Warren Wilson Students Amazing Volunteer Work!

Warren Wilson students in a freshman International Social work class adpoted the Family Visitation Program as their semester-long project.  Here's what they did:
The bottom line:


13 Warren Wilson freshman students contributed a total of 85 service hours working with the Family Visitation Program between August and November 2009.

The monetary value of this volunteered time is $1,500. ( independentsector.org)  Wow!

10 hours over 3 evenings speaking with families and interacting with FVP children about ideas for their mural. By engaging with our children, you took a seemingly small step that had big results.

15 hours over 3 evenings assisting the Program in conducting a Parent Satisfaction Survey. We experienced a greater than 50% response rate and gleaned some important information which will enable us to adapt to suit the needs of our parents and improve our service delivery so it is even safer and more child-focused.

6 hours spent researching types of craft kits to put together for our parents and children to work on together as well as sketching the mural to be painted.  12 students volunteered a total of 54 hours to paint the mural and assemble the craft kits.

Here's some of what the students said:
We are painting a mural on one of the walls of the waiting room of The Family Visitation Program, based off of ideas we get from clients that utilize this facility. Another role we will be playing is creating craft kits for the children to partake in with their non-custodial parents. I think this will be really beneficial for bonding because it eliminates the reliance on technology and can really bring people together.
--Rachel Friehoff-Lewin
I believe my contributions through painting the mural and conducting the interviews will benefit the center and its program in a small, yet crucial way. I hope the mural I help create will be calming and comforting—or perhaps inspiring—to the children as they first enter the building. Because first impressions are extremely important when trying to convey a safe environment, I hope these children will feel comfortable when they enter the center and witness the mural for the first time. Through my work as an interviewer I hope I will be able to gather critical feedback for the program so they can continue to provide the best service possible.
--Emily Chiara

To be able to work with kids, especially for an organization that cares so deeply for their clients, means a lot to me. I see this project as an opportunity to apply all that I have learned throughout my years of child care as well as what I have learned in the classroom thus far. I’m definitely ready to start working with the children right now!
--Libby Lillberg

Running for Resolution

This past Sunday, more than 20 runners showed up to run for the Buncombe County Gang Violence Prevention project.  There were three and six mile routes, and  a few runners just made their own course.  These community members made donations to support the young people who are working to change the course of their lives through this project. 

The Gang Violence Prevention Project helps young people age 6-24 who are gang involved or at risk for gang involvement. (I know the six year old end sounds improbable - but it does happen - especially when parents are gang members themselves).   They have access to all kinds of program from equine therapy through Horse Sense of the Carolinas, to basketball programming through Upfront Managment Sports. 

As hard as they try to be involved in these amazing programs, some of the barriers that got them into their situation in the first place are still following them - a lack of money to buy a bus pass to get to their programs, no toiletry items to clean up for GED classes or hearings, and an empty closet with no clothes to get them off on the right foot in their new life.

Runners donated more than $150 dollars - or 10 bus passes!  Thank you to all the friends of the Mediation Center who supported this effort - it was exciting to see so many community members - some of whom probably didn't know a lot about gangs - come and give their energy and their money to make it happen. 

If you would like to donate or learn more about gang violence in Asheville and Buncombe County, go to our website at www.mediatebuncombe.org/doante.

Are Lawyers the Enemy of Mediation?

People are often suprised to learn that the Mediation Center gets the majority of referrals from laywers.  Three lawyers serve on our Board of Directors.  A significant portion of donors are lawyers.  Nearly always, when we call a lawyer to tell them that their client has been referred to mediation, they say "Great!  That is the best thing for them". 

Why are these lawyers so supportive of a non-profit that serves their potential clients for free?

1. Lawyers want their clients to find resolution.   Some issues aren't really legal issues, or are a combination of legal and non-legal issues.  Take the recent post about Ed and Paul and their gravel driveway. Rules limit the types of things that can be taken into account in court.  Mediaiton allows for more flexibility in how people express themselves and what issue they put on the table.

2. Lawyers know that mediation works.  In her blog, Diane Levin, a Boston attorney and mediator explores Bridging the Divide Between Lawyers and Mediators.  She even suggests that lawyers can "raid a mediator's tool box" to enhance their own negotiation skills.

