MY HOME, MY DEED, MY LEGACY CAMPAIGN
Have You Seen Our Website?
My Home, My Deed, My Legacy is a citywide public awareness campaign to educate Baltimore City residents – especially low-income residents – about the importance of estate planning and the critical need to confirm their name is on the deed to their property. Funded by a generous grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the campaign is a project of the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service .

The My Home, My Deed, My Legacy website launched on April 1 and has received hundreds of visitors, interested in discovering if their name is on the deed to their home and what steps are necessary to ensure they are passing on their assets to future generations.
MVLS is hosting three clinics where homeowners can sit down with an attorney to verify if their name is on the deed to their home, and if not, work through that process. If their name is on the deed, they can use this clinic as an opportunity to begin the estate planning process alongside an attorney.

The next clinic is on June 18 from 3-7pm at the Arch Social Club.

Pre-registration is required for all clinics and can be done on the My Home, My Deed, My Legacy website or by calling 443-451-4082.
Why is Estate Planning Important?
Two MVLS volunteer attorneys explain why everyone should do their estate planning in an article recently published in The Advocate about the My Home, My Deed, My Legacy campaign.

"Ensuring such transfer of ownership actually takes place after someone dies is vital for the stability of families and communities." Flip to page 6 to read the full piece.
Estate Planning Information Available
MVLS has many resources available on our organization's website about the estate planning process.

This past month, we highlighted three of our factsheets that break down this process into simple and easy to understand language:

Find these and much more on our website here.
Baltimore Ceasefire Supports My Home, My Deed, My Legacy
The ultimate goal of Baltimore Ceasefire 365 is for everyone in the city to commit to zero murders. They started the movement by calling for ceasefire weekends. It is also a city-wide call for folks to plan and participate in what they call life-affirming events. The homeowner’s clinic at Arch Social Club is one such event. 

As the movement for a Black Arts and Entertainment District continues to develop momentum, residents of West Baltimore and particularly Penn North are keen to track and organize around the development money flowing into their districts.  Proper estate planning will help families protect and grow their assets as the neighborhood turns . And as the violence is abated, and the dust settles, perhaps we will begin to do as Ceasefire says and “vibrate higher”.  

We're thrilled to have Baltimore Ceasefire 365 and Baltimore Arts and Entertainment District joining us in this community stabilization effort! 
My Home, My Deed, My Legacy On the Move
MVLS Advanced Planning Project Coordinator John Kern has been out and about, presenting to many groups about the critical need to do their estate planning.

He recently spoke to the Community Development Network of Maryland, where the campaign was discussed by representatives from organizations working to revitalize communities throughout the state.

As estate planning becomes a larger part of the conversation around neighborhood stabilization in Baltimore, we hope more people will take advantage of MVLS's free legal services to assist with this process.

If you would like John to come speak with your organization, send him a message!
Thank You!
We are so grateful for our incredible community partners and their efforts in helping us to spread the word about the My Home, My Deed, My Legacy campaign. A public awareness project of this magnitude would not be possible without your support.

Please continue to share our newsletter articles and social media posts found in the social media toolkit , re-share the posts on our Facebook page , or let us know if you need more original content!

If you need more materials (posters, flyers, stickers, decals), contact Christie Smith .

Thank you so much!
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service | 201 N. Charles Street, Suite 1400 Baltimore, MD 21201    
410 539-6800 | 443 451-4081 | info@mvlslaw.org | www.mvlslaw.org