OVP Kickback - St. Mary’s High School ☀️

The St. Louis City’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) hosted another great community event on November 16, 2024. With the colder months settling in, this event was moved indoors and hosted at St. Mary’s High School. We are always happy to have the opportunity to spread the word about our free services around conflict resolution and promote de-escalation in hopes of preventing violence.

These are free neighborhood events, providing residents a place to gather for food, music and entertainment. Each future events will be hosted in new locations on the third Saturday of every month.

Principia School Annual Mediation Tournament 🏆

On November 15-16, 2024, Principia School held its 5th Annual National High School Mediation Tournament. This tournament provides students with a hands-on understanding of mediation and the role it plays in the practice of law and in everyday life. Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, participants practiced their mediation skills in friendly competition. Over three preliminary rounds and one final round, students performed the role of mediator, advocate, and client at least once each. The tournament format was designed by the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR.org). Shout out to our own Kristin Watt for organizing this local event.

McKinley Student Mediators Meet US Attorney Anthony Franks ⚖️💜

Growing our future leaders! Along with school counselors, our Student-Led Peer Mediation program helps develop young adults into budding leaders. Our McKinley School Peer Mediators were so fortunate to meet US Attorney Anthony Franks last fall no November 7, 2024.

Learn more about our Student-Led Peer Mediation program at peermediation.net.

22nd Judicial Court “Renting in St. Louis” Roundtable ⚖️

The 22nd Judicial Circuit Court hosted a roundtable discussion on frequent legal issues involving landlords and tenants on Thursday, Nov. 7, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at St. Louis Central Library Auditorium. Featured panelists were Susan M. Alverson, Associate Circuit Judges Michael J. Colona and Rochelle M. Woodiest, and Katharyn B. Davis, managing member of the Davis & Travaglini law firm.

This event was live streamed and can be viewed on the St. Louis Circuit Court’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3PWKUTMaY4k

CRCSTL Programs and Outreach staff were on hand tabling this event, spreading the word about our free community programs and the benefits for both landlord and tenants for mediation services. Mediation help prevent the high costs of filing eviction through the court, but CRCSTL services extend far past eviction. CRCSTL mediation services can help landlords and tenants work through a wide variety of issues, allow both sides to come together and to be heard, and create a actionable plan to move forward.

Wrap Around Services Session ☎️😊

On October 30, 2024, CRCSTL staff and volunteers gathered for a session of our Wrap Around Services, created by CRCSTL Programs Manager, Denise Poplar. Every 6 weeks, a group of volunteers and staff gather to reach back out to clients who used our services in the last 6 weeks. Client feedback allows us to offer additional resources if needed and helps inform our team on ways to continue to improve our services.

Client comments are overwhelmingly positive with clients reporting a sense of relief at having been listened to and able to release negative feelings of frustration. They often report feeling appreciative for the help moving forward. 💜