We are very sad to announce that in less than a month we have lost two beloved members of our Indy Legal Aid family - Orville Copsey, Jr. and Dr. Jon M.B. Porter.

Attorney, Orville Copsey, Jr., a housing icon in Indianapolis, died on August 4 at the age of 88. "St. Orville," which became his nickname, spent his retirement years volunteering at Indy Legal Aid helping the most vulnerable in our community to remain in the homes.

For nearly two decades, five days a week, Orville would not only represent clients in the Marion County Environmental Court, but he would find contractors, plumbers, and electricians to repair homes at no cost to his cIient. In addition, Orville carried a full "clean-up kit" with gloves, rubber boots, dust mask, and coveralls in the trunk of of his car to assist his clients at risk of eviction with full-scale clean-up activities. While many of Orville's clients could be described as hoarders, he provided them with legal representation and assistance that they needed to regain not only their homes, but their dignity.

After Orville retired in 2016, Indy Legal Aid renamed its housing program the Orville H. Copsey, Jr. Safe Housing Initiative in Orville's honor. The housing program is one of the most significant programs at Indy Legal Aid.

John Floreancig, Indy Legal Aid CEO and General Counsel, described Orville as ". . . a hero to the underserved in Indianapolis and to all of us at Indy Legal Aid."

In lieu of flowers, please honor his memory by donating to the Orville H. Copsey Safe Housing Initiative by visiting www.indylas.org/support-legal-aid or by mailing your donation to 615 N Alabama St #122, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

To read an article about Orville in The Indiana Lawyer, click here.

Dr. Jon Porter, Indy Legal Aid board member since 2004, died July 27 at the age of 51. Jon was a husband, father, scholar, avid traveler, and humanitarian.

Jon was an adjunct professor and lecturer at Franklin College, Butler University, and the University of Indianapolis where he was known as a charismatic educator. In addition to serving on the Indy Legal Aid board, he also served as the Past Director of the St. Peter & Paul Food Pantry and as a very active Mason, serving on the board of directors of its Children's Dyslexia Center of Indianapolis. John was truly devoted to improving the lives of the less fortunate in the Indianapolis community.

"Jon will be sorely missed as he was a member of the Indy Legal Aid family. Our board meetings will not be the same without him," said John Floreancig, Indy Legal Aid CEO and General Counsel.

One of Indy Legal Aid’s primary areas of legal work is housing, specifically with landlord-tenant issues Too often, people who are disadvantaged and in poverty live in rental situations where they do not have adequate legal tools in order to fight unfair evictions. One of our clients, “Julia”, had rented an apartment but had fallen on hard times due to medical bills. In early March, Julia’s landlord gave her an eviction notice to leave the apartment along with taking her into an eviction proceeding in court. Julia, at the time, was sick and was unable to move out of her apartment due to her illness. In addition, she had no other place to go if she was evicted which would leave her homeless.

During the eviction proceedings, Julia’s landlord refused to extend the date of her eviction and Julia was ordered to leave by March 14th. Worried about what would happen, Julia came to Indy Legal Aid to get help. Attorney Rick Dyar worked with Julia and filed a motion to stay the eviction so she could recover from her illness and have more time to find housing. Rick then worked the case with the court and was able to fight the eviction.

On March 19th, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued a state-wide eviction moratorium. However, had Julia’s eviction not been stayed with Rick’s representation, Julia would have missed the moratorium window and ended up homeless. Thankfully, Julia now has a new apartment and is secure in her housing thanks to Indy Legal Aid.

Indy Legal Aid was extremely fortunate to have four extraordinary summer interns who assisted the staff with various projects, such as organizing our Lawyer Referral Program, writing articles for the newsletter and collecting demographic data, to name a few.

Our interns are as follows:

We are very grateful for their help and wish them the very best.

For more information, click here.

We have several ways for you to make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable Hoosiers in Central Indiana. Approximately $.90 of every dollar donated to Indianapolis Legal Aid Society is directly used to provide programs and services. For more information, click here.