The Eugene Emeralds, a Minor League Baseball team, has partnered with the University of Oregon’s School of Law for a fundraiser to support the Domestic Violence Law Clinic.

The Emeralds held a baseball game on Friday, April 17, at PK Park, and the clinic received a portion of the tickets to sell with a separate link. Half of the proceeds from those tickets went to the clinic.

Founded in 1999, the UO Domestic Violence Law Clinic is a course in the School of Law run by Robin Runge, an assistant professor at the School of Law, and Lacy Earnest, the legal assistant and office manager at the Domestic Violence Clinic. 

As the instructor of the course, Runge supervises second and third-year law students as they represent survivors of domestic violence and stalking in civil court cases. The goal of the clinic is to give real-life experience to law students at UO, while also providing legal services to survivors free of charge. 

Before coming to Eugene last August, Runge taught at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., leading their domestic violence clinic. Her career has been spent teaching domestic law, working on legislation and international treaties, consulting for international and domestic nonprofits advocating for survivors of gender-based violence and increasing access to justice for survivors. 

“This is a dream job, right?” Runge said. “(I) get to wake up every day and do something I care about, and affect change in (my) own community … the gift of sharing that energy and excitement with the next generation of lawyers, and helping them see how they can help others, is an amazing thing.”

Currently, the clinic is serving just over 60 clients. At the program’s peak, it had 230 clients per academic year. That was when the course had four lawyers instructing the course. Now, due to a shortage of funds, Runge is the only lawyer at the clinic to supervise the law students, leading to fewer enrolled students and fewer clients being served.

The UO Domestic Violence Law Clinic isn’t funded by the School of Law, but instead relies exclusively on grant money, which results in a shortage of funds. Historically, “The clinic has received federal funding  … through the Violence Against Women Act and state funding through Victims of Crime Act,” Runge said. 

Those funds have been slashed in the last year and a half with the federal administration change. Runge said “different priorities and delays in distributing funds” have caused the amount of grants given to the clinic to be vastly reduced, causing the clinic to cut the number of lawyers serving. Now, it’s only Runge. 

“We would love to get back to more lawyers,” Runge said. “We’d love to have more students, and we’d love to serve more survivors again. There is an endless need, and we’re not making a dent, but we’re trying.”

All money going toward the clinic directly helps the survivors, whether it’s paying Runge and Earnest’s salaries, covering overhead costs of the clinic or removing basic barriers like getting clients without cars to the office. 

According to Runge, in the past, they’ve been able to get clients transportation to court, places to stay during their transition period and help set them up for the steps after the legal process is complete. 

“For most survivors, the number one barrier to sustainable safety is economic security,” Runge said. “At the end of the day, if they can’t support themselves, if they don’t have a place to sleep, many survivors go back to that abusive circumstance.” 

Many survivors have lost their jobs or have been unable to work because of their situation. According to Earnest, all of the clients at the UO Domestic Violence Law Clinic are at or below the federal poverty line. Because of this, the legal services through the clinic are provided at no cost. 

“I’ve never charged a client for my services,” Runge said. “(Fundraising) is the way we make this work. That’s how we fill the justice gap.”

In comes the fundraising. The Emeralds are an affiliate club of the MLB’s San Francisco Giants. Runge said the Giants have been partnering with domestic and sexual violence organizations around the country for the last 15 years. According to Earnest, the Giants “happily jumped on board” when she proposed a partnership with the Emeralds.

Earnest said that the priority with the Emerald’s game was not necessarily the money, but exposure. “With the uncertainty of federal funds and state funds, (the fundraiser) was more about raising the awareness that we’re still here, and we’re still doing the work,” Earnest said. 

The community’s response was greater than Runge and Earnest expected. They sold out the tickets given to them and asked for a second batch, which they nearly sold out of as well. 

During the game on April 17, their table in the concourse received a near-constant flow of visitors. 

“I didn’t really expect for the community to come out and show up in the way that they have, and I’m very, very thankful that they have,” Earnest said. “The exposure for us is very, very important in making this transition as we explore the idea of grassroot funds instead of relying on those federal and state grants.” 

Runge was also appreciative of the level of support they received. She said, “We’re both doing this with an awareness that we don’t have certainty about how long we will be able to continue to do this work, but this community cares.”

The care of the community was apparent at the Emeralds baseball game, as many community members, students and alumni showed up to support the fundraiser.

Claire Sebree, a second-year UO law student and member of the clinic, said she was excited to be at a baseball game for the first time in years. 

“The clinic itself is just such a unique spot in the Oregon law school. It’s a bunch of people that are really committed to helping on the ground,” Sebree said. “I’ve been able to actively help make someone’s life better in front of me. I think that in law school … you’re kind of stuck in the books for a while, and so it’s cool to get to do that.”

Another attendee, Sarah Sabri, was a 2005 graduate of UO law who went through the clinic and is currently the statewide domestic violence resource prosecutor at the Oregon Department of Justice.

“I think it’s incredibly important … that people are aware that they have a resource they can access,” Sabri said. “This is the type of resource that is funded by grant money, and that’s really hard to maintain over a period of time. The number of victims is not going down … so having this clinic and the community support and understanding of the clinic is huge.” 

Runge said she was proud of all that the fundraiser became. “This has kind of turned into a celebration for the clinic, which is dynamite,” Runge said. “It’s the 27th year of this … it’s mind-blowing to think about that.”

If you or someone you know feels unsafe at home call the UO domestic violence hotline (541-346-SAFE) or visit thehotline.org.