2019 CIIP Program Book CIIP Booklet 2019 | Page 25

Community Partner: FreeState Justice
Intern: Lyle Carrera
Site Supervisor: Mark Procopio
What is FreeState Justice?
FreeState Justice is a legal advocacy organization that seeks to improve the lives of
low-income lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (“LGBTQ”) Marylanders.
FreeState’s mission is to combine direct legal services with education and outreach to
ensure that the low-income LGBTQ community Maryland receives fair treatment in the
law and society.
Home. A four letter word with substance far beyond the short strokes of ink it takes to put it on a page. It
holds so many different meanings to so many different people, and much of my personal journey this sum-
mer and over the course of my college experience has been centered around trying to figure out exactly
what it meant to me.
When I first started my time at Hopkins, I hoped that, in time, by spending time with the people and places
that make this city what it is, I thought that I’d come to think of it the same way I think about my hometown
of Las Vegas. To me, CIIP was a way to foster that kind of relationship with the city through serving the peo-
ple and communities of Baltimore.
Over the course of the summer, though, I found that I was going about it all the wrong way. I was looking
for something similar to what I had for most of my life in Las Vegas, and that was always going to be im-
possible. There will probably never be a place that can give me as much as the place where I grew up, and
there will probably never be a place that I want to give as much back to either.
But looking at it all, I know that this summer has already been one of the most formative experiences that
I’ve ever had. I’ve learned so much about what I see as my place in communities ranging from here in Bal-
timore to back in Nevada, thanks in no small part to the friends and colleagues that have helped guide me
through this learning process.
This comes despite the fact that what I came out realizing stood almost in direct opposition to what I’d
thought I’d find at CIIP. While the concept of home is still something I draw strength from, I’ve learned that
I don’t always have to be home to enjoy it. If I can help people find their own homes in the communities
that they live and work in, that should be enough.
And that’s exactly what FreeState Justice has put me in a position to do. Community-building exists at the
heart of everything that they do in their commitment to ensure that LGBTQ Marylanders can live authentic
lives with dignity, free of bias and discrimination. Whether they’re extending legal resources to those that
might not otherwise be able to access them or holding events to uplift the LGBTQ community in our state,
their work is critical in supporting that community, and I’m honored to have been a part of it this summer.
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• Executed communications,
sponsorship, and logistics
plans for LGBT community
events.
• Drafted applications and
reports for grants supporting
programmatic and develop-
mental efforts.
• Fostered working relation-
ships with coalitions of non-
profit and governmental part-
ners