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             Donate Equipment or supplies directly to our member centers

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     Community Mediation Maryland's mission is to advance the use of mediation in Maryland through educating the public, training, networking, research and the creation of new community mediation centers. Community Mediation Maryland's hope is that you will help fund our mission.

     Community Mediation Maryland is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We support independent, community mediation centers throughout Maryland.

Community Mediation Maryland is partially funded by the State Judiciary's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) and a two-year grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

     Mediation is an effective method for resolving conflict. Conflict costs in damaged relationships, lost productivity, property damage and expenses for police, the court system and multiple other government agencies. Mediation gets to underlying issues and empowers people to resolve their differences. It effectively rebuilds relationships, reduces violence, and helps communities, governments and other organizations to operate more productively and harmoniously. Community mediation is a low cost, often free resource for people in conflict and it supports, is integrated into and governed by the community that it serves.

     Community Mediation Maryland was incorporated in November, 1999 and established its non-profit status in June, 2000. We advance the use of community mediation by supporting the establishment and growth of community mediation centers throughout Maryland. While we are a membership organization, we charge no membership fees. Centers become members of Community Mediation Maryland by submitting a plan for following our 10-point model of community mediation. The 10-point model embodies concepts of accessibility, high quality community service and integration into the community. Community Mediation Maryland supports its community mediation centers through:

   Development & administration, in collaboration with MACRO, of a nationally recognized funding model that MACRO uses to help fund community mediation centers.

   Providing ongoing technical assistance to start-up centers and existing centers.

   Conducting a variety of on-site trainings, including 50-hour skills-based, interactive basic mediation training sessions that are free for all of our member centers.

   Implementation of a nationally recognized two-year research project that will provide comprehensive statistical measures on why mediation is effective and what cost savings can be generated. The project will also establish quality assurance measures that will be integrated into our training program.

   Production of a 13-minute video on the co-mediation model to assist our centers with outreach and education. The video has also been distributed to numerous states in the U.S and in several foreign countries.

   Development of a website that increases state and national awareness of our centers, Community Mediation Maryland's work and provides a vehicle for networking among our members.

     As a result of Community Mediation Maryland's support of community mediation centers in Maryland:

   The number of mediation centers has increased from 10 to 15.

   Mediation centers in Maryland have accomplished an overall increase of 23% in outreach, 84% in intakes and 48% in mediation sessions in the past year.

     Community Mediation Maryland has received national recognition through their support of community mediation centers in Maryland, including:

   A University of Virginia study called "Community Mediation Trends and Needs: A Study of Virginia and Ten States". Cited Community Mediation Maryland as one of "…the strongest mediation support organizations in the United States."

   Serving on a committee of the National Association for Community Mediation Centers (NAFCM) to develop a collection and evaluation of all of the major community mediation funding models in the country.

   Participating in a MACRO sponsored, three year, statewide collaborative effort to develop a Mediator Quality Assurance model for Maryland.

   Being invited to present the funding model described earlier in Virginia, Tennessee& California.

     It is our hope that you or your organization shares our vision for safer and more productive communities, businesses and government through increased access to affordable conflict resolution methods offered in our community mediation centers.