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CCR Programs Director Rae Kyritsi facilitates Chicago Police Department Use of Force Policy Working Group
C
CR is continuing its role in helping resolve complex community conflicts. Rae Kyritsi, CCR's Program Director, is serving as the neutral facilitator for the City of Chicago's Use of Force Policy Working Group. The Working Group consists of 20 representatives: CPD officers, community members, leaders and activists, and will provide formal recommendations to the CPD Executive Steering Committee regarding the CPD's use of force policy. The group is meeting virtually for the next eight weeks.
To learn more, please see the press release HERE. To donate to support this work, please click HERE.
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Welcome Kate Finch!
CCR is delighted to welcome Kate Finch as our Chicago Bar Foundation Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) summer intern. Kate became interested in ADR through courses with Teresa Frisbee at Loyola University School of Law, where she will be going into her third year, and began working with CCR as an extern this Spring. After receiving her Theatre BFA from Drake University in Des Moines, Kate worked in hospice, homecare, and as an actor and voiceover artist for several years before deciding to return to school to get her law degree. Many of her family members work in social work, psychotherapy, and the healthcare industry; Kate says that discovering ADR "felt like coming home" after the adversarial norm she encountered in the rest of law school. Fun fact: one summer, Kate was the voice of the US Women's Soccer Team on local radio spots as the team traveled around the country.
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CCR Working to Address Housing Issues in the Wake of COVID-19
CCR has been working closely with the Circuit Court of Cook County to ramp up our ability to serve tenants and landlords impacted by the pandemic, and this week, we announced a new partnership with the City of Chicago. This week, the City Council is considering an ordinance that would include a number of provisions to help tenants impacted by COVID-19. The ordinance encourages the use of mediation to help tenants and landlords come to agreements that avoid eviction. All mediations are held using Zoom or phone, and can be scheduled as quickly as 1-2 days with the cooperation of both parties.
To learn more, please see the press release
HERE. To donate to support these efforts, please click
HERE.
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CCR's Very Own Chocolate Archivist!
An interview with Frank Ziegler, CCR volunteer mediator, and his sister-in-law, Mary, was featured in the Shepherd Express (Milwaukee's Reader). Frank recounts his memories of working at the George Ziegler Company in his teens and the chocolate bars they provided for C Ration kits during the Vietnam war. Check it out here! |
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NAFCM Volunteer of the Quarter!
CCR is proud to announce that Anastasia Svigos was named National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) Outstanding Volunteer for Spring 2020. CCR nominated Anastasia for this honor because of her dedicated, long-term commitment to volunteering for CCR as a mediator, a trainer, a mentor, and a member of the Peer Review Committee. Anastasia brings an enthusiasm and a level of care for our clients that is inspirational for all of us! Thanks, Anastasia!
NAFCM is an organization uniting and providing resources for community mediation centers across the country - their vision is "Community Mediation is Community Mobilization." To learn more about NAFCM, please visit: www.nafcm.org.
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Help Us Plan an Upcoming
Continuing Ed Program!
Do you have a great idea for
a speaker or topic for
an upcoming
Continuing Ed Program?
If so, we would love to hear
your thoughts.
Please contact Continuing Ed Committee Chair,
Jonah Orlofsky
at
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Join us
for
Reflective Practice Group!
Every first Wednesday of the month at noon via Zoom. Discuss a recent mediation, trends in ADR, or anything mediation-related with your fellow volunteers and programs manager Maia Buess.
Please contact Maia for more information:
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LETTER FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear CCR Community:
Our last newsletter came out late in 2019, and it's an understatement to say that we live in a totally different world now.
Over the past three months, CCR has shifted all mediation and training services to be provided remotely online. I have been blown away by the motivation and enthusiasm from our volunteers to serve our community during this time. Our volunteers have jumped right into learning the Zoom platform, and you have helped us adapt through your patience and generosity.
On top of the pandemic, we are now seeing our community being consumed with conflict in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, through acts of violent racism. These deaths have mobilized communities to insist that we no longer turn a blind eye to the racial injustices perpetuated in America since its founding. As Chicago's community mediation center, CCR must be unblinking in recognizing these injustices, and unwavering in our commitment to providing space for difficult conversations that help create understanding and bring about change.
It's clear that community conflict resolution is now more important than ever. CCR continues to hold weekly community gatherings and monthly reflective practice groups on Zoom to make and hold space. We commit to improving the way we live and demonstrate our core values, including the value of Inclusivity. We recognize that our staff and volunteer base do not fully reflect the diversity of our community, and we are committed to shifting that. We cannot do it alone. Thank you for being a part of this work with us.
Cassie
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Welcome Ginevra Francesconi!
Please welcome Ginevra Francesconi, CCR's Program Coordinator for the Juvenile Reentry Mediation Program. Ginevra started part-time at CCR in May and just completed her studies at DePaul double majoring in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies and Sociology. For the last six months she has held a program internship at the
Illinois Prison Project
, a non-profit devoted to work on mass commutations. In the Fall, Ginevra will begin work toward her MSW at University of Chicago. Ginevra was born in Italy and lived there until she was five; she and her family continue to go back to visit Italy whenever they can. During the current stay-at-home period, she has developed a newfound passion for yogurt and making pies.
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