99 Notre dame

It has been about two months since I started working for The Justice Corps, which is an Americorps program that helps people who cannot afford a lawyer but wants legal help. In the past two months, I have learned a lot of things that involved family law issues when it came to divorces, child custody and child or spousal support. My family is still together, and most, if not all, my other cousins still live with their original parents. My friends, who are from single parent homes, went through their parent’s divorces when they were children, so they usually forgot how hard it was for their mom and dad to go through the process. I have never been in an environment where divorce was an issue.

Anyone who has ever been to 99 Notre dame Avenue in Downtown San Jose, would have sense the gloominess in the air. In 99 Notre dame, there is the Self Help Center that helps people fill out the proper paper work to get a divorce, child custody, visitations, and support. People line up as early as 5:00 a.m. to help get their paper work started. It is sad to see women as young as 21 who already have three children trying to force child support from their boyfriend who ran out on them. There are people who bring their children in and leave them in the playroom while they fill out the papers for divorce. Watching all of this makes me think about the lawyers who practice family law, and how they have to feel when they work with parents who would not agree on child support. I witnessed a case last Friday, where these people who have been divorce for 7 years, were still fighting about child support. The man in the case spends $30,000 each year on attorney fees because his ex-wife would not settle for $3,500 a month. One of the deputies that works in 99 Notre dame told me, before I get married, think about my experience here before I start thinking that she is the one.