Latest / Resource Report / Resource Report - 26 Community Mediation Center of Centralia
Transcript
- 0:20Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
- 0:22share with you important information about local
- 0:25nonprofits and resource organizations that support
- 0:29the community we share, produced by Pathways
- 0:32to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
- 0:35guest is the Executive Director of the Centralia
- 0:38location of the Community Mediation Center. I
- 0:42sat down with Laura Height in her office on location.
- 0:45Here's Laura. I am here at the Community Mediation
- 0:59Center located in Centralia, Washington with
- 1:03Laura Hight, Executive Director. Hi there. How
- 1:06are you doing, Laura? Very good. Thank you. Oh,
- 1:09wonderful. Can you reintroduce yourself, your
- 1:12position, and how did you come to be here? Sure.
- 1:15Yes. Thanks for having me, first of all. I have
- 1:20been with the Mediation Center for four and a
- 1:22half years. And I've been the executive director
- 1:26for about a year and a half. My background is
- 1:29actually in restaurant and retail management.
- 1:31And so not a mediation background at all. But
- 1:35I took the training course back in 2021 and just
- 1:39absolutely fell in love with mediation in general,
- 1:41abandoned my previous career and decided to jump
- 1:44ship and come here instead. And I have never
- 1:46looked back. That's awesome. Hey, let me tell
- 1:48you, I have been in retail for 10 years. I have
- 1:52been in the restaurant industry for maybe about
- 1:5510 years. I know. Yes, it does. Some mediation
- 2:01skills from that job. Yes, I think that is what
- 2:04the training really kind of woke up in me is
- 2:07that this is something that both as a parent
- 2:09and as a manager, I've been doing mediation for
- 2:12years. And this just kind of put some. polishing
- 2:16notes on some of those things that I've been
- 2:18doing, and I really enjoy it. That's awesome.
- 2:21Thank you. Can you share what the Community Mediation
- 2:26Center is about? Yes. So very, very brief history.
- 2:31The Community Mediation Center has been around
- 2:32since 1993. And it was started by a group of
- 2:36concerned individuals who said there's a lot
- 2:39of cases showing up in court that could probably
- 2:42be resolved somewhere else outside of court with
- 2:44a little extra help. So they kind of banded together
- 2:48and decided that they would start a volunteer
- 2:50organization. It's gone through many names, but
- 2:53I believe it started as the Community Mediation
- 2:55Center and it's come back to that now. And it
- 2:58was really people who had... the compassion for
- 3:02their neighbors and the skills to help them work
- 3:05through their disputes to help them stay out
- 3:07of the court system with things like parenting
- 3:09plans and divorces and consumer merchant issues.
- 3:13So that's kind of the roots of where it started.
- 3:16And we do a lot of what you would consider family
- 3:19law cases. So when you ask what we do day in
- 3:22and day out, I would say we do a lot of parenting
- 3:24plans and divorces. And while we don't do the
- 3:26legal side of that where we help people fill
- 3:28out the paperwork, we help people sort out their
- 3:31issues and then they can put that down on a form
- 3:33and take it to the court. So we help them with
- 3:36the nitty gritty. And we do other things as well,
- 3:39which I can get into, but mostly parenting plans
- 3:41and divorces. That's wonderful. That's so efficient.
- 3:46It is definitely something that when folks hear
- 3:49about us, they say, oh, I wish you'd been around
- 3:51when I was going through my divorce or when I
- 3:52was working on my parenting plan. It is such
- 3:55a less painful process than court. I really am
- 4:00a huge advocate for it. Whether or not it's through
- 4:02our center, it's a huge benefit to the community
- 4:05to be able to kind of resolve your own issues
- 4:08and stay out of court, time -saving, money -saving.
- 4:11You get to be the one to decide what your resolution
- 4:13is rather than a judge telling you what to do,
- 4:16which I don't think anybody really likes. Absolutely.
- 4:19Yeah. Y 'all are located here in Centralia, but
- 4:22do you have other locations? We do. So we also
- 4:26serve, so we serve Lewis County and then we also
- 4:28serve Cowlitz County. We have a physical office
- 4:30in both places. So our office here is in downtown
- 4:33Centralia and we have an office in downtown Longview.
- 4:36We've only been down there for, I want to say,
- 4:38just about four years, about the same length
- 4:40of time that I've been here. And so we do the
- 4:43same cases. We do parenting plans and divorces
- 4:45down there. We've been serving Cowlitz County
- 4:48since our inception in 1993. But sometimes it's
- 4:52just so hard to not have a physical location
- 4:54that a few years ago we said, let's just open
- 4:56a brick and mortar and make sure that we're available
- 4:58for walk -ins. And it's been a really great decision.
- 5:00We've had a lot of folks just pop in and find
- 5:03out what we're about. And that's been a really
- 5:05good change. So I'm hoping that that continues
- 5:06for another 30 years. Wonderful. Oh, that's so
- 5:09convenient. There is another kind of place that
- 5:22does something like this in Thurston County,
- 5:25the Dispute Resolution Center. Now, y 'all are
- 5:27not connected at all, or is there some connection?
- 5:29There is some connection. That's a great question.
- 5:31So out of the 39 counties in Washington state,
- 5:35there is a Dispute Resolution Center, which is
- 5:38kind of our generic term that serves every one
- 5:40of those counties. So there's 21 of us, and we
- 5:43are kind of sister organizations with the DRC
- 5:47of Thurston County. We are a part of a larger
- 5:50organization called Resolution Washington, and
- 5:53they are the statewide... um organization that
- 5:57helps us you know you know lobby for tax dollars
- 5:59if we need to get those it helps us with our
- 6:01statewide messaging our statewide training and
- 6:04our standards to make sure that we're all operating
- 6:06on a similar level and providing the same high
- 6:09quality of service everywhere so while each center
- 6:12is its own individual business with its own staff
- 6:16and its own director. We do all kind of answer
- 6:19to that higher power across the state, which
- 6:21I think is a huge benefit. It gives us a lot
- 6:23of continuity and it helps us pull great ideas
- 6:26from. Other organizations, if they have a program
- 6:30that's really successful, we don't have to reinvent
- 6:32the wheel. We can call them up and say, hey,
- 6:33can you share your curriculum? Can you share
- 6:35your successes? And if we find that that's an
- 6:38opportunity in our county, we can kind of, you
- 6:40know, beg, borrow and steal some of their things
- 6:42and create it here as well. So overall, it's
- 6:45been a great thing. That is very good to know
- 6:48and very useful, too. Like if you have someone
- 6:50in another county, but they're dealing with an
- 6:55issue that, in part, may have something to do with
- 6:58something going on in another county. And maybe
- 7:01the rules are different across counties. Y 'all
- 7:03can connect and collaborate about that much easier.
- 7:06Absolutely. There's even Resolution Oregon. So
- 7:09if we have people down in Rainier or Portland
- 7:11who are dealing with things, there's quite a
- 7:14few. There's Resolution Virginia, Resolution
- 7:16Ohio. So it's not in all of the states yet, but
- 7:20there's usually a dispute resolution center near
- 7:22to you. And we all communicate very well and
- 7:24work together. So if, you know, someone's up
- 7:26in Thurston County, we'll point them in that
- 7:28direction and they'll be met with open arms up
- 7:30there. Oh, that's wonderful. So let's talk about
- 7:34those services. Sure. So like I said before,
- 7:38we do a lot of parenting plans and divorces,
- 7:40and that's not the case for every center. Some
- 7:43cases do a lot more landlord -tenant issues.
