Mediation Center of Dutchess County

We’re closed today, but always ready to start a conversation: dutchessmediation.org

Let's do the math. 🧮

➖$15/month for free shipping
➖$18/month for movie streaming
➖$24/month for weekly iced lattes
➖$40/month for a food box that rots on the porch 🫣
🟰 $97/month leaving Dutchess County. Every. Single. Month.

What if one line of that budget actually added to something LOCAL? One adjustment could change the whole equation! Make a monthly commitment to MCDC and you’ll contribute to the community.

Here’s how – Our services + your generosity…

➕ $6/month keeps our services live + local
➕ $15/month mentors our apprentice mediators
➕ $18/month brings conflict resolution into classrooms
➕ $40/month gives a family in crisis free mediation
🟰 THOUSANDS of neighbors served

💬Conflict → conversation. That's what your monthly support makes possible. 🔗⬇️

Turning conflict into conversation takes a community of care — and that means YOU. 💙

As we kick off Q2, we're reflecting on everything your support made possible in the first quarter of the year:

✅ 10 apprentices took the next big step toward serving their community
🤝 90% of mediation cases were facilitated by our incredible volunteers
📋 238 individuals received intake, case management, and conflict resolution services

Whether you've volunteered, donated, or referred someone to our center, we are SO grateful. Our greatest successes can't always be measured in numbers, but we see transformation happening every single day because of you.

May is HERE 🌸 and so is something we've been working hard on. Starting next week, we’ll kick off our newly reimagined 4-day restorative practices training! SIGN UP TODAY to learn the proven tools to transform how you communicate, navigate conflict, and show up for your community. Spring is the season of growth - so join us in cultivating these brilliant blooms! 🪻 Relationship-building 🪻 Group resilience 🪻 Conflict resolution.

🎶Oh, what a night! Late in April early in evening…

We had a wonderful time engaging with youth, families, and educators at the Millbrook High School Wellness Fair. With so many colleagues and neighbors present, there were lots of lively conversations! It’s very special to be out in the community, amplifying our work - and we are grateful to the organizers for the opportunity to do so. 🌟

📢Will you help us signal boost this free resource?

While we do NOT offer divorce mediation services, we want to make sure our community knows about these FREE tools available through the New York State Unified Court System.

A special thank-you to the Honorable Jeffrey Sunshine, Statewide Coordinating Judge for Matrimonial Matters, for developing free, easy-to-use forms for spouses to file for Joint Divorce with and without children.

✅ Step-by-step instructions
✅ Self-service forms (no attorney required!)
✅ Free of charge

Please share widely! 🔗👇

While it’s true that we train neutrals, some topics are just too delicious to stay out of. Today we've got two of 'em:
1. The Stewart's Mint Cookie Crumble Milkshake is the optimal way to have a great, green Earth Day. (We typically welcome a good fight…but this. just. isn't. up. for. debate. 😤🍦🍫)

2. Stewart's Shops and their customers are helping to fund our restorative practices in local schools! Through their Holiday Match program, we’ll build better conversations between young people; another positive that’s just not up for debate. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Their support is truly a treat, and we're so grateful! 🎉

The power is in our hands! 💪
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With constructive communication tools, we can build stronger relationships. Join our *Beyond Justice* training to pick up the skills needed to hold connection-boosting conversations. Over the course of 4 days, you’ll learn the practices proven in classrooms, courtrooms, and communities worldwide.

🔗Learn more + register today https://gqr.sh/SWLE

The dedication of our volunteers is evergreen 🌱 - just like our appreciation of their efforts! Each year they facilitate hundreds of conversations and transform thousands of lives. So while ‘Volunteer Appreciation Month’ is a nice recognition, we celebrate their generosity 👏 every 👏 single 👏 day.

Please join us 👇in applauding the folks who make our work possible! 🫶

🤔How often do you feel truly heard or empowered?

For many of our participants, mediation offers a novel experience - one where their needs, their concerns, their voices are prioritized. Our volunteers are rigorously trained to ensure that’s the case. Not to create solutions. Not to determine outcomes. But to give everyone at the table an opportunity to choose what happens.

The value of this approach is described in more detail by California Appellate Justice Richard D. Aldrich and shared by JAMS. 📖👇