Wills for Heroes is a non-profit organization that was created by two attorneys, Anthony Hayes and Jeff Jacobson. It was created after the realization that most of 9\/11\u2019s first responders did not have wills to protect their assets or minor children.
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\nAccording to the Wills for Heroes website, \u201cWills for Heroes programs provide free wills and other estate planning documents to first responders and their spouse or domestic partner. Qualified first responders include firefighters, police officers, paramedics, corrections and probation officers from federal, state, county, city and town departments and agencies.\u201d
\nAt the moment, the Dayton Bar Association is the only organization in Ohio that sponsors Wills for Heroes events. Chris Albrektson, the program\u2019s coordinator became interested in hosting events for Wills for Heroes after attending a conference in San Francisco.
\nAlbrektson, a graduate of Sinclair\u2019s paralegal program, feels very strongly about helping first responders. While organizing her first Wills for Heroes event, Albrektson asked her firefighter son what he thought about the idea and he was for it.
\n\u201cThe first event was in Jefferson Township where he worked at the time. He knew all the people who worked there. I did too, for the most part. The Chief and the city council agreed to let us put on the event,\u201d said Albrektson.
\nThe Dayton Bar Association and local volunteers help keep the Wills for Heroes program free.
\n\u201cThrough a grant from the Dayton Bar Association, the Wills for Heroes program can replace office equipment and supplies. The grant also helps pay for drinks and food for the volunteers and first responders. Most of the volunteers are lawyers, law students, paralegals and paralegal students. There is a training session before each event to help volunteers understand documents. Volunteers help lawyers by typing. The lawyers are needed for legal advice,\u201d explained Albrektson.
\nOne of the individuals Albrektson contacts when she needs paralegal students for events is Jenna Beck. Beck, the paralegal department chair at Sinclair Community College, has been sending paralegal students to help Albrektson for the last two years.
\nBeck encourages her students to volunteer at Wills for Heroes because she believes that it\u2019s a good opportunity for networking.
\n\u201cStudents get a chance to meet with other paralegals and lawyers. They learn how to interact in a legal setting. For many, this is their first time working with a client and an attorney simultaneously. The students will also be helping people who can\u2019t get services in other places. First responders have dangerous jobs and the wills provide families with a peace of mind. It is a great experience for students to be a part of the process,\u201d Beck said.
\nBrain Buttrey, alum of Sinclair\u2019s paralegal program, has volunteered at three Wills for Heroes events. Buttrey was nervous the first time he volunteered, but he is glad he did and is willing to volunteer in the future.
\nVolunteers leave a Wills for Heroes event with a different memory and experience, according to Buttrey.
\n\u201cVolunteering for Wills for Heroes gave me a sense of pride. I was helping to give back to people who risk their lives every day. My most memorable experience at an event was when the attorney I was working with got emotional. He had to leave the event early because he realized that he was preparing documents for the end of people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Buttrey.
\nMary Jane Clark, alum and Administrative Assistant of Sinclair\u2019s paralegal program, has volunteered twice for Wills for Heroes. Clark had a house fire years ago, and understands how hard it is not knowing if a loved one survived a disaster.
\n\u201cI really enjoyed volunteering because the first responders and their spouses appreciated the help. But they should know that we are the ones who are grateful,\u201d Clark said.
\nThe Wills for Heroes program has had a strong response in Ohio. Albrektson has been organizing events sponsored by the Dayton Bar Association with the help of friends and family, the law community and Sinclair Community College\u2019s paralegal students.<\/p>\n
For more information about events, Albrektson can be contacted at 937.222.7902 and\/or calbrekston@daybar.org<\/p>\n
Simren Smith Wills for Heroes is a non-profit organization that was created by two attorneys, Anthony Hayes and Jeff Jacobson. It was created after the realization that most of 9\/11\u2019s first responders did not have wills to protect their assets or minor children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-2Ph","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10868,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867\/revisions\/10868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nReporter<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"