- 7:45It just kind of depends on the demographics and
- 7:48the makeup and the rural versus urban of each
- 7:51county. Like King County, obviously, they do
- 7:53a lot more landlord -tenant issues than we might
- 7:55do in Lewis County. But that is a service that
- 7:58we offer as well. So if you are a landlord and
- 8:00you're having issues, collecting rent or you
- 8:04have some renters who, you know, have lease violations
- 8:06and you're not sure how to approach them or work
- 8:09that out. Or if you're a renter and your landlord
- 8:12isn't repairing things or, you know, you have
- 8:14some questions about your rental agreement and
- 8:16you're not sure who to turn to, you can't afford
- 8:18an attorney, you can come talk to us and we can
- 8:20help establish those lines of communication.
- 8:22And we have a lot of experience with the kind
- 8:25of local landlord tenant rules and laws, and
- 8:27we can kind of help you navigate that in a less
- 8:30adversarial way. for $150 as opposed to hundreds
- 8:34or thousands that you might pay an attorney.
- 8:36So that's definitely been a big one since COVID.
- 8:39And there have been a lot of issues that have
- 8:42come up with very unique renting situations as
- 8:44people have kind of flexed and moved around.
- 8:46And of course, the housing market is challenging
- 8:48as always. That's definitely an arm of our organization
- 8:54that we're going to see growing a lot more in
- 8:55the future. Awesome. And then you also have,
- 9:00like, this one's new on your website, 90 -minute
- 9:05Conflict Workshops. Yes. So we love conflict,
- 9:09right? I mean, that's our staff and volunteers...
- 9:11That's our job security is that people have conflict
- 9:14when they work and live with each other. However,
- 9:16when people come to mediation, we are usually
- 9:18responding to a crisis that has already happened.
- 9:22We are helping people kind of pick up the pieces
- 9:24after things have already gone off the rails.
- 9:26And so we said, why don't we try and get ahead
- 9:29of this a little bit more and put some what do
- 9:32they call it, preventive medicine out there for
- 9:34the community. So a lot of DRCs around the state
- 9:37have really strong training programs, and we
- 9:39have historically not been one of those, and
- 9:41we want to build that arm of our organization
- 9:43up. So 90 minutes is about as long as we can
- 9:46keep anyone's attention, or at least that's as
- 9:48long as my attention span lasts usually. So what
- 9:51we have done is we kind of took some of the greatest
- 9:54hits of the issues that we see come up in mediation.
- 9:58Where does it go wrong? What do people wish they
- 10:00knew that would have kept them out of mediation?
- 10:02And we kind of broke it down into half a dozen
- 10:06mini lessons. You know, one is how to deal with
- 10:09an angry person and de -escalate. You know, de
- 10:11-escalation is a huge word that gets thrown around
- 10:13from the classroom to the police force to, you
- 10:17know, people in relationships. So we teach a
- 10:1930 -minute de -escalation training. You know,
- 10:22we teach one on the five different conflict styles.
- 10:24We teach one on just delivering bad news. And
- 10:27if you've worked in retail or anytime when you're
- 10:29in customer service, you have to deliver some
- 10:31bad news to people at some point. And that is
- 10:33intimidating. And we're not all wired to just
- 10:36be able to do that. So we have taken kind of,
- 10:38you know, six of those greatest hits, broken
- 10:40them down into 30 minute sections. And then we
- 10:43let folks kind of pick from those and put together
- 10:45their own 90 minute training of what they think
- 10:48their staff or their nonprofit would. the benefit
- 10:52from the most. And if there's one that they really
- 10:54want their staff trained on that they don't see
- 10:56on a list, we can customize and make it just
- 10:58for them. And it's been really successful. We've
- 11:00done this in both counties for about a year now,
- 11:03and we're looking forward to serving more. Where
- 11:05do you have those workshops? So we can have them
- 11:09here in our offices. We can usually fit, you
- 11:12know, In our Lewis County office, probably 8
- 11:15to 12 people comfortably with lots of room to
- 11:17move around. But a lot of folks like to have
- 11:18the training in their location. So we will usually
- 11:21travel to you. So we did a veterinary clinic
- 11:24not that long ago and, you know, they closed
- 11:26their office for lunch and we just did the training
- 11:28right there in their lobby. So usually folks
- 11:30find it a little bit more comfortable to do the
- 11:32training in their environs. So that's what we'll
- 11:34do. And if you're anywhere in Lewis County, we
- 11:37will travel to you. We'll bring all the supplies.
- 11:39It's very hands -on in each of our modules. We
- 11:42do a very brief lecture and then we do an interactive
- 11:45kind of activity to really kind of seal those
- 11:47lessons in because people sit around and listen
- 11:50all day long and we like them to kind of do.
- 11:53There's a lot of kinetic learners like myself
- 11:55out there. So all of our workshops are very hands
- 11:57-on and we leave you with the printed notes so
- 12:00you don't have to take any. And hopefully you
- 12:02can take those things and apply them directly
- 12:04to your workplace. Yeah. So it sounds like typically
- 12:08that would be businesses that would ask for a
- 12:12workshop to be held. Do you do that at schools
- 12:15at all or other organizations? We have done other
- 12:18nonprofits. So we've done a few nonprofits down
- 12:21in Cowlitz County. And I think we have one scheduled
- 12:23up here with the Salvation Army in Lewis County.
- 12:27We would do churches, we would do schools, any
- 12:29organization that's not a family would pretty
- 12:32much benefit from this. So yes, I'd say businesses
- 12:34and nonprofits are our main scope. But if you
- 12:39have a group of people that might not be getting
- 12:41along or want to do conflict better, we can certainly
- 12:44come to you. Okay. What does a workshop look
- 12:48like? So a workshop looks like, you know, we'll
- 12:51get a little information from you about You know,
- 12:55who's going to be there, what their positions
- 12:56are. And sometimes we like to have a few job
- 12:59descriptions about what the staff is dealing
- 13:01with. And if you have a lot of customer -focused
- 13:04issues, we like to know that ahead of time so
- 13:06we can make sure we're tailoring our training
- 13:08to some scenarios that are customer -based. If
- 13:11you are an internal organization and you really
- 13:14have some interpersonal conflict, we like to
- 13:16know a little bit about that so we can, you know,
- 13:18schedule our mark scenarios around. you know,
- 13:21those types of things. So we really want to make
- 13:23it customizable. And then we have a staff of
- 13:26trainers. There's four of us that will pop in,
- 13:28introduce ourselves. We pull up with a whiteboard
- 13:30and some handouts and we'll do a little training,
- 13:33do a little interactive activity. Sometimes we
- 13:35bring snacks and then we'll go over the materials
- 13:41that you've chosen. So we try and fit three distinct
- 13:44lessons into that 90 minute training and then
- 13:46we're out the door and you're on your way. Thank
- 13:48you. I want to clarify the scope and context
- 13:52of those conflict workshops. It sounds almost
- 13:56like you're teaching the group how to resolve
- 14:03conflicts within themselves. But what if there
- 14:09really isn't any and it's really just more for
- 14:12like, this is how we do it. for maybe our clients
- 14:16or more for each other it sounds like it could
- 14:20be variable depending on the circumstance yeah
- 14:22well i would say i would love to work in a place
- 14:24where there's no interpersonal conflict i have
- 14:26yet to find one um but there is a lot of like
- 14:30i said kind of that preventive training And there
- 14:34are all kinds of levels of conflict. There's
- 14:36internal conflict that you can have, and we have
- 14:38training on that. And there are so many different
- 14:41communication styles that we can bring you some
- 14:44information that can help prevent future conflict
- 14:47as well. Lots of people have a hard time, like
- 14:50I said, delivering bad news or hearing bad news.
