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Donate
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WE NEED YOUR HELP
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The Wayne Mediation Center is a 501 (c) non-profit organization that relies on community
support in order to offer free and low cost mediation services. You donation is
tax deductible and goes to support a variety of initiatives.
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We welcome all contributions but we’d like to show you an example of
The Power of Your Generosity.
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Here is what your donation can do |
$55 Put a truant child back in school.
Read about Angela.
Read
more... |
$117 Bring peace between neighbors. Did a mediation save a life?
Read
more...
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$475 Find a permanent home for a child.
Read about Sam.
Read more... |
$995 Sponsor a conflict management workshop at your organization.
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$55 Put a truant child back
in school. Read about Angela.
Angelina Garcia, a second grader at a Detroit public school, had accrued 29 unexcused
absences when her mother received a letter from Angelina’s school inviting her to
attend truancy prevention mediation as an alternative to the school’s filing a truancy
petition with the Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney. Mrs. Garcia arrived at the
school on the morning of the mediation feeling angry and frustrated. She quickly
let the mediators, the school principal, and attendance coordinator know that she
was not about to send her daughter to school if it meant jeopardizing her safety.
Upon further questioning by the mediators, the mother, through her tears, explained
that she had been raped by a neighbor as a young girl while walking in her neighborhood
and that her goal was to protect her only daughter at all costs. The mother explained
she had a serious health condition that meant she could not get out of bed on some
days due to unbearable pain, and on those days she could not walk her daughter to
school. She was a single mom with no car, and the neighborhoods that Angelina has
to traverse to get to school are dangerous due to high gang and criminal activity.
They lived too close to the school to qualify for school bus transportation, but
their home is a 6-7 block distance from the school nonetheless. So, on the days
when Mrs. Garcia was unable to get out of bed, Angelina stayed home, rather than
walk to and from school alone.
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The school staff, upon hearing Mrs. Garcia’s concerns in the mediation conference,
began brainstorming to find a way to get Angelina to school every day. The attendance
coordinator offered to look into finding another family in a nearby neighborhood
who might be able to help with transportation, but because of the mother’s fears
and concerns about sending her daughter off with strangers from the neighborhood,
this was not an acceptable solution. The principal then contacted the school administration
to obtain a special waiver for bus transportation for Angelina. The principal discussed
the impact the absences were having on Angelina’s academic progress and she also
talked with Mrs. Garcia about the safety measures the school takes with children
during the school day, how they are supervised at recess, during before and after
school programs, and about her concerns that Angelina may feel over-protected by
her mom as she grows. Mrs. Garcia agreed and began to cry again. The family was
offered the option of parenting counseling by a social service agency partnering
with the Wayne Mediation Center truancy prevention mediation program, which Mrs.
Garcia agreed to contact if she feels the need to talk to someone about her fears
and concerns for her daughter in the future.
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Although the names of the parties were changed in the above example, this was an
actual case that was mediated in Southwest Detroit by Wayne Mediation Center mediators.
Family and school problems benefit from the use of mediation for several reasons.
Mediation provides a “safe” and neutral forum for parties to air their frustrations
and concerns and to hear those of others. Mediation is able to address issues quickly
so that problems are not left to “fester.” In the case of truancy issues, the school,
parents, student are partners in finding a solution to the problems preventing attendance,
saving important days, weeks, even months of learning and educational opportunities
that would otherwise be missed.
$55 can cover the cost of staffing several truancy mediations.
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$117 Bring peace between neighbors.
Did a mediation save a life?
Roger and Samuel came to the Center by way of referral from a Wayne County judge.
Samuel was being charged for reckless use of a firearm. This dispute started over
a parking space. Roger asked Samuel to move his car from in front of Roger’s house
and when Samuel refused the two began to argue. The argument ended when Samuel pulled
out his gun and fired a shot in the air. When the parties arrived at mediation neither
were confident that they would reach an agreement.
