Starting A Ripple of Good
Meet CLA’s guest blogger, Kerri Rosen!
I started the second half of my life (at age 50) by gaining a new last name, Rosen. I married my wonderful husband and best friend overlooking the Capitol in D.C. on the roof deck of a high-rise he designed. He planted me and our family on Sullivan's Island where we walk the beach daily with our bouncy, large rescue pup, Enzo. This is all a long and wonderful path from growing up in Western Massachusetts in a town with 8 kids in my class. I then attended Wellesley College, studying Anthropology, before tripping around Japan, moving to Colorado, and settling into "life beautiful" here in SC.
Since moving here, I have found that Charlestonians are people who care. However, we are also an active, career and family-focused area where I think many of us (including myself) can become caught up in the busyness of our lives and lose track of the positive impacts we can make while meeting our everyday demands.
Many of us are blessed such that time currency is currently more valuable than fiscal currency, and so feel anxious about the idea of donating our time, no matter how worthy the cause.
“We forget, however, that ‘everyone knows everyone’ in this area, so sharing information and making small donations often cause ripple effects; our little acts combine to make waves.”
I want to facilitate this kind of momentum for CLA through direct giving and through hosting a dinner gathering at my home with a CLA speaker.
What led to your interest in CLA?
I had my own challenging legal experience and was blessed to access incredible, caring, talented legal representation to help me. My Counsel served as friends, protectors, system navigators, and truth warriors. I would never have gotten through the process without them, and I don't want anyone else to have to proceed without human beings of such quality on their side.
What does justice mean to you?
Justice, to my understanding, is a state that reflects the being of God. God is just. In short, it is conflict, oppression, or harm returned to what is right. As a society, we use laws to define what is right. In addition, as people, we apply our own moral codes. However, we consent to laws as a transactional act of protecting each other's health, dignity, safety, and opportunity, and to create strong community within diversity.
What do you hope for CLA for the future?
I hope for CLA to become more visible in the community (I want people who need CLA to know they are there), to support the current dedicated and talented leadership staff, and to grow the number of resident attorneys so that even more people can be helped. This takes conversations and money, and it's a privilege to be able to contribute through these means.
“I have been in the shoes of someone choosing financial failure or heart-shattering loss, and suffering from both. It’s a place of helplessness, confusion, and anger, and I wish it on no one. I desire for even more clients to be able to be helped at CLA.”
What I also hope for CLA is for awareness of the unique gap that CLA meets to be further recognized in the community and beyond. I don't believe that it is commonly known that legal challenges can, and often, drive people who have (or had) incomes into poverty; the incredible costs of securing quality representation, and the sometimes lengthy process of working through complex legal situations, can literally drop people below the line. No one should have to choose between pursuing justice and maintaining a roof over their head, let alone their children's. CLA uniquely meets the needs of this overlooked population: too financially stable to be noticed but not affluent enough to be safe from the weight of legal costs. I'm so proud of what CLA does for the community. Their work creates not just informative, but tangible ripple effects; when they help their clients, it also influences the lives of their children, families, neighbors, customers, and friends. This constitutes true generational impact.
Kerri Rosen is in the process of retiring from a 20-year career as a Professional Coach and Resume Writer. She carries around a handful of passions, from fostering community engagement to writing to studying Theology to amateur competitive ballroom dancing.