- 14:53And sometimes when you work in a group, you're
- 14:56going to have to share some bad news with each
- 14:57other. And we can give you some tips, tricks
- 14:59on how best to do that and how to avoid a future
- 15:02conflict because it is just a part of the fabric
- 15:05of our lives. So it is inevitable, like death
- 15:10and taxes, and we like to give people the tools
- 15:12that they can tuck away for a rainy day when
- 15:15they do need to pull those out. That is, that's
- 15:18really, that's a little more clear. Thank you.
- 15:29You are listening to Resource Report on KAOS
- 15:32and my interview with Executive Director Laura
- 15:36Hight of the Community Mediation Center in Centralia.
- 15:39After a brief message, we'll be right back. Are
- 15:46you having a conflict with a roommate, professor,
- 15:48neighbor, co -worker, or partner? Do you want
- 15:51to learn how to communicate more effectively
- 15:53at the workplace, in class, and at home? The
- 15:56CARE Network on the Evergreen Campus and the
- 15:58Dispute Resolution Center in downtown Olympia
- 16:00provide mediation, conflict resolution, and training
- 16:03services to all South Sound residents, including
- 16:05students, staff, faculty, and other state employees.
- 16:09Evergreen Campus community members can contact
- 16:11the CARE Network at 360 -867 -5291, by email
- 16:16at carenetwork@evergreen.edu, or at their
- 16:20office in the Public Services Center, Seminar
- 16:222 Building, Room E, 2129. For all other South
- 16:26Sound residents, contact the Dispute Resolution
- 16:28Center at 360 -956 -1155, or visit mediatethurston
- 16:34.org. Welcome back to Resource Report. Let's
- 16:45return to hear more from our guest, Laura Hiight
- 16:48of the Community Mediation Center of Centralia.
- 16:59And you also have Parent -Teen Mediations. Yes.
- 17:04So this is another one that kind of sprung up
- 17:06from working with. people who are working on
- 17:10their parenting plan and you know when your kids
- 17:12are little they you know do what they're told
- 17:14they like to follow the rules when they're six
- 17:15and seven and eight it's pretty easy to kind
- 17:19of manage them and then as they get older they
- 17:21have more agency they have more ideas they want
- 17:23to express themselves in different ways and I
- 17:26think all parents struggle with that transition
- 17:29from kids who love to follow the rules to kids
- 17:32who love to challenge the rules and so we have
- 17:34found that sometimes including teens, and when
- 17:38I say that, I mean anyone from 12 to 20, in that
- 17:42parenting plan, not in the creation of it, because
- 17:44that's a legal document for adults, but in the
- 17:48dispute resolution of when we have a parenting
- 17:50plan and the parents love it but the kids don't
- 17:52how are we going to navigate that and how are
- 17:54we going to talk about these issues just because
- 17:56they're a minor just because they are you know
- 17:59under their parents household doesn't mean that
- 18:00they necessarily love all those rules so in certain
- 18:03situations we've been able to bring teens into
- 18:06that conversation and say you know tell me about
- 18:08what you're experiencing at home tell me about
- 18:10the boundaries that you want to establish tell
- 18:12me about some of the rules that your parents
- 18:14think are great that maybe you don't agree with
- 18:16and how can we work together a little bit more
- 18:19on a peer -to -peer level as these kids are getting
- 18:22their own autonomy they're going to be adults
- 18:24soon they're going to need to be able to negotiate
- 18:27and advocate for themselves and they can really
- 18:29start practicing that at home a lot of kids learn
- 18:32that at their first job but we're thinking, you
- 18:34know you can start that even earlier. So not all
- 18:37cases are good for parenting mediation, but a
- 18:40lot of them we find it's a huge relief for these
- 18:42kids to be able to sit down and speak uninterrupted
- 18:46to their parents. Sometimes we take that for
- 18:48granted. A lot of kids don't get that opportunity.
- 18:51So I'm looking forward to doing more of those
- 18:53in the future. That's huge to feel heard like
- 18:56that in the adult space. Yeah, I think it's at
- 18:59any age, it's important to feel heard. And I
- 19:02think a lot of times we see in our mediations.
- 19:04People can kind of talk themselves down just
- 19:07by being able to get things off their chest,
- 19:09being able to finish a sentence that they haven't
- 19:11been able to finish, even through tears or through
- 19:15anger. Sometimes that can diffuse a lot and you
- 19:18realize that your two positions are a lot closer
- 19:20than you thought. once you kind of get everything
- 19:22out on the table. And that's true for teens as
- 19:24well as adults. For sure. So do you have a Workplace
- 19:27Conflicts, Division of Property? Yeah. So we definitely
- 19:31do workplace conflict. And that would be similar
- 19:33to a mediation where we're responding to maybe
- 19:36a couple of different departments that are not
- 19:37getting along or a couple of different people
- 19:39within a department that are not getting along.
- 19:41Because just like our families, there is a specific
- 19:44workplace dynamic and there's friction, there's
- 19:47conflict. Just because you work with someone
- 19:48for a long time doesn't mean you necessarily
- 19:50get along with them sometimes it can be a difference
- 19:54in work styles sometimes it can be a difference
- 19:56in what everybody's having for lunch it doesn't
- 19:59really matter but over time I mean the people
- 20:01that we work with are kind of like our second
- 20:03family and sometimes when things do not get resolved
- 20:06they just tend to fester and tend to get worse
- 20:08and that can lead to high turnover if you're
- 20:11an employer and it can lead to really low job
- 20:13satisfaction if you're getting up every day to
- 20:15go to a place you don't want to go because you
- 20:17have a conflict with the person sitting next
- 20:19to you, we realize that can be as impactful as
- 20:22a divorce or a parenting plan mediation. So we
- 20:25can come in and work with groups of two up to
- 20:2715 or 20. We've done colleges, we've done small
- 20:31city governments, and we've done small businesses
- 20:34here in town. People working together is just,
- 20:37you're going to have conflict. So we can kind
- 20:39of come in, listen to each side individually,
- 20:42kind of parse out what the main issues are, and
- 20:44then have everyone sit down and come up with
- 20:47Kind of some new normals, some new working agreements
- 20:49of, you know, here's what's bothering everyone
- 20:51and can we get past it? And most of the time
- 20:54people want to get past it. It's usually a miscommunication
- 20:57or a misunderstanding. And we've been pleasantly
- 21:00surprised at the outcomes for those. Oh, for
- 21:02sure. You have some amazing testimonials there.
