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Message from our President/CEO
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 I am delighted to announce that we are reviving our CDS newsletter this month. It is my privilege to begin this issue with a personal promise to you, our cherished partners.
For 48 years, CDS has been dedicated to strengthening relationships as a foundation for building healthy communities. That is why we are dedicated to promoting positive communication and conflict resolution skills in everything we do, whether it's in our community mediation services, court diversion and referral programs, restorative justice initiatives, school-based services, training and professional development offerings, as well as our staff and volunteer engagement initiatives.
When I joined the Center for Dispute Settlement in March of this year, I made a commitment to steward the relationships we have built with our partners since our inception in 1973. I'm a big believer that transparency is essential to strong relationships. I am committed to living out the value of transparency by sharing information frequently, inviting conversation and feedback on a regular basis, and encouraging all our stakeholders to have a voice in the direction of our organization.
During the next few months, we will be working to finalize our agency's 2021-2024 Strategic Plan, which will outline our priorities for the future of our work together. I look forward to sharing this vision with you and working together to create strong, nonviolent communities with the capacity and resources to resolve conflicts peacefully and speedily.
Wishing you a safe, happy, and healthy October.
Shira May, Ph.D.
President & CEO
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Basic Mediation Training
ORIENTATION
October 7th, 4:00pm
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Are you interested in becoming a mediator? Have you taken mediation training in the Facilitative model and want to learn about the Transformative orientation? Or are you an experienced mediator and looking for a place to practice and receive feedback with experienced practitioners?
Join us to meet our staff, learn about our mediation training programs, and connect with our community. Advance registration is required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcuce6trjwqE9d75wWjlfv9KfDrpQKOGmnr
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Understanding and Interrupting Implicit Bias
October 17, 2021, 2:00pm
CDS is proud to present an online workshop at Brave Spaces: Rochester's Summit to End Hate, hosted by our partners at the Levine Center to End Hate.
For more information or to register, visit: www.endhateroc.org
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Spotlight On
Eviction Mediation
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Effective immediately, the Center for Dispute Settlement will not charge administrative fees for court-referred landlord-tenant cases in which tenants are facing eviction.
Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a crisis in housing needs, putting people at risk for eviction in greater numbers than ever before. This crisis has disproportionately affected women, people of color, and families with children. Research shows that eviction affects a host of health and wellness outcomes, including increasing spread of COVID-19 as well as morbidity rates.
Mediation is an option that landlords and renters can use to talk through disputes that may lead to eviction. Mediation is a safe, confidential, and voluntary process, in which a neutral mediator supports the parties to talk through any issues that they wish to address. The Center's transformative model of mediation can support people to say what's on their minds as well as to better understand the other party's perspective.
While it does not replace the need for legislative, legal, and social policy solutions to address the current housing crisis, mediation can be an effective tool for landlords and tenants to maintain housing stability and address issues that may lead to risk of eviction.
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October is Global Diversity Awareness Month
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How Does
Trauma-Informed Care
Support Our Goal of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?
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As a member of the Finger Lakes Regional Youth Justice Team, the Center is participating in a 3-year project to implement Trauma-Informed Care (TIC), both within our organization and in our services with clients.
The TIC approach is not only aligned with our existing service delivery model - the Transformative model of mediation - but in addition, TIC is a critical component of our agency's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
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What is community trauma?
Racism, sexism, and other forms of systemic oppression are considered types of community traumas. These "isms" can result in individuals experiencing a chronic sense of "other-ness", or a feeling that one does not belong. As with all forms of trauma, these experiences can have long-lasting effects on individuals' mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
The trauma-informed "way of being" means that we work to create partnerships with everyone we encounter, in alignment with the TIC principles of safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and respect for the cultural and historical identity of each individual.
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At the Center for Dispute Settlement, we are working to implement a TIC approach throughout our organization. One of our first priorities is to increase transparency and communication, both internally with our board, staff, and volunteer mediators, and externally with our clients and community partners. Our goal is to create an open and inclusive organization where we share information and receive feedback regularly.
Questions, comments, or feedback? Contact Michelle Mitchell, mmitchell@cdsadr.org, or Matt Cole, mcole@cdsadr.org, regarding our RELC work. Contact Shira May, smay@cdsadr.org, regarding our TIC initiative.
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Agency Updates
- Welcome to Kim Patch, our new Case Manager for Cayuga County
- Matt Cole has taken on the role of Associate Director, leading our Custody and Visitation Program in Monroe County.
- Diana Ray is our new Director of Livingston County. She is joined by Stace Pierce, our new Program Manager for Livingston County.
- The Center has partnered with the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and Partners in Restorative Initiatives (PiRI) to provide a 2- year fellowship opportunity for two Monroe County area residents who identify as people of color. Transformative Justice Fellowships for June 2021 through June 2023 have been awarded to Samantha Oster and Thomas Cuyler.
- Welcome to our AmeriCorps members, Lacreesha Cook and Zadie Lauer, who will be working to support restorative practices in schools.
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