ SITGREAVES ERIC SMITH DARKENYA WALLER LUTHER WRIGHT, JR. HON. BILL YOUNG GULAM ZADE STEPHEN ZRALEK

NBA TEAM

MONICA MACKIE, Executive Director SHIRLEY CLAY, Finance Coordinator CAMERON GEARLDS, CLE Coordinator TRACI HOLLANDSWORTH, Programs & Events Coordinator JILL PRESLEY, Marketing & Communications Director VICKI SHOULDERS, Membership Coordinator, Office Manager

HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE?

We want to hear about the topics and issues you think should be covered in the journal. Send your ideas to Jill.Presley@nashvillebar.org.

Message from the Historical Committee

Do you have a funny story from court or your office that would not have happened absent the coronavirus? How have virtual hearings or mediations changed the way you approach these events? The NBA Historical Committee would like to share your stories with the bench and bar. The stories can be published anonymously, and you will be given a heads up before we use any information that you provide. Please send all stories to NashvilleBar@ gmail.com. Thank you! n

Didn’t Renew Your Dues?

Last chance to renew your dues! The 2020 NBA membership year has officially ended. To ensure uninterrupted member benefits, please renew online at NashvilleBar.org/Renew or contact Vicki.Shoulders@ nashvillebar.org. Thank you for your continued support and membership—we appreciate you! n

The NBA YouTube Channel

Have you checked out our YouTube channel at YouTube. com/NashvilleBar? There you can find the 2020 Virtual Fall Memorial Service, the RBG: A Meaningful Life program, free historical CLEs from years past, oral histories of the Nashville legal community’s most prominent characters, and more! n

Nashville Bar Foundation Grant Applications

The Nashville Bar Foundation is still accepting grant applications for 2020. If you know of any 501(c)(3) organizations that may be eligible for a Foundation Grant, please spread the word. View grant eligibility and application guidelines at NashvilleBar.org/NBFGrantGuidelines. The Foundation will allocate funding each budget year on the basis of written applications in a format prescribed by the Foundation. Grant applications can be found at NashvilleBar.org/NBFGrantApplication and are due in mid-January. Watch your NBA Weekly Update for further information. n

Welcome to the NBA!

Congratulations on your membership—thank you for joining the NBA! We look forward to serving you this year and appreciate your support. Visit NashvilleBar.org or contact Vicki.Shoulders@nashvillebar.org with questions or to learn more.

NEW MEMBERS (SEPTEMBER 1 - OCTOBER 31)

Blakely Barnes David Bartz

Eric Bonsall

Alexander Brent

Morgan Brown Hannah Burdine

Jeffrey Cadle Carmen Campbell Albert Chollet

Ben Colalillo

Tucker Crain

Brandon Crompton Katelin Davis

Charles Elder

Rebekah Wallace Elliott

James Hodge William Johnson Kathryn Kerbyson Savannah Kolodziej Amy Little Shelby Lomax Wesley McCulloch Madison Patey Gale Robinson

William Self

Jennifer Sherman

James Smythe Rachel Sodee

James Starling Sarah Stewart

Thomas Thagard, IV Jamer Walker

Andrew Wilson

Virtual Volunteerism

“People want to serve.” So says Carla Parker, Direct of Communications for JustServe1 in the Nashville area. Unfortunately, the pandemic “has made people apprehensive to go serve.” Parker was kind enough to spend a few minutes with me in November to discuss how service-based organizations and potential volunteers have had to adapt amidst an ongoing pandemic. Her message is timely, as service organizations see a significant uptick in volunteerism during the holiday season.

Andrae Crismon at the Legal Aid Society would probably agree. As he told me in a November email, the Legal Aid Society often sees more interest in volunteerism over the holidays, especially from law students looking for pro bono opportunities.

However, the pandemic has changed how otherwise willing people are able to serve. “They’re finding other ways to serve,” says Ms. Parker. “Really, people want virtual opportunities.”

Yup. Everything is going virtual. We are already familiar with virtual trials and depositions, virtual client meetings, and virtual working. And we have all seen how virtual living is on the rise outside of the office. Schools now engage students in virtual learning, shoppers make their purchases through virtual stores, and romantic hopefuls go on virtual dates to find that special someone.2 Even experienced-based traveling has given way to a new wave of virtual experiences.3

We were moving in this direction long before COVID-19. But the pandemic has thrust us into a whole new era of virtual working and living. This unexpected jolt into a contact-less existence has given rise to a new and more hopeful trend, one that I am sure Parker, and many service-oriented organizations, can appreciate: virtual volunteerism.

The organization Parker represents, JustServe, is just one example of a particular type of service-oriented organization that I like to refer to as an online service clearinghouse. For years, these clearinghouses have helped would-be volunteers find service-based organizations in need of helping hands. Another such organization, Hands on Nashville, is an impressive local clearinghouse that Nashville can be proud of.

For years, online service clearinghouses have helped wouldbe volunteers search for potential service opportunities from the comfort of their own homes. However, most of the service opportunities listed with the clearinghouses still require traveling to a physical location and face-to-face involvement. The pandemic— and the emphasis on remote living and social distancing—has forced these clearinghouses (and the service-based organizations they serve) to find new ways for willing volunteers to serve.