- 21:14I love that. What are the most handled cases
- 21:17you meet yet? What do you see the most? So I'll
- 21:21kind of just stick with parenting plans to start.
- 21:23And the issues that we see the most are when
- 21:27two parents separate and they're operating fine
- 21:30on their own. And then one of those or maybe
- 21:33both of those. starts a relationship with a new
- 21:36partner. And that can really change kind of the
- 21:39values and the practices and the schedules of
- 21:41the whole family and the kids get caught in the
- 21:43middle. So that is definitely a catalyst for
- 21:45people coming in and wanting to make changes
- 21:47to their parenting plan. Maybe they're in a relationship
- 21:49with someone who has kids of their own and they
- 21:51want to make sure those plans align. That's definitely
- 21:54something that we see a lot. So heads up that
- 21:57if that's the situation you're in, you may want
- 21:59to come and see us. Another one is just like
- 22:02I said earlier, kids going from that elementary
- 22:04school to middle school, high school age. The
- 22:07parenting plan that you have when your kids are
- 22:09young is really probably not going to work when
- 22:12the kids are older. They're teens, they're driving,
- 22:14they have social kind of pressures of their own.
- 22:17And so I would say, you know, to parents out
- 22:20there, you're probably going to have at least
- 22:22three different iterations of your parenting
- 22:24plan. And that's a good thing, because as you
- 22:26change as individuals, your kids will also change.
- 22:30the expectations that you have as a family, because
- 22:32you really are still a family, those can change
- 22:35as well. And so I would say that, you know, get
- 22:37used to revisiting that every few years and saying,
- 22:39does this parenting plan still work for our family?
- 22:41And if it doesn't, don't be afraid to come sit
- 22:44down and talk with us and change it. You'll be
- 22:45glad you did it sooner rather than later and
- 22:48waiting until everything, you know, goes off
- 22:50the rails. For sure. Is there any problem that's
- 23:03too small? Oh, no, there's no problem that's
- 23:06too small. We've had people come in and talk
- 23:09about, we've had people mediate about their pets
- 23:11specifically through the divorce. We've had people
- 23:15bring up Legos. We've had people bring up knitting
- 23:19supplies. We've had people bring up everything,
- 23:21whether it seems small to us, it's not small
- 23:26to them. It's your life. It's your struggle that
- 23:30you are faced with every day. And if you are
- 23:32losing sleep, if you are upset about it, then
- 23:36it's worth discussing. So I would say don't worry
- 23:38about anything feeling too small. If it's bothering
- 23:41you, it's not too small. Yeah, I ask specifically
- 23:44because I feel like some people might be embarrassed
- 23:46to come to you for like, I can't even think of
- 23:51any good examples, but I think Legos sounds like
- 23:53a good example of that. Which kid gets the Legos
- 23:59when the parents separate and which kid goes
- 24:02to live with the which parent? Exactly. Something
- 24:04like that. Legos are a big deal, man. It is.
- 24:07And they're not cheap either. So I understand
- 24:08it's an investment by parents. But no, I would
- 24:10say, you know, those smaller things are really
- 24:13just the tip of the iceberg, to use an overused
- 24:16metaphor. There are always things underneath
- 24:20the topics that bring people to us. And something
- 24:23that we've heard, you know, we've had cases recently
- 24:26that they come in about a business deal that
- 24:28gone wrong, and really it's about the apology
- 24:32that they want to hear. Or really it's about
- 24:34the fact that they felt taken for granted, or
- 24:36the fact that they felt taken advantage of. And
- 24:38yes, we're coming in to talk about the money,
- 24:40we're coming in to talk about the business, but
- 24:42really their feelings are hurt. And if you're
- 24:44coming in about something small, like Legos,
- 24:46maybe you're feeling unappreciated, maybe you're
- 24:48feeling taken for granted. Those are not small
- 24:50things. Those are not small feelings. If left
- 24:53unattended, they will only grow. So think of
- 24:56it as much as an emotional mediation as it is
- 24:58about the practicality. For sure. For sure. Thank
- 25:02you for that. Sure. Can you outline the process
- 25:16that one goes through? They fill out. The form
- 25:21online and then what? Definitely. So one of our
- 25:26kind of foundational core beliefs is we want
- 25:30to be accessible to everyone. And we want people
- 25:32to be able to approach conflict in any way that
- 25:35works for them. So you can walk into one of our
- 25:37offices. You can call us up on the phone or you
- 25:40can, like you mentioned. Click on our website
- 25:42and submit a form that basically just says, here's
- 25:44my name, here's my contact information, here's
- 25:47what county I live in. You can leave a brief
- 25:49description of your issue or you can just say,
- 25:50please contact me. Someone from our office will
- 25:53reach out to you. And every single one of our
- 25:55staff members is a trained and practicing mediator.
- 25:59So you're not going to get someone who doesn't
- 26:01actively mediate. So they're going to be able
- 26:03to answer your questions from firsthand information
- 26:05and knowledge, which I think is a huge benefit.
- 26:07You're going to be talking with a mediator when
- 26:08you call. They will talk about your situation
- 26:11and say, you know, what's going on. And you can
- 26:14kind of download maybe five minutes worth of
- 26:16your story, maybe 30 minutes worth of your story,
- 26:19however long it takes. And we will decide then
- 26:23if your case is something that we can mediate
- 26:25every now and then. Specifically, if there's
- 26:27some active domestic violence going on or if
- 26:30there's, you know, a few other extenuating circumstances,
- 26:32there's a few types of cases that we don't handle.
- 26:35So we may say, you know, this is something that
- 26:37you should seek legal advice before coming to
- 26:38us. But most cases can be mediated. And so what
- 26:42we'll do is we'll kind of talk about the process
- 26:45and explain what mediation looks like to you,
- 26:47answer any questions you have, and then we'll
- 26:50ask, would you like us to reach out to the other
- 26:52party? And if you say, okay, yeah, that sounds
- 26:54good. I think I understand what I'm getting myself
- 26:56into. This is a case that can be mediated. We
- 26:58will then contact the other party with whatever
- 27:00information you give us. So if you have a phone
- 27:02number or an email address or even a physical
- 27:04address, we can mail them a letter. And we'll
- 27:06say, hey, we've been contacted by so -and -so
- 27:08and they would like to mediate with you. We don't
- 27:10go into any details about what you told us. We
- 27:12just say, you know, is this something that you'd
- 27:14like to mediate and give them the general topic.
- 27:16You know, we're going to talk about a parenting
- 27:18plan or talk about a car. And then we answer
- 27:21all of that person's questions because a lot
- 27:23of people have no idea when they're being asked
- 27:24to mediate. What does that mean? You know, what
- 27:26am I being asked to do? Is this an attorney?
- 27:28And so we explain the whole process to the other
- 27:31side so you don't have to and answer all their
- 27:33questions. And if they say, Yeah, I don't know
- 27:36if I'm going to agree, but sure, I'll sit down
- 27:38and have the conversation and they agree to mediate.
- 27:41Then we can move forward and we don't collect
- 27:43any fees until that happens. So that's when we
- 27:45would reach out back to you and say, OK, so we
- 27:47reached out to the other party. We contacted
- 27:49them. We explained what mediation is and they
- 27:52would like to mediate because it's always voluntary.
- 27:55And then that's when we would send a fee letter
- 27:57out to both sides. And depending on the type
- 27:59of case, we do try and keep our fees very, very
- 28:01low. For a family parenting plan or divorce,
- 28:04it's $250 for each party, and that pays for two
- 28:08two -hour sessions. So you're getting four total
- 28:11hours of mediation time for $250 each, which
- 28:14I think holds up pretty well for attorney's fees,
- 28:16locally at least. So we do try and keep it manageable.
- 28:19And then we do have a sliding scale that we operate
- 28:23on. So if you have limited ability to pay or
- 28:29you have a lot of expenses and you're just not
- 28:31in a place where you can afford $250, we have
- 28:33a one -page, very brief application for those
- 28:37reduced fees that you can fill out online or
- 28:38you can fill out in our office. And we can reduce
- 28:41that all the way down to zero. If you really
- 28:43want to mediate and you have no means by which
- 28:45to pay, we will absolutely allow you to mediate.
- 28:48So we can take it all the way down to zero if
- 28:50we need to. Yeah, the application for reduced
- 28:54fee form looks pretty solid. There's a lot of
- 28:58different things to mark off. It's collecting
- 29:01your financial information and what kind of support
- 29:09that you're already receiving and things like
- 29:13that. It looks pretty good. This is all good
- 29:17and confidential, safe format online. Absolutely.
- 29:21Yeah. So confidentiality, we take very seriously.
- 29:23You know, we're asking people to share things
- 29:25that are very personal, both in the mediation
- 29:27session and their financial information online.
- 29:29So we make sure that that's absolutely confidential
- 29:31and only handled by the people that need to know
- 29:34it. Yeah. The question on the cost of services
- 29:38page, the parent team, it says a 155 slash no
- 29:43cost. Absolutely. So. So again, if there is absolutely
- 29:51no ability to pay, we are going to offer our
- 29:53services for free. However, a lot of people do
- 29:57have the ability to pay, and we find that when
- 29:59people are financially invested, they are also
- 30:02emotionally and intellectually invested as well.
- 30:06So we do feel like there is a value to our services,
- 30:09and if people have the ability to pay, we like
- 30:10to give them the opportunity to do so, to keep
- 30:13us supported, keep our doors open for the people
- 30:15that really can't. So what we like to do with
- 30:17the parent -teen mediation is we're not going
- 30:19to charge the teens for mediation. Most of them
- 30:21don't have jobs or if they do, you know, those
- 30:22dollars are very precious to them. However, most
- 30:25of the parents do have that ability. So we'll,
- 30:28you know, charge the parents $150, which is,
- 30:31you know, pretty minimal. And then, you know,
- 30:33we don't charge the teen anything and come in
- 30:35and mediate for them. In the third column there,
- 30:48there's three columns, the type of service, the
- 30:51cost, and then how long the session is. And then
- 30:54you have each parent or per person or per party
- 30:59or per address. And so that slash no cost, that
- 31:04signifies the teenager. Yes, we could probably
- 31:08make that a little more clear on our website.
- 31:10Okay, cool. And then the rest of that process.
- 31:23So then the parties meet together with you guys.
- 31:26So once everyone has paid their fees, whatever
- 31:29that is deemed appropriate, then we schedule
- 31:31the mediation. And typically from the time someone
- 31:34contacts us to the time that people are sitting
- 31:36down having a mediation, we try and keep that,
- 31:38you know, within four to five weeks. If it's
- 31:42an emergency situation, we can certainly make
- 31:44that faster. But we find that about a month is
- 31:46pretty typical. So we can do all of our services
- 31:49through Zoom if we need to. We know Lewis County
- 31:51is a very wide county. And so sometimes folks
- 31:53are living, you know, way out in Raymond or something
- 31:57like that or PL and they don't want to drive
- 31:59all the way in or they can't drive all the way
- 32:00in. We can do everything virtually as long as
- 32:02you have Internet. Are you able to do over the
- 32:06phone? We can do that as well. So we can do over
- 32:10the phone mediation. Even if folks want to do
- 32:13it by Zoom, but they don't have internet, they
- 32:14can come into our office and mediate from here.
- 32:17So sometimes we have parents living in Arizona
- 32:19or California and we don't make them come all
- 32:22the way up here. So, you know, you could come
- 32:23sit in our office and Zoom to them. So we try
- 32:26and make it as easy as possible for folks to
- 32:29do that. But yes, we can do it over the phone.
- 32:31So we'll schedule you for your mediation. And
- 32:34then you'll come and sit down and either, you
- 32:36know, screen to screen or face to face. You'll
- 32:38mediate and the mediators will go over. The whole
- 32:41process, they'll explain, you know, kind of the
- 32:43ground rules. And that's where the two of you
- 32:45talk with the guidance of the mediator and come
- 32:47up with your own solutions. Sounds wonderful.
- 32:50Sounds pretty easy. Sounds pretty easy. I imagine
- 32:54sometimes it's not. Yes, it can certainly get
- 32:58emotional in there. And sometimes we go three,
- 33:01four or five sessions with folks because their
- 33:03issues are complex. even if folks do not reach
- 33:08agreement and they come in and they work hard
- 33:10and they share their point of view and they go
- 33:12back and forth and back and forth and they reach
- 33:15no consensus, we generally find that that is
- 33:19not wasted time because you know... more about
- 33:22the other person's point of view than you did
- 33:24before. You hopefully have felt heard and validated
- 33:27by being able to get your point of view across.
- 33:29And even if you don't reach resolution today,
- 33:32sometimes a good night of rest and a cup of coffee
- 33:35in the morning can help you see things more clearly.
- 33:37Or even if you do continue on to court, you are
- 33:40better prepared knowing the other person's point
- 33:43of view and have said your piece. So we don't
- 33:46find that mediation is ever wasted, even if it
- 33:48is. difficult to get through. So I encourage
- 33:51anyone to give it a shot, even if they think,
- 33:53oh, there's no way this person's going to agree.
- 33:55It still could be a valuable tool. For sure.
- 33:59Has it ever happened that there's a repeat mediation
- 34:03that we had this one session and now we got to
- 34:07go back and do it again? Yeah, I would say a
- 34:09lot of our family cases, so parenting or parenting
- 34:14plan or divorces usually go to two sessions we
- 34:18sometimes will assign some homework in that first
- 34:20session a lot of times people will come in and
- 34:22they realize out they're missing some information
- 34:24that they need in order to make a good decision
- 34:26so you know we give people a couple weeks to
- 34:29go gather that information And then come back
- 34:31together with all those details. So yeah, I think
- 34:34coming back for that second session, which of
- 34:36course is no additional charge that's included
- 34:38in whatever fee you pay. So there's no pressure
- 34:40to resolve things in that first session. You've
- 34:43already paid for the second one. So give it a
- 34:46break and come on back. Okay, that's really good
- 34:49to know. And I was going to ask that actually.
- 34:51And I see that some of them have two two -hour
- 34:56sessions and some of them are one. two -hour
- 35:00session so what what happens if you have like
- 35:04the parent teen or the landlord tenant um which
- 35:08are having like a one two -hour session what
- 35:12if uh you've got to have more than one session
- 35:15sure so in those typically we find that the issue
- 35:19at hand can usually get resolved in 90 minutes
- 35:21to two hours especially in landlord tenant issues
- 35:23they can be pretty straightforward But if we
- 35:26do need to go to another session, we can either
- 35:28do that at no cost if there is no ability to
- 35:30pay. The most we would ever charge for an additional
- 35:32session would be $50. So if you really feel like,
- 35:35I really want to come back and have another two
- 35:37hours, you know, you're not going to be starting
- 35:39the whole process over with another session.
- 35:41You'd, you know, pay the $50 fee and get right
- 35:44back in there. And you don't have to go to the
- 35:46back of the line. You can, you know, reschedule
- 35:48it at a time that's convenient for you. So we
- 35:50really try and make it as affordable and easy
- 35:52to do as possible. Oh, that's so good to know.
- 35:55Thank you. So all of these different type of
- 36:11consultations you have here tend to be You know,
- 36:18we said what they are about. But have have you
- 36:22ever had to mediate something with someone involving
- 36:27other legal matters? That's a good question.
- 36:32And yes, especially when there is a division
- 36:34of property, there's a house that needs to be
- 36:36sold or there's a. you know, property line infringement
- 36:40or something. There's so many laws in our great
- 36:42country that, you know, pretty much everything
- 36:44you can sue over or there's a legal ramification,
- 36:48contracts, things like that. So we do not practice
- 36:51law and we make sure that people know that. We
- 36:53are here to help folks come up with. a practical
- 36:56solution, and we always recommend that people
- 36:58get legal advice, whether they have a cousin
- 37:01who's an attorney and they want to ask them a
- 37:03question and that's their version of legal advice,
- 37:05or they want to retain an attorney and pay all
- 37:08the fees. There's also some free legal aid available
- 37:11through some various avenues. I'm sure you're
- 37:13aware of what's available. We do really recommend
- 37:17that people seek legal advice because we do not
- 37:19practice law and we want to make sure that if
- 37:21people are going to be writing a legal agreement.
- 37:24that looks good to them, that they get a second
- 37:26set of eyes on it. We do feel like people should
- 37:29have the agency and the autonomy to make decisions
- 37:31for themselves. But we do live in a world that
- 37:34has rules that sometimes we're unaware of. So
- 37:36even if you have an agreement that looks really
- 37:38solid to you, it doesn't hurt to take it and
- 37:40have that second opinion and say, hey, let's
- 37:42just hold up legally just in case, you know,
- 37:44something goes wrong. So we would recommend that,
- 37:48you know, people seek that advice. Yeah. I do
- 38:00wonder, have y 'all had to deal with anything
- 38:04involving ICE? No, we have not. So thankfully,
- 38:10that is not something that we've had to deal
- 38:11with. I hope we never do, but I don't think we're
- 38:16not trained in immigration law or anything along
- 38:19those lines. It's not legal. Yeah, no, I would...
- 38:24I don't know if that's a great question, but
- 38:26no, we haven't come up with anything yet. Yeah.
- 38:29Previously, when I first asked about legal stuff,
- 38:33there was someone who had an attorney through
- 38:40the state, but that attorney was not actually
- 38:43really supporting her in her case. And so I was
- 38:48curious if a mediation of how can I resolve this
- 38:55issue with my attorney who's not actually doing
- 38:58their job? Is that something that kind of comes
- 39:01a little... Mediating between the client and
- 39:04the attorney, you mean? Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
- 39:06Any two parties that want to walk in, we can
- 39:09absolutely mediate something like that. The two
- 39:12cornerstones of mediation that I think apply
- 39:15to the situation that you just mentioned would
- 39:17be balancing power. So a lot of times when there's
- 39:20a dispute, one person will feel like they don't
- 39:23have as much power as the other person. And that
- 39:25could be maybe they make more money, maybe they
- 39:28have a better education, maybe, you know, they're
- 39:30older and wiser, whatever it is. There's usually
- 39:33a perceived power imbalance, and sometimes there
- 39:36can be an actual power imbalance. And in the
- 39:38situation you're talking about where you have
- 39:40someone who maybe, you know, has questionable
- 39:42immigration status or has, you know, issues with
- 39:45their... residency versus an attorney who may
- 39:48have the perceived authority in this issue, there
- 39:50could be a power imbalance. And that's where
- 39:53the mediators can come in and help neutralize
- 39:55that, where we try and make it an even playing
- 39:57field. And I'm not going to go into all of the
- 39:59different tactics that the mediators can employ,
- 40:02but a balance of power is really important. And
- 40:06then self -advocacy is important. We live in
- 40:10a society where there's a lot of advocating for
- 40:15others. And I think there is a huge place for
- 40:17that, whether you are a victim, whether you are
- 40:20struggling with any kind of issue, you want to
- 40:23have an advocate, you want to have someone in
- 40:25your corner. And that can be really difficult
- 40:27when people want their mediator to be their advocate.
- 40:29And it's one of the few places where we're not
- 40:31supposed to advocate for you. You need to advocate
- 40:33for yourself. And some people are not ready to
- 40:36do that. Some people need an advocate, in which
- 40:39case I would say you're not ready for mediation
- 40:40yet, and that's okay. Um, but you have to be
- 40:44able to speak your mind and speak up for yourself.
- 40:47And sometimes once you balance that power, people
- 40:49find that they really can't advocate for themselves.
- 40:52And so, um, those are the, the two cornerstones
- 40:54of mediation would be that neutrality and then
- 40:57being able to self -advocate. Oh, I'm glad that
- 41:00you brought up the word advocate because, um,
- 41:03there are community Maybe for whatever, I'm imagining
- 41:13a scenario and there's a lot of different scenarios.
- 41:17But for an example, someone maybe has experienced
- 41:22a lot of trauma and just is not in the space
- 41:26where they can emotionally regulate themselves
- 41:28and advocate for themselves. receive a service
- 41:32from another organization to advocate, help them
- 41:35advocate for themselves and come in and advocate
- 41:38for them. Would you, would you mediate a situation
- 41:42where someone brought in an advocate for themselves?
- 41:45Absolutely. So yes, that has come up in multiple
- 41:48scenarios and we absolutely can do that. We want
- 41:52to make sure that the person who is an advocate
- 41:55is a support person and not a spokesperson. So
- 41:58they are welcome to either wait in the waiting
- 42:00room. Sometimes people want to have them wait
- 42:02in the car downstairs. It's the moral support.
- 42:04If they want to be in the room with them, that's
- 42:06absolutely fine, too. We try and give them the
- 42:08least amount of support that they feel they need
- 42:11because the self -advocacy is important. But
- 42:14if you need someone sitting right there next
- 42:16to you. holding your hand absolutely will allow
- 42:19that to happen um we just need to make sure that
- 42:21the other side is aware that that person is going
- 42:23to be there and if they want to bring an advocate
- 42:25they can that doesn't mean that you know you
- 42:27bring a whole posse of people in we really want
- 42:30to make sure that people understand that that
- 42:31person is there to support you in you speaking
- 42:34for yourself um and that's usually what happens
- 42:36i don't think we've ever had um a situation like
- 42:40that go awry it's usually really important that
- 42:42that support person is there to give them that
- 42:45physical and emotional mental support that they
- 42:48need. And those mediations tend to go really
- 42:51well. I like how you draw a clear line between
- 42:55facilitation and advocating and what your role
- 42:59is and what their role is. Yeah, and I hope so.
- 43:02Sometimes it can be hard for people to hear that
- 43:04because we live in a place where there's lots
- 43:05of cheerleaders and lots of advocates, and I'm
- 43:07all in favor of that. And sometimes when people
- 43:11hire an attorney, your attorney works for you.
- 43:13And as mediators, we don't necessarily work for
- 43:16you. We're working for a resolution and we're
- 43:18working for the two of you to come up with your
- 43:20own solution. We don't get a bonus if you agree
- 43:24or don't agree. It really is up to you. And sometimes
- 43:26folks get in the room and they're not ready to
- 43:29agree. And we, in good faith, can't keep the
- 43:31conversation going. And sometimes we say, you
- 43:33know what, I think you guys do need attorneys
- 43:35or I think you need to take this somewhere else.
- 43:39That's okay. Mediation is a good option, but
- 43:41it's not the only option to resolve your issues.
- 43:42For sure. You're an unbiased third party. That's
- 43:45right. That's what we strive to be. That's great.
- 43:56A large part. of being afraid in conflict is
- 44:01the emotional dysregulation that comes with it.
- 44:04Have you had to utilize tools and teach people
- 44:09how to emotionally regulate themselves to be
- 44:12able to move forward? Absolutely. And a big part
- 44:16of our intake when we're getting to know people,
- 44:18we just call it conflict coaching. Usually conflict
- 44:23comes down to miscommunication or unmet expectations.
- 44:27And a lot of people don't know what to expect
- 44:29when they go into mediation. They don't know
- 44:31if they're going to feel emotional. They don't
- 44:33know if they're going to feel angry. And so we
- 44:37will kind of prepare them by saying, here's what
- 44:38it's going to be like. We can prep them with
- 44:40some questions and say, you know, let's kind
- 44:43of role play a little bit. And they can. say
- 44:46some of those things out loud to a neutral third
- 44:48party before they get into the mediation and
- 44:50that can really help prepare people sometimes
- 44:52just saying things out loud and hearing your
- 44:54own voice say some of these things that you haven't
- 44:57had the chance to speak is really powerful and
- 45:00so we do some conflict coaching and we always
- 45:02want to make sure that people feel prepared for
- 45:04that mediation. And of course, just like any
- 45:06other highly emotional situation, you can take
- 45:09breaks at any time. You can step outside. No
- 45:11one's going to force you to stay in that mediation
- 45:13room. If things do get heated or emotional in
- 45:16a way that you are maybe surprised by, we can
- 45:19always kind of step away, come back in five minutes,
- 45:22come back in five days, come back in five weeks
- 45:24if we need to. So it's a very low pressure environment.
- 45:36Have you ever had a conflict mediation session
- 45:40where maybe emotions escalated? And someone felt
- 45:49unsafe, perhaps. And then when maybe the police
- 45:54needed to be called or something along those
- 45:56lines. Has anything gotten really crazy like
- 45:58that before? Thankfully, no, we've never had
- 46:00to call the police. We absolutely have protocols
- 46:02in place and we do annual training for safety
- 46:05just because it is a highly emotional tinderbox
- 46:10in here at times. And we recognize that. So,
- 46:13no, we've never had to call the police, but we
- 46:15do have our own personal training on safety.
- 46:17We have safety protocols in place. You know,
- 46:20we've got the alarms if we need them. We don't
- 46:23allow any weapons on the property, of course,
- 46:24which is a rule that we really stick to, especially
- 46:26in Lewis County. People love to have their sidearms,
- 46:28and that's not allowed in the mediation room.
- 46:31But the mediators we have, whether they're staff
- 46:35or volunteers, are really attuned to kind of
- 46:39see where things are going. And as neutral third
- 46:42parties, we have some good objective observation
- 46:45skills because we are not blinded by the emotion
- 46:50that they are. Sometimes we can see when things
- 46:52are getting heated and we can separate, we can
- 46:54calm down, we can use those de -escalation tactics
- 46:56that we train others to use. We absolutely employ
- 46:59those in the mediation rooms. usually they're
- 47:02quite successful. Sometimes people just need
- 47:04time. And so the session does need to end. And
- 47:07we've had to do that a few times where we say,
- 47:08okay, this has reached its natural conclusion
- 47:11for today and we're going to separate and give
- 47:13you some time. And that doesn't mean it's a failure.
- 47:15It just means that, you know, we're full up on
- 47:17emotion for that day and we need to separate
- 47:19and come back another time. Oh, that's so good
- 47:22to know and so helpful. Oh, good. I'm glad you
- 47:25think so. Yeah. Do you work with other organizations
- 47:36outside of the whole dispute resolution? Yes,
- 47:41so we do. So we have partners in both counties
- 47:44that are pretty strong. We work with the Salvation
- 47:45Army in both counties as well. I sit on the board
- 47:48for Cowlitz County Salvation Army Advisory Board.
- 47:50Counties being? Lewis County and Cowlitz County.
- 47:52Okay. And then we also work with the Lower Columbia
- 47:56Community Action Program down in Cowlitz County.
- 47:59They help a lot. I believe they have an arm up
- 48:01here as well. They help with other services like
- 48:04housing and providing funding for folks who are
- 48:07looking for housing. Then it's formerly Cowlitz
- 48:12-Wahkiakum Legal Aid, but I believe they've rebranded
- 48:14as Timberland Legal Aid. They have started providing
- 48:16services in Lewis County from Cowlitz County.
- 48:19And so they can provide you with legal advice
- 48:22that we can't. So I know that is a much needed
- 48:24service in both Thurston and Lewis County is.
- 48:27getting that affordable, approachable legal advice.
- 48:30So a lot of times we'll refer people to their
- 48:33services and say, you know, I think this is a
- 48:36great solution that you've come up with, but
- 48:38I think you should have an attorney take a look
- 48:39at it. So we partner with them. Oh, that's awesome.
- 48:52How can people get involved? Are you hiring?
- 48:56Do you have volunteering, donating? Yeah. We're
- 49:01not hiring right now. We have an amazing staff.
- 49:02There's seven of us between the two counties
- 49:04that kind of balance all of our programs, and
- 49:07they're a very hardworking staff. I'm very lucky
- 49:10in that regard. And then we do have kind of a
- 49:12small cadre of volunteers who are well -trained.
