NCBJ invites all participants in the 2020 San Diego conference to continue our tradition of community give back to the cities that host the annual conference. IWIRC is leading the program at Monarch School on Wednesday afternoon and a trio of organizations will coordinate the Veterans Village of San Diego on Saturday afternoon, post conference.

Two projects are being finalized: Monarch School and the Veterans Village of San Diego.

Monarch school is a specially designed school for homeless children and is located not far from the Marriott. Wednesday afternoon IWIRC members and NCBJ member judges are heading up the outreach to provide financial literacy to the high schoolers, help with the school garden and boutique, and tutoring, as well as encouragement and financial assistance. Monarch School helps students succeed - read the ESPN story of Jasmine Walker.

The Monarch School Approach
Twenty-three hundred. That is the estimated number of homeless students in San Diego County. In partnership with the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), NCBJ member judges are invited to learn more about the student homelessness epidemic in our country and how innovative educators are breaking down barriers to stop the cycle of poverty. On a date that is being re-set due to the cancellation of the NCBJ Conference, our group will tour the Monarch School and participate in various volunteer activities to assist the school’s mission, including a financial literacy presentation to high school students, assembling hygiene kits for distribution, sorting and cleaning their school "boutique,"" and gardening in the school garden. IWIRC will organize transportation from the Marriott.

For more information or to sign up, contact IWIRC Programming Co-Chair Jodi Dubose at Stichter Riedel Blain & Postler, PA.
jdubose@srbp.com

Located near the Marriott, the Monarch School is a national leader in the education of homeless youth. The school was founded in 1987 as a one-room education center and, over the last three decades, has grown into a K-12 comprehensive school designed to give students the skills and tools they need to overcome the odds of becoming homeless adults. Their novel approach addresses four key areas critical to their students' growth:

• Social Growth
• Emotional Support
• Academic Growth
• Life Skills

On a date to be determined, since the NCBJ conference was cancelled, community service project volunteers will offer help assessing, and resolving financial problems for residents at the Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD). Financial literacy training and credit repair will also be provided. VVSD provides services helping America’s veterans in overcoming homelessness and related challenges. The volunteers include judges, members of the ABI Task Force on Veterans and Servicemembers Affairs, American College of Bankruptcy Fellows, the USD Veterans Clinic, conference participants and the Legal Aid Society of San Diego lawyers. The NCBJ Public Outreach Committee is also working on goodie bags for all the residents who attend the NCBJ program.

Veterans Village of San Diego has served all veterans since 1981 and is dedicated to “Leave No One Behind.” VVSD is the only program of its kind in the United States and is nationally recognized as the leader in serving homeless military veterans. Each year VVSD provides services to more than 2,000 military veterans throughout San Diego County. Judges and conference attendee lawyers hope to provide financial literacy skills training and counseling to individuals about their personal financial issues.