by Kathy Para
JBA Pro Bono Committee Chair
She’s been a big sister to three Canadian girls, painted houses for those who could afford neither paint nor painters, and helped feed the homeless more meals than she could possibly ever remember. But in the end, Michelle Barki is convinced, “I don’t do nearly enough.”
That’s not what you’ll hear from her coworkers at the Office of Public Defender Matt Shirk, where the assistant public defender brings her special talents as both a nurse and a lawyer together to help represent those without the resources to help themselves. Speaking on behalf of the Public Defender, his spokesperson states, “Mr. Shirk appreciates the example that Michelle sets for the office in her volunteerism and involvement in the community. These are endeavors that Mr. Shirk is proud to endorse, support, and encourage.”
When asked to think of an attorney who goes over and above the call of duty, Cynthia Hunold, Director of County Court for the Office of the Public Defender, immediately thought of Michelle.
“I remember a time when she had J-1 (First Appearance Court) duty and there was a sweep of homeless people for various minor infractions ... mostly sleeping in public. After court, she went to the Sulzbacher Center and donated, I believe, $10 for each person that was arrested. ... Came to something like $300,” Cynthia recalls. “She has a heart of gold.”
Michelle remembers “The Sweep,” and recalls how she and the judge who was handling the cases were both upset that all of these people were locked up simply because they had nowhere else to go.
“The judge phoned Susan Sulzbacher to get everybody out of jail and into the Center,” Michelle recalls. “And I came back and I was a little upset, to say the least.” So, to relieve that feeling of injustice, Michelle opened her pocketbook.
“The plight of the homeless and their children is imperative to the community,” she says.
Michelle says her social conscience was instilled in her by her mother and father, whom she followed to Jacksonville from Canada in 1989.
“They were both big into volunteering,” she says. “They donated their time to Baptist Medical Center for more than 20 years.”
Michelle worked for an insurance company when she came to the United States, but she found that she needed a nursing degree to do the same job she’d been doing in Canada. So she went to nursing school.
“I really always wanted to be an attorney,” she remembers. “But that was my job then, so that’s what I had to do.”
Later, when it became possible for her to take law school classes at night, she jumped at the opportunity. She became a lawyer in 2005, worked a short time for a private firm, then joined the Public Defender’s Office in 2006.
Through all the job and career changes, her work at the Sulzbacher Center has remained a constant, from raising funds for the Center at her old insurance company to helping feed the homeless, a regular duty that the Public Defender’s Office employees have taken upon themselves.
Michelle is thrilled to be working for an organization that has a social conscience to match her own.
“It truly does take a village,” she says.
For information on pro bono opportunities at the Public Defender’s Office, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, and Guardian Ad Litem, please contact Kathy Para, Chairperson, Pro Bono Committee, Jacksonville Bar Association, [email protected].