It’s always wonderful to have someone who was a volunteer or an intern come to work at The Project. Our new Intake Coordinator, Ingrid Autin fits this description perfectly. Earlier this year, Ingrid came to The Project as a paralegal intern from Nunez Community College in St. Bernard, a parish that we also serve.
New Intake Coordinator, Ingrid Autin
While here as an intern, Ingrid drafted petitions, prepared a variety of affidavits, judgments, preliminary defaults, waivers, and letters. She filed pleadings at the CDC and requests for long-arm service, set appointments with clients and helped prepare them to see the lawyer at the divorce workshops.
As a part of her internship, she also learned to use our case system Prime to enter notes and find information about clients, did divorce intakes and filing and learned to use Jeffnet, the CDC website, and the sheriff's website to find dates for preliminary defaults and service.
It was only natural that when the Intake Coordinator position became available, Ingrid applied for it. With almost six months under her belt as an intern, she was already very familiar with The Project's mission, as well as the staff and the kind of work that goes on at the office every day. While there were plenty of qualified applicants, Ingrid outshone them all and got the job.
Besides already knowing the day-to-day operations, the staff, and critical software, Ingrid is on her way to finishing up an Associate of Arts in Paralegal Studies from Nunez in early 2018, and completing coursework and certification as a notary in December 2017.
“It’s such a plus for The Project to have a working paralegal in the role of Intake Coordinator. Potential clients often are in a panic when they call, and it helps to have someone who knows something about the law to calm them down and get them started on the intake process. We are fortunate that Ingrid already had some experience with us and was able to jump right in," said Executive Director, Jennifer Rizzo-Choi.
In addition to some of the tasks she performed as an intern, Ingrid is now responsible for making sure that potential clients' cases are appropriate for the types of cases The Project handles and that they meet the Federal Poverty guidelines for pro bono eligibility. She works closely with volunteers and staff attorneys on opening and closing cases and making sure the database of case information is up-to-date. Ingrid is also working closely with staff attorney and Managing Director Jesse George and the notaries working on provisional custody by mandate (PCBM) documents.
Before her work with The Project, as an intern and now as part of the staff, Ingrid worked in administrative positions for East Jefferson General Hospital and Day Haven Adult Day Health Care and as an insurance agent for Bankers Life and Casualty.
When not at the office, Ingrid enjoys spending time reading non-fiction and watching the stars and planets with her 9-year-old son, who loves science and plans to be an astronomer one day. Although since he’s attending the International School of Louisiana’s French immersion program, perhaps he’s on his way to becoming a linguist. Like all of us in metro New Orleans, Ingrid also loves attending area festivals, checking out restaurants and live music.
Please join us in welcoming Ingrid to The Project’s staff!!