3. Lots of lawyers are mediators. They know that mediation works because they do it all the time.

4. A lawyer may believe that their client has a better chance of achieving a good outcome in mediation than in the court room.   According to the American Bar Association,

"Participants in mediation report higher satisfaction rates than people who go to court. Because of their active involvement, they have a higher commitment to upholding the settlement than people who have a judge decide for them. Mediations end in agreement 70 to 80% of the time and have high rates of compliance".

Thank you to all the Buncombe County lawyers who work with the Mediation Center. 
I'd love to hear from more of you about why you give your support.

But I Just Want to Go to Court!

Can't the court just decide who's right and who's wrong?  Sure, but it might not be the best option:

Take this example of a criminal case referred to mediation:
Paul at the top of a mountain in rural Buncombe county.  The only way to get to his house is to use a driveway that goes through his neighbor Ed's property, and their property deeds say that that the driveway is an easement for access.  Paul and Ed are mutually responsible for upkeep, which means that a load of gravel needs to be brought in from time to time. 

Ed has been frustrated since April when Paul's daughter Eileen turned 16 and got a driver's license.  Eileen drives her new pickup at top speed up the driveway, kicking the gravel off the road.  Ed called Paul and asked him to tell Eileen to stop driving so fast.  Paul hung up.   A few days later, Ed saw Paul out in his yard and approached him.  Paul told him to get off his property.  Ed refused to leave until they could have a conversation.  Paul went inside and called the police, who issued a second degree trespass warrant against Ed.   On the first court date, the district attorney suggested that the neighbors try mediation before proceeding in court. 

Paul doesn't want mediation - Ed was on his property, didn't leave when he was asked, and the court should punish him for tresspassing.  Ed isn't sure about mediation because he is sure that the judge will see that Paul was wrong to let his daughter drive so fast, so he will be found not guilty and Paul will be proved wrong.

As it turns out, Ed and Paul agree to mediation.  During mediation, Paul shares that he and Ed used to work together at a furniture plant that had some finanical problems, and Paul was laid off while Ed wasn't.  Ed shared that he had always felt terrible about Paul losing his job, especially because Eileen was a newborn.  Ed never understood why he hadn't been laid off first.  Paul apologized to Ed and said that it was in his best interest also to ask Eileen to slow down, since he would have to pay his part of the load of gravel.  Ed apologized for not leaving Paul's property when he was asked.   They agreed to get a new load of gravel, and Paul said that he would pay 60% instead of half. 

The American Bar Association has a good list of the advantages of mediation: ABA - Advantages of Mediation.  Criminal courts aren't set up to resolve hurt feelings - it's just not what they do.  Imagine Paul and Ed's relationship for the next decade if Ed had been found guilty.

Mediation is not depressing

When I tell someone where I work, people often say "wow - that must be so depressing" or "it must be so stressful to be around all that conflict".  More often than not, mediation is simply inspiring. 

Mediators don't solve people's problems for them, and they rarely offer suggestions.  Instead, they walk the parties through a process to ensure that they hear each other, clarify the issues, engage in brainstorming, find solutions that will work for everyone, and create a concrete plan to move forward.   The mediation process is the same for working with gang members, addressing a Medicaid benefit dispute, or helping a non-profit board.  

Particpants come up with ideas that the mediator would never have thought of.   Mediation draws from the strengths, knowledge, and desires of the people involved, and people know more about what will work for themselves than a mediator could ever guess.  90% of all disputes get worked out in just a couple of hours. That's not depressing.

I like this quote about the power of working together to find solutions: http://mediationblog.blogspot.com/2005/04/mediation-quote-of-week-april-4-2005.html
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Welcome to the Mediation Center's blog. I'm Laura Jeffords, Executive Director of the Mediation Center. You'll be hearing from me and from our fabulous staff who work hard to carry out our mission of creating opportunity from confict.

The Mediation Center is growing. We want to share the excitement about the Buncombe County Gang Violence Prevention Project, the Family Visitation Program, and our mediation services. Last year, the Mediation Center served more than 3,000 people in our commuity from young people at risk for gang involvement, to community organizations with conflict resolution needs.

We strive to see the gaps in Buncombe County services so we can change and expand to meet new needs. We hope that you will consider becoming involved.

For starters, check out our webpage at http://www.mediatebuncombe.org/.