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Kenny Lewis was honored for his success as a graduate of the U.S. District Court’s Re-Entry and Community Help Program. IU McKinney Professor Lahny Silva and her students are a vital part of this work. Lewis’ story, and the work of REACH volunteers 3L Melissa Broaddus and 2L Sundeep Singh, were the subject of a news article in Indiana Lawyer.

The story focuses on Lewis’ dramatic turn-around, and how Broaddus and Singh helped him succeed. Lewis was released in February 2019 after serving 24 years of a life sentence. Students who are part of the REACH effort mentor formerly incarcerated individuals, helping them draft resumes, fill out job applications, and find medical care. Students, in return, gain advocacy skills as they push through administrative barriers because their clients are depending on them. Lewis wasn’t the only one to benefit from the REACH program. The students did, too.

“This is the experience I wanted when I came to law school,” Broaddus said in the story. “The kind of impact that I thought I was going to do as a lawyer, I got to do now.”

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana will bestow the Kenny Lewis Challenge Coin to all future REACH graduates in honor of Lewis’ success in the program. The coin also will serve as a reminder of what each graduate has accomplished, and as encouragement for them to do even more. The coin features the seal of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana.

“My desire to help Kenny was not because I’m afraid he’ll go back in,” Singh said in piece. “I just want him to reach his fullest potential, and I know that he can do that because he has been.”