| Organization information | |
|---|---|
| Organization Name | Center for Dispute Resolution/ dba Mediation Services |
| Please tell us the amount of funding you are requesting Aware to raise for your organization from the Aware annual fundraising event. | Mediation Services is requesting $6,425-$12,850 from AWARE to train facilitators to lead Restorative Circles, a healing form of conflict resolution that creates a safe, balanced space where every participant has equal voice and equal opportunity to listen deeply. This unique process is different from traditional mediation because each participant is given the opportunity to speak through the use of a designated talking piece. Restorative Facilitations increase the likelihood that the person speaking is heard fully without interruption. This method fosters deep listening, genuine understanding, and a focus on healing and repairing harm. We are currently using Restorative Circles with court involved youth in Allegan County and their families. We have requests throughout Allegan to facilitate more Restorative Circles with families of LGBTQ+ youth, community members, and even fellow nonprofits. Training 10 Restorative Circle facilitators costs Mediation Services $6,425. It is our goal to train up to 20 facilitators. |
| If your organization received Aware funding in the previous years, how many clients were serviced and/or how many services were provided with those funds. If you receive Aware funding this current year, how many clients will be serviced and/or how many services will be provided with these funds? | We were not selected for grant funding in 2024. In 2023 we were granted $4,500 and served nearly 700 Allegan County residents with that funding. By training Restorative Practice facilitators it allows even greater reach in serving clients, meeting them where they are. Once trained facilitators agree to provide Mediation Services with numbers of clients they serve in Restorative Circles. |
| Please provide a listing of the Officers and Board members of your organization. | Board of Director Officers: Cathleen Anthofer-Fialon Robert Nida (President 1/2024) Casey Marietta (Vice-president 1/2025) Mike Van Ast , (Treasurer 1/2023) Directors: William Brown Sharmila Rajani, J.D. Charles Elwood Alberto Serrano Jennell Challa Conrad Mutschler (Past President, 12/2020) Susan Klooz, M.A., J.D. (Past President, 12/2020 David Solmes Jill Roof |
| Your Contact Information | Cathy A Anthofer-Fialon |
| Phone | 765-977-5977 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Scoring Criteria | |
| 1. Description of the Organization (maximum 5 points, please limit to ½ pages) | Mediation Services is the only local resource for alternative conflict resolution services and related training in Allegan County. We provide mediation and Restorative Circles for residents of all walks of life who are dealing with the heavy weight of conflict in their lives. Our goal is to offer affordable, confidential, and successful conflict resolution services for anyone who needs it no matter who they love or what they look like. As a nonprofit we use specially trained volunteers who make this work possible and affordable to those in our community. This specific request for funding is to broaden the impact and reach of Restorative Circles. Fees can be a barrier for individuals to become trained as Restorative Circle facilitators. It is our goal to have as many people as possible in our community trained in this healing and community building method. |
| 2. Funding Request (maximum 35 points, total, please limit to 1 page) | The need for our services has never been greater. Financial support from AWARE would help make it possible for Mediation Services to train as many as 10 new people to become Restorative Facilitators. As awareness grows of this form of conflict resolution we are seeing an increased demand for restorative facilitation or circles. By training additional facilitators we will be able to help support healing dialogues in the LGBTQ-plus community. Mediation Services has developed a close partnership with “Out-On The Lakeshore,” an organization dedicated to supporting the local LGBTQ-plus community. We have trained one restorative facilitator working with a support group for parents of LBGTQ-plus children. Now, “Out-On-The Lakeshore” has expressed wanting to have all group leaders in their organization to be trained in Restorative Facilitation Practice. During a February 2025 training participants included Ulla Frederickson, psychologist at Red Horse Center for Collaborative Leadership. She shared this feedback about the training on social media: "This week I’m attending an excellent training in restorative justice/healing circle process. It’s taught by Mediation Services and sponsored by Lakeshore Women Who Care. THANK YOU! We are one day in and have two more days to go, and I already have so much trust and safety with this group of people that I just met. People are requesting and waiting to learn how to facilitate Restorative Practice Circles. We know restorative circles have the potential to change lives. We welcome any support in order to make this happen. |
| 3. Funding Justification (maximum 40 points, please limit to 1 page) | As a small nonprofit, training is a major expense for our small organization. Our goal is to raise enough funds to train 10-20 people as new Restorative Facilitators. This is a 16 hour training over three days. Funds from Aware would be used to train as many people as we could based on the amount granted. Our funding comes from both public and private resources. Public resources are 50% of our overall budget and include contracts from the following: the Michigan State Court Administrator's Office, Allegan County Courts, Ottawa County Courts, and Special Education Mediation funding. Private donations represent 17% of our funding and include gifts from individuals, corporations and funding from the Allegan County Community Foundation. We collect fees from our clients who are able to pay and waive this fee if a client is receiving state assistance, experiencing homelessness, in shelter from intimate partner violence, and recently unemployed. Mediation in the private sector can be very expensive and we work hard to maintain a more affordable fee structure and aim to be 50% less than what private mediators are charging in the counties we serve. Fees represent 9% of our budget and do not offset the cost of our staffing needs. We waive thousands of dollars in fees every year and need a partner like AWARE to help us continue to do this. |
| 4. Summary | We invite West Shore AWARE to partner with Mediation Services in the impactful work of training Restorative Practice facilitators who will meet people in the community where they are through the use of Restorative Practices like, Circles for Healing, Circles for Understanding, Restorative Circles, Circles for Celebration. We are aware from our fellow nonprofits there is a great desire to receive this training. A gift of $6,425-$12,850 would give Mediation Services the ability to train 10-20 new Restorative Facilitators. Trained Restorative Practice facilitators would then be equipped to respond to the need for supportive, healing and healthy dialogues for and with many in our community, especially families and youth navigating the current environment focused on silencing voices over supporting and celebrating them. We are urgently being asked by members in our community and from our fellow nonprofits to offer this training. Your support will allow us to answer these urgent requests. |
| Application Agreement | This is an application, otherwise known as a Request for Funding (RFF), from
West Shore Aware. This RFF is a request from your organization to Aware, for Aware to host a
Fundraising Event for your organization. By completing this RFF, your organization is requesting to be considered by Aware’s membership for an Aware fundraising event to be held during the summer of this year, also known as the White Party.
If your organization is chosen for a fundraising event by the Aware membership, your organization will agree to the following terms and conditions for the said fundraising event. 1. Aware will be given and provided full credit for the fundraising event in all of you organization’s publicity and advertising for said event, to include but not limited to event posters, newspaper advertising, handouts, radio and television advertising for the event, and organizational announcements concerning the event. 2. Your organization will only use the funds raised by Aware from said event for the purpose described in the RFF submitted to Aware. 3. Your organization understands that West Shore Aware is a philanthropic organization of LBGTQ+ individuals and their supporters, and that the funds your organization receives from Aware will be coming from the West Michigan lakeshore community. 4. The funds received from Aware as a result of the fundraising event will be net, after expenses for said fundraising event are paid. 5. Aware may use the name of your organization in its own advertising and publicity as a recipient of funds.. 6. Your organization will supply Aware with written approval to hold, or be part of a fundraising event held by Aware. 7. West Shore Aware reserves the right to audit any organization that receives funding to determine whether the funds were used as described in its RFF. 8. Your organization will allow West Shore Aware to use you organization’s name on the West Shore Aware website. In addition, if your organization has a website, you will link that website to the West Shore Aware website and allow West Shore Aware to link to your organization’s site. West Shore Aware’s web site link must remain on your web site for a full year from the date of the monetary disbursement. Failure to do so will disqualify you from requesting future funding. Once you have completed the RFF and agreed to the aforementioned, please submit it. Please sign this document below, indicating acceptance of the aforementioned terms and conditions. By signing the document, you acknowledge your organization is a registered 501(C) 3 Charitable organization. |
| Signature | |
| Date | 03/31/2025 |
| Ready to Submit |
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