Dear CCR Community:

What a busy summer we’ve got underway! As you’ll see in this issue, CCR welcomed new staff members and new volunteers, and a big new initiative is underway to build a pilot program for Community-Police Mediation here in Chicago. CCR also continues to work hard providing mediation and case management services for the Early Resolution Program serving community members in eviction and consumer debt matters, and in training mediators for statewide eviction mediation efforts. Planning efforts are also underway, under the Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt program, for a restart of the mortgage foreclosure mediation program. Through all of these initiatives, CCR continues its tradition of providing timely responses to the needs of our community.

While the majority of CCR’s work is still taking place remotely, we anticipate a gradual return to some in-person services and training over the coming months, and look forward to seeing folks in person again!

Please join me in welcoming the new additions to our staff, volunteer and Board community.

Best,

Cassie

IEJF Training 

The CCR Training Department has spent the last few months working to help expand the number of mediators in Illinois to respond to the impending evictions crisis. With the support of a grant from Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF), we have been able to offer a 40-Hour Mediation Skills Training, a 1-Day “Mediation Refresher and Evictions Training”, and a 2-hour “Evictions and Court Adapted Model Mediation Training”.

Each training is meant to onboard a different set of mediators into mediation programs throughout the state. The 40-Hour Mediation Skills Training is offered for new mediators who have never been trained in mediation. The 1-Day “Mediation Refresher and Evictions Training” is meant for mediators who have received training but would like to refresh their skills. The 2-hour “Evictions and Court Adapted Model Mediation Training” is for experienced mediators who would like to learn more about evictions mediation and mediating in a shortened time frame. Through these courses we have trained close to 50 mediators from all over Illinois. CCR plans to continue training mediators statewide to support evictions mediation programs over the course of the next year.

The Early Resolution Program has continued to grow over the past few months – serving hundreds of new litigants. Since February, ERP has worked with landlords and tenants in pending eviction cases. In May, we expanded the services of ERP to include consumer debt cases as well. Both case types are generally well-suited to resolution. CCR’s ERP Programs Managers sit in 24 virtual courtrooms every week, managing referrals into the program. The same staff also completes intake with litigants and refers cases to legal aid and/or mediation services. The team also works to schedule and support those cases when they go to mediation. Cases in ERP are mediated in CCR’s Adapted Model and we work with parties for around an hour.

The entire Programs Department has been working very hard to maintain our traditional case types and referrals, as well as expanding ERP into new courtrooms. We are also welcoming three new staff members to the team in July!

If you are a volunteer interested in supporting our work in these cases we have definitely seen an increase in mediation referrals over the past few months. Please reach out to case management to get on the calendar!

Back by popular demand! 

Miss your chance to bid on CCR's custom cookbook at this year's silent auction? Here's your second chance! CCR's community has come together in a way like never before - make something incredible, like Lisbeth’s Feel Good Chicken Soup, Laura’s Hollywood Cheesecake, or Cassie’s Nutella Brownies. The cookbook includes recipes from volunteers and staff, along with pictures and tales of inspiration.

Cookbooks are $30 (including shipping/delivery).

CCR Programs Managers would like to highlight Mimi Holland and Lisbeth Stone for “Commitment to Serving the Community” – specifically for continually supporting our virtual court call. There have been weeks where we have seen them on almost a daily basis, and they’re always excited and ready for a challenge. They are incredibly generous when it comes to volunteering both their time and skills with CCR and our clients. They both have given so much, and still constantly reach out to us to see what we need and how they can help. Thanks, Mimi and Lisbeth!

Share your thoughts HERE.

CCR welcomes new board member, Aaron Harris. Read more about him here.

Ron Gieseke is a senior attorney with 30+ years of corporate in-house legal experience. He retired in 2017 from active practice as Director, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, of Ameren Corporation in St. Louis.

Ron was recently appointed Visiting Associate Professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. He previously served as an advisory board member at the Xavier University Williams College of Business (Cincinnati, Ohio) and St. Louis University John Cook School of Business.

Ron received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics at Northwestern University (1980) and J.D. at the Washington University School of Law (1983). He is a member of the Illinois and Missouri Bars.

Ron is on the approved list of certified mediators for the Court-Annexed Mediation Program (Law and Chancery Divisions), Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. He is also an arbitrator for FINRA.

Ron also enjoys being a tour guide at Wrigley Field.

Jennifer Larrabee has almost 25 years experience as a court appointed child advocate with CASA of DuPage County. She is appointed by a judge to speak to the best interests of children who have been adjudicated as abused, neglected and/or dependent by the juvenile court system. Jennifer graduated from Marquette University with her B.S. (1988) and M.S. (1989) in Speech Pathology. She practiced for a decade as a Speech Language Pathologist diagnosing and treating children in an acute care hospital setting, as well as teaching graduate level seminar classes at Northern Illinois University. Jennifer completed CCR’s 40 hour training in February 2021 and was thrilled to be accepted into the Mediator Mentorship Program, with a scheduled completion in July 2021.

Ellie Knepler is a rabbi who currently works as a hospice chaplain for an agency in Glenview, visiting patients and families in their homes and in senior living facilities. She attended her CCR 40-hour training in December 2019 (just before lockdown!) and is delighted to have the opportunity to join this spring's MMP cohort and resume her mediation training.

In her free time, Ellie loves gardening (indoor and outdoor), singing, live music and theater, and visiting farms with her toddler niece and baby nephew.

Jim Alrutz, J.D., joined CCR in 2021 as a Programs Manager for the Early Resolution Program after previously serving as a volunteer mediator. He earned his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he was an award-winning member of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution mediation competition team. Jim also serves as adjunct faculty for Loyola’s Professional Identity Formation course, teaching first-year law students about the impact of implicit bias and systemic discrimination on the legal profession.

Penny Driver is from the south suburbs of Chicago and during the pandemic started a wellness business called 'Penny Makes Sense'. She was introduced to mediation in a civil procedure course in law school. Penny pursued her mediation certification last August and is now a Programs Manager for the Early Resolution Program.