Roger and Samuel grew up in the same neighborhood. They had never been friends but
knew of each other. Ten years prior to the mediation they had an altercation that
forged a grudge between the two ever since. For the past ten years then, whenever
they crossed paths there was ‘bad blood.’ Tension between the two only escalated
with time. At mediation they were able to discuss the past incidents. It was important
to them that they share that they were no longer the person they were ten years
ago. Each apologized for their part in their troubled past. |
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Additionally, they found out that each valued their family above all else. They
each had straightened themselves out and were raising families. Nothing, they said,
was more important to them than caring for and protecting their families. They did
not leave best friends but they left understanding that they had similar values
and similar priorities.
Without this mediation however, said one of the parties, the next time we met someone
was probably going to get hurt or killed.
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At the end of the mediation the men shook hands and agreed to move forward in mutual
respect.
$117.00 covers one party’s costs for many types of mediations. Your donation supports
our efforts in offering professional mediation as an alternative to other more adversarial
forms of conflict management for those who otherwise would not have this opportunity.
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$475 Find a permanent home
for a child. Read about Sam.
Sam, an 11-year old boy, had lived in the same foster home for 4 years. At the time
his foster mother first considered adoption, Sam objected and said he wasn’t ready
to be adopted. His foster mother decided to give him time, respect his wishes, and
let Sam know he was welcome to live with her as long as he wanted and that she wouldn’t
force him into a relationship he wasn’t ready for. Nonetheless, Sam’s case was on
a track toward permanency and the purchase of service agency began to search for
other adoptive placements when the foster mother indicated she was not willing to
adopt him at that time. Sam’s maternal aunt was located. She had lost track of Sam
before his parents’ rights were terminated. When Sam’s aunt discovered that he was
eligible for adoption, and learned that his foster mother was refusing to adopt
Sam, she filed a petition to adopt him. Around that time, Sam decided adoption by
his foster mother would be okay, so she also petitioned for adoption. Both homes
were approved, and Michigan Children's Institute (MCI) was charged with choosing
between the foster home where Sam had lived so long and the relative aunt with whom
he had had a relationship when he was younger. During this process, the foster mom
and aunt, who were now engaged in a ‘competition’ for Sam, became quite critical
of one another, even though they had never met. The aunt was convinced that Sam’s
foster mom didn’t really want him enough to adopt him, but had filed her petition
out of spite only after she heard about the aunt’s intent. The foster mom wondered
why the aunt hadn’t expressed interest earlier but decided to come forward in the
eleventh hour when Sam was about to be adopted by his foster mom. The case was referred
to mediation with MCI willing to accept any decision the foster mother and aunt
made with the hope that the situation might improve enough that Sam could have future
contact with these two women who both cared about him.
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The adoption worker and additional workers from two agencies attended the first
meeting, along with the foster mother and aunt. There were three meetings before
the case was resolved but between meetings, Sam met with his aunt and foster mother
for dinner in a restaurant and again at his foster home. The aunt quickly realized
that Sam was happy, well cared for, and really wanted to stay in his foster home.
Both the aunt and foster mother came to understand that the assumptions they had
initially made about one another were not accurate and that each had good, loving
reasons for their eleventh hour decisions to file adoption petitions.
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By the second meeting, the aunt and foster mother were riding together to the mediation.
By the third meeting, they had met with Sam and his therapist prior to the mediation,
and the aunt had let Sam know that she would withdraw her petition, because she
wanted to do what would make him happiest and she also made sure he understood that
she was not turning her back on him and that she would always be available for him
and would always consider him a member of her family too.
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At the final mediation session, they made a good faith, non-enforceable agreement
that it was in Sam’s best interest to continue Sam’s relationship with his aunt
and arranged a plan for scheduling for future visits with Sam and his aunt and included
her in plans for Sam’s upcoming birthday celebration. The aunt agreed to withdraw
her petition and Sam was adopted by his foster mother.
$475 would support all services to this child from referral to our intensive intake
by a trained professional through to the mediation(s).
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Mediation can change lives and the Center’s mediations affect the lives of those
in your own community. Your donation will help support a process that works to resolve
the actual issue in dispute. Because of this, mediations create permanent solutions
and furthers peaceful resolution more than any other type of resolution process.
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You can make a difference. You can promote peace. |
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