Virtual volunteerism is now on the rise, and it is a good thing, too. Individuals who had limited means and opportunities before the pandemic are even more desperate now. For example, one study found that low-income parents were “less likely to be able to work from home and more likely to have had difficulty arranging child care than higher-income parents.”4 Another report published in September 2020 found that—six months into the pandemic—one half of adults who lost their jobs due to the pandemic were still unemployed.5 That same report found that almost one third of lower-income adults were having difficulty making rent or mortgage payments. And another article called the pandemic a “crisis within a crisis” for homeless individuals, noting they are “one of the most vulnerable populations in the COVID-19 pandemic, yet they’re largely invisible victims.”6

At the same time, the service-based organizations that try

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to help those individuals and families now face even greater challenges than normal. Some wellsprings of charitable funds have dried up in this uncertain economic climate, and many would-be volunteers are unable to serve due to their own health concerns and social distancing restrictions.7 The president and chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits was quoted, “People who used to donate to nonprofits are now standing in line to receive services, which tells you while demand is soaring, the resources are plummeting.”

Thankfully, the ancient maxim “necessity is the mother of invention” still holds true. Organizations and creative individuals now experiencing unexpected hardships have embraced the change and found new ways to virtually match volunteers with service-based organizations.

For example, Hands On Nashville has an entire page dedicated to Virtual Volunteerism. Upon my last review, there were nearly 30 virtual volunteer opportunities that ranged from teaching adult education (via Zoom) to creating social media to conducting surveys to writing letters to sewing masks to checking voicemails, and much, much more.

JustServe also allows potential volunteers to find virtual service opportunities or opportunities to serve from home. When searching for a project, the willing volunteer can click on “more search options” and then select the option for “Volunteers participate from home” (or click here if you’re reading the online edition). When I last checked, JustServe listed about 30 service opportunities around the Nashville area. These “virtual” opportunities included making shower kits, transcribing cemetery records, calling senior citizens, coordinating volunteer rides, creating informative posters, creating greeting cards for inmates, and digitizing veterans’ memories, to name just some of the opportunities available.

Palmer was also quick to inform me of other opportunities that may require some travel away from home but that are still geared toward social distancing. For example, several service-based organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry have made changes to keep both volunteers and service recipients safe.

The Store, a partnership between Brad Paisley and Belmont University to provide a free grocery store for people in need, has opportunities for willing volunteers to deliver groceries. One Generation Away, an organization dedicated to distributing healthy food to families in Middle Tennessee, also has opportunities for volunteers to participate in food drops. And Dismas House, an organization dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated men facing reentry, has opportunities for families to provide meals for the men the organization serves.

Of course, those with resources to give can find plenty of opportunities for donations at this time of year. And many of those opportunities can be found online at JustServe, Hands On Nashville, and other online service clearinghouses.

But what about the many good members of the NBA who have long found fulfillment by using their legal skills to serve those in need? Are there virtual volunteer opportunities for them?

Of course! The Legal Aid Society will gladly help the willing lawyer-volunteer who wants to put his or her lawyer skills to good use through virtual service. Indeed, the Legal Aid Society has long hosted legal clinics pairing volunteer lawyers with low-income individuals who have questions about certain legal issues. But now those clinics have gone virtual. In November alone, the Legal Aid Society scheduled 13 different virtual legal clinics. Mr. Crismon also suggests the willing lawyer can participate in Pro Bono Matters, where attorneys can browse case matters online to find potential opportunities to provide pro bono service.

Don’t let the pandemic get you down, especially at this time of the year when so many of our hearts naturally turn outward towards those in need. There are plenty of people in need this year, perhaps more than ever. Thankfully, there are creative organizations that have found ways to help the willing volunteer surpass the obstacles of the pandemic. Go and serve, if only virtually. I think I can safely promise the recipients will be more than just virtually grateful. n

This article represents the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the Office of Tennessee Attorney General.

Endnotes

1 JustServe is sponsored by the author’s religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, it operates as “a service to help link community volunteer needs with volunteers and does not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in posting projects or encouraging volunteers to serve.” About Us, Justserve. It also prohibits the posting of any projects that engage in religious instruction or in “any form of religious proselytization.”

2 See Alyson Krueger, Virtual Dating is the New Normal. Will it Work?, the New York times (Apr. 18, 2020).

3 See Vikas Gupta, Op-ed: The ‘Experience Economy’ is dead driving a boom in virtual reality, CNBC (Aug. 27, 2020); accord Augmented Reality.

4 Michael Karpman, Dulce Gonzalez, Genevieve M. Kenney, Parents are Struggling to Provide for Their Families during the Pandemic, urbaN iNst. (May 21, 2020).

5 Kim Parker, Rachel Minkin, Jesse Bennett, Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues to Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest, Pew research ctr. (Sept. 24, 2020).

6 COVID-19 is a ‘crisis within a crisis’ for homeless people, moderN healthcare (Aug. 24, 2020).

7 See Nicholas Kulish, Providing a Pandemic Safety Net, Nonprofits Need Their Own, the New York times (July 24, 2020).

JONATHAN WARDLE

is an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Office of Tennessee Attorney General, serves on the Nashville Bar Journal Editorial Committee, and is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation.