Dayton Mediation Center

09/29/2026

💙 Celebrating the heart of the Dayton Mediation Center! 💙

Last Thursday, we had the privilege of celebrating our incredible volunteers at the 2026 Dayton Mediation Center Volunteer Recognition Dinner.

Our volunteers give their time, energy, experience, and compassion to help people navigate conflict and find a path forward. They listen, create space for people to be heard, and support voice, choice, dignity, and self-determination, often during some of the most difficult moments in people’s lives.

We are deeply grateful for every hour, every conversation, and every person you have supported.

Thank you for being such an important part of the Dayton Mediation Center family and for helping us continue building community through mediation. ❤️

08/11/2026

Whats New @ DMC: National Night Out 2026
Last Tuesday the DMC participated in National Night Out for our Fourth year. We had an amazing time engaging with the community and look forward to more of these opportunities to come.

06/23/2026

What’s New @ DMC: This June we attended our third Alternative Response Conference. We were given the opportunity to network with other alternative response teams and share about our very own Mediation Response Unit.

04/02/2026

Come hear Aaron at the April 11th Neighborhood Conference at The Greater Dayton School!

Register here: https://www.daytonohio.gov/1103/Neighborhood-Conference

03/17/2026

A big shout out to Mikey's Late Night Slice for donating pizza for our volunteers in training! We loved the traditional pizza as well as the dairy free! Thanks for your support.

03/12/2026

The American Arbitration Association Foundation podcast hosted us for a conversation about the work of Mediation Response Unit and our recent evaluation. Check it our here:

What if trained mediators—not police—responded to certain 911 calls?In Episode 4 of the AAA-ICDR Foundation Podcast, Executive Director Tracey Frisch speaks ...

03/11/2026

Thank you Gionino's Pizzeria Huffman for your amazing donation to help feed our volunteers! Our volunteers enjoyed all the pizza, chicken and jojos, we can't thank you enough!!!

02/27/2026

Check out this great story from WHIO about the work of the Mediation Response Unit (MRU)

The Dayton Mediation Center’s Mediation Response Unit has handled more than 7,500 calls over the last four years.ABOUT WHIO-TV Channel 7:WHIO TV is your home...

02/18/2026

Dr. Jeanne Zimmer presented on the key findings from the Dayton Mediation Center’s MRU 2024–2025 Evaluation Report. The evaluation confirms that the Mediation Response Unit (MRU) operates as designed, is well-integrated into the City’s public safety system, and is producing early, meaningful outcomes consistent with its stated purpose. Some highlights include:

• Program Effectiveness: The MRU is functioning as intended, grounded in a clear and defensible theory of change, and avoiding mission drift.
• System Buy-In: Strong documented support from the community, police, dispatch, fire, and City leadership, including full operational integration into CAD and police workflows.
• Early Outcome Signals: High participant and partner satisfaction, clear identification of best-fit call types, reduced police workload on time-intensive non-criminal calls, and consistent participant experiences of being heard and empowered.
• Fiscal and Operational Responsibility: Expansion of service hours has directly increased appropriate utilization without increasing risk or system strain.
• Credibility and Transparency: The evaluation avoids overclaiming, clearly names current data limitations, and positions MRU as a learning system committed to continuous improvement.

The full report and MRU dashboard can be found at: https://dayton-mediation-response-unit-daytonohio.hub.arcgis.com/

https://youtu.be/ymf8f-ff2FI?si=CukUcjYxkUVLso38&t=81

Dayton City Commission Meeting 2-11-26

12/08/2025

The Mediation Response Unit is out in the community interacting unhoused folks in Dayton as an everyday part of their job. And with winter here and many shelters already full, the MRU is seeking donations of much needed items to share with those in need this winter – like socks, sweatshirts, first aid items, and bottled water. We appreciate any support to help us service the community. You can find items at our Amazon MRU Wish List.