- 49:16They go through a basic mediator training, which
- 49:18is a 40 -hour initial training. They do up to
- 49:2212 hours of observing live mediations just as
- 49:25a silent, you know, fly on the wall. And then
- 49:27they have to go through a mock mediation and
- 49:29a written test. Once they pass all of that, usually
- 49:32takes six to 12 months, and then they can go
- 49:36and be a co -mediator. So we use a co -mediation
- 49:38model, meaning that any of your sessions, there's
- 49:41going to be two mediators for any two parties
- 49:43that are there. So they would be paired up with
- 49:45a senior mediator who would kind of take the
- 49:47lead, make sure everything stays on track and
- 49:49follows the structure that we have. And then
- 49:52after about a year of that, they can certify
- 49:55to become a senior mediator. So yes, we take
- 49:57volunteers. It is also a pretty stringent and
- 50:01rigorous volunteer opportunity. I know it's not
- 50:03for everyone. It takes some time. It takes some
- 50:05commitment. We do provide the training at a very,
- 50:09very discounted rate for folks who volunteer
- 50:11with us. And then people can just come and volunteer
- 50:14their time, which we are extremely grateful for.
- 50:16We would not be able to operate at the level
- 50:18we do without our army of volunteers. And then,
- 50:22of course, we also take donations. So the donations
- 50:25go to keep our fees low. We, you know, just do
- 50:30one fundraiser year. We usually do the Give Local
- 50:32South Puget Sound fundraiser, which we just did
- 50:35in November. That's kind of our big push to raise
- 50:37funds. We also receive some funds from the counties
- 50:41to kind of keep the lights on, keep things moving
- 50:43along so we can keep those fees low from people.
- 50:46But yeah, we'll definitely take your donations.
- 50:57Anyone out there listening, we do have a board
- 50:59of directors and we're always looking to add
- 51:01to that. So that's another way that you can volunteer.
- 51:03It's a lot less time consuming. So we have about
- 51:0810 board meetings a year. It's an hour long on
- 51:10a Friday. Everybody just zooms in. But we're
- 51:14looking for folks. We have three folks from Lewis
- 51:16County, three folks from Cowlitz County, and
- 51:19we would love to continue to add and get up to
- 51:21maybe eight or 10. people any experience is welcome
- 51:24because conflict is pretty universal. You probably
- 51:27have some experience with it. We have some attorneys
- 51:29on there. We've got some teachers on there. We've
- 51:32got some retirees. We have some business professionals.
- 51:36We would love to get some folks from Centralia
- 51:39College on there or even someone from one of
- 51:42the local high schools to pop in and be a board
- 51:44member. We'd like to kind of diversify our age
- 51:46range. So if you are looking for 20 hours a year
- 51:50that you can spare to volunteer. We would love
- 51:52to have you. There's a way that you can click
- 51:54on our website. There's a little form you can
- 51:58fill out if you'd like to be a board member.
- 51:59We would love to talk with you. So what's the
- 52:02process to become a board member? So you would
- 52:06reach out to me and I would like to get to meet
- 52:09you, have a conversation, find out what your
- 52:11interest is and kind of what you're up to and
- 52:13where you see yourself going. And then we have,
- 52:16I think, a two -page application that kind of
- 52:18talks about what other service organizations
- 52:20you have been a part of or are currently a part
- 52:22of and what your interest is in mediation. And
- 52:25we take that to the board. We all talk about
- 52:28you before you get there for a few minutes and
- 52:30make sure that, you know, we don't have any conflicts
- 52:32of interest. then we take a vote and bring you
- 52:36on board. So it's pretty low key. We have a great
- 52:39group right now. So if you have no board experience,
- 52:42don't worry about it. We have some seasoned veterans
- 52:44who would be able to kind of bring you under
- 52:45their wing. And it's a really great way to be
- 52:48involved in your community in a leadership role
- 52:50with very little experience. And there's not
- 52:52a lot of opportunities out there like that. So
- 52:54yeah, it's a good opportunity if you're looking
- 52:57to build your resume. Cool. Do you accept internships?
- 53:02We have never had an internship, but that has
- 53:04been something that we've been kicking around
- 53:06for a long time just because dispute resolution
- 53:08is half art, half science. And it's really one
- 53:11of those hands -on skills like counseling or
- 53:14teaching where an internship would be very useful.
- 53:17So that is something that we've looked into,
- 53:19but we've not done one yet. Okay, that's good
- 53:22to know. Is there anything else you would like
- 53:33to share? I would just like to encourage people
- 53:37who have an interest in mediation to reach out
- 53:40to your local DRCs and take a training. There's
- 53:43the 40 hour training, which is obviously, you
- 53:45know, time consuming, but there are smaller trainings
- 53:47out there. There's videos out there. If you have
- 53:49a family or if you have a job or if you see people.
- 53:54you have conflict in your life. And whether or
- 53:56not you're in the middle of that conflict, or
- 53:58you're just observing it, you can help be a part
- 54:01of the solution. And so I would say, you know,
- 54:03our vision is to have communities where anyone
- 54:06can approach conflict with confidence and hope.
- 54:10And a lot of people do not approach conflict
- 54:13with confidence and hope, but it is possible.
- 54:16So I would just encourage you to reach out and
- 54:18get the training, whether it's from our DRC,
- 54:20someone else. You know, look up a TED Talk, look
- 54:23up a video. Don't be afraid of conflict. It's
- 54:25out there and it's not something that you have
- 54:28to be afraid of. I love being a part of the Lewis
- 54:31County nonprofit organization and happy to be
- 54:34here today. Thank you so much. Thank you so much,
- 54:38Laura. You're welcome. If you would like to learn
- 54:48more, get involved, or find resolution, you can
- 54:51go to communitymediationcenters .org for support
- 54:57in Lewis and Cowlitz counties, or call 360 -623
- 55:03-8061, or email lewis@communitymediationcenters
- 55:09.org for Lewis County, and for Cowlitz, call
- 55:14360 - 232 -8622 or email cowlitz@communitymediationcenters
- 55:23.org. You can also stop by in person at 500 West
- 55:29Main Street, number 11 in Centralia and 1338
- 55:34Commerce Avenue Suite. For mediation in Thurston
- 55:41County, visit MediateThurston .org. And to find
- 55:46dispute resolution centers in other parts of
- 55:49Washington, please visit ResolutionWA .org. Also
- 55:55important to note is that the intake forms do
- 55:59not work on Firefox, but do work on Microsoft
- 56:03Edge and Google Chrome. Mac or Linux users, if
- 56:08you have any trouble, please let Laura and her
- 56:10team know. That's it for today's Resource Report
- 56:22produced by Pathways to Agency. At Pathways to
- 56:26Agency, we are driven by the belief that everyone
- 56:28should have the tools and support to achieve
- 56:31their goals and thrive in their communities.
- 56:34Our mission is to bridge the gaps in understanding,
- 56:37accessibility, and trust by connecting individuals
- 56:40to resources and sharing information and processes
- 56:45that can lead to personal and community growth.
- 56:49Resource Report offers information about existing
- 56:52and emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
- 56:56Find out more at pathwaystoagency .org. You can
- 57:01also find our shows archived indefinitely on
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- 57:11report. KAOS Radio is not responsible or liable
- 57:16for any views or opinions expressed in the interviews
- 57:19conducted by Resource Report. Till next time,
- 57:22and thanks for listening.