Dear Friends of Community Mediation, Inc.:

This has been an exciting and productive year for Communty Mediation, Inc., a year in which we have succeeded in expanding the types of services we offer and extending our reach with new groups of clients:

• The U. S. Department of Justice has awarded a grant for a joint research project between CM, the University of New Haven, and the Branford Police Department, to study the efficacy of police/community mediation partnerships.

• The Hamden Police Department sent two officers to our spring 2012 Basic Mediation Training and has contracted with us to provide 8 hours of training in effective communication skills to all of their officers in January, 2013.

• The town of Branford is calling regularly for CM’s faciliation and mediation of large neighborhood/community conflicts. The town of Milford has also been seeking our help in resolving issues between municipal agencies.

• We are training peer mediators as well as teachers and administrators at seven public middle and high schools in New Haven as well as Hamden High School.

• We are providing training to agencies such as Solar Youth, Youth Rights Media and State of Connecticut Family Support Centers in conflict management using a holistic model of working with the staff, youth and clients so that everyone is practicing the same skills.

• We continue to provide victim/offender and co-defendant mediation services for first-time offending youth through both the New Haven and Hamden Juvenile Review Boards.

The breadth of our mediation services is growing as public awareness of mediation and facilitation grows. We are now receiving referrals for situations ranging from divorcing parents to siblings disagreeing about inherited property. Many clients are coming to us because of the difficult economic times – we are much more affordable than litigation, and our work helps to repair rather than destroy relationships. As one mediation client stated,

“The mediation cleared the air. We put the issues on the table and [realized] that 2 way understanding and accommodation has to be the rule.”

We also have a growing local and regional reputation for providing interactive, thought-provoking training.

CM has focused on fee-for-service work as budget cuts reduce government funding. In fact, we have taken in more fees for training in 2012 than in any previous year. But we are committed to offering both mediation and training services at sliding-scale rates, so that people who can’t afford to pay even our modest standard fees can still benefit from our services. We can continue doing that only if we receive the support of donors like you.

Please remember us in your holiday giving this year, and please help us spread the word about Community Mediation.

Gratefully yours,

Brenda Cavanaugh, Executive Director

William D. Stempel, Board President