COMMUNITY MEDIATION, INC. SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN NATIONAL INITIATIVE TO ADDRESS RACIAL EQUITY

New Haven, CT—The Study Circles Resource Center has selected Community Mediation, Inc., to take part in a national initiative aimed at helping communities create and sustain public engagement and community change on issues around racial equity.

Community Mediation, Inc. will be one of eight programs to work with the Study Circles Resource Center (soon to be Everyday Democracy) over the next two years as part of the Communities Creating Racial Equity initiative.

The eight programs will work in their communities to reduce persistent inequality among racial and ethnic groups that show up in areas like education, housing, health care, the justice system, immigration and jobs. The programs also will form a national learning network, and will meet together twice over the course of the initiative. The Study Circles Resource Center will provide technical assistance to the programs, and use what it learns from their work to generate new tools, advice and resources that will be available for other communities around the country working on racial equity.

The Study Circles Resource Center selected Community Mediation based on the strength of its proposal to work on racial equity, its commitment to long-term community change, its ability to bring many people from diverse backgrounds into conversations about racial and ethnic inequities and how racism is affecting the community, and its capacity for sustaining inclusive public conversation and problem solving so that these democratic processes become a routine part of how the community works.

“Community Mediation’s proposal to work with us showed its commitment to examining the roots of inequities, and to setting new standards for success that go beyond just getting along better,” says Martha L. McCoy, executive director of the Study Circles Resource Center. “We look forward to helping Community Mediation create opportunities for all kinds of people to talk and work together to close racial gaps and solve public problems.”

“Our program will address the issue of immigration, which is at the heart of the current debate over racial and ethnic equity in the New Haven area,” says Charles Pillsbury, executive director of Community Mediation, Inc.   “We are working in partnership with the City of New Haven, the United Way of Greater New Haven, Junta for Progressive Action, Inc., Unidad Latina en Acción (Latinos United in Action), St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, the Greater New Haven Peace Council, the Connecticut Center for a New Economy, Gateway Community College and the Yale Law School,” Pillsbury added.

Programs included in the initiative are Stratford, Conn.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Montgomery County Public Schools, Md.; Lynchburg, Va.; Burlington, Vt.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Sacramento, Calif.; and New Haven, Conn.  With funding provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Study Circles Resource Center will provide each organization with in-depth technical assistance and stipends for travel to the learning exchanges. Each organization will have a chance to apply for a small grant to help them implement their community’s ideas to achieve racial equity. The first learning exchange will be April 22-24 at the new Everyday Democracy office in East Hartford, CT. 

Community Mediation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that promotes peaceful communities and just relationships by enabling individuals, families, organizations and communities to resolve their conflicts themselves through mediation, dialogue, training, facilitation and education.  Locally, we collaborate with a broad range of organizations and provide staff, trained volunteer mediators and facilitators, and other resources to resolve disputes.  Learn more at www.community-mediation.org

The Study Circles Resource Center is a national organization that helps local communities find ways for all kinds of people to think, talk and work together to solve problems. We work with neighborhoods, cities and towns, regions, and states, helping them pay particular attention to how racism and ethnic differences affect the problems they address.  Learn more at www.studycircles.org