Two mediation programs in Redwood City and San Mateo joined forces in 1986 and the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center was formed with an eye to keeping everyday conflicts out of the courts.

Twenty years have brought many changes. Services now include training people to communicate and solve problems together, facilitating group and communityy meetings, public participation skill building, and assisting individual s to resolve conflict with mutually acceptable agreements. High school and middle school students are learning to respect themselves and each other; ethnically diverse parents are getting involved with their children’s schools; and at-risk youth are being directed into positive activities. City and county officials are working with residents to help neighborhoods become communities.

Mediation: It’s in the books

While conflict resolution at PCRC has evolved to include prevention as well as intervention services, mediation is a core program that is considered a vital service to San Mateo County communities. After being dismissed from employment, a worker opted for mediation through PCRC and as available in the employee policies. An arrangement was made and both parties were able to end their relationship in a civil if not cordial agreement.

Volunteers are passionate about work

A cadre of 150 volunteers serve as PCRC mediators. Working in teams, the mediators guide participants through the problem-solving process. Volunteers remain neutral about the issue and passionate about the work. Coming from diverse backgrounds, all volunteers receive extensive mediation training and ongoing support.

“We’ve pulled the weeds, now we need tocultivate.” PCRC also provides training for residents interested in community building. During this year PCRC has worked with the Burlingame, San Bruno and San Mateo Police Chiefs, along with the Tongan Interfaith Council, to get at the root causes of youth violence before it has a chance to flourish. As a result, young Tongans are meeting at choir festivals, not in gang fights. Plans are under way for a regular Saturday evening cultural and recreational program.

November 2005 700 North Amphlett Block, San Mateo Neighbors landlords, police and city officials held a stakeholdes meeting.

Working closely with law enforcement, PCRC opened up dialogue between residents and landlords in the gang-plagued 700 block of North Amphlett in San Mateo. Now the violence is almost gone and children are playing together again. While the problems are being addressed, the work continues. At a meeting between city officials, landlords, police and residents, one volunteer observed, “We’ve pulled the weeds, now we need to cultivate.

If parents feel comfortable, then
children feel comfortable at school

Budget reductions in the Redwood City School District led to cuts in the Parent Involvement and Leadership Program (PILP) at two of four schools. PILP continues at Kennedy and Hoover schools. Yet in the midst of these cuts, there is a surging interest in parent involvement in schools. Parents and teachers at Nesbit Elementary School in Belmont formed a Leadership Team out of concern for growing changes. As a result of board change, Nesbit became a microcosm of the entire San Francisco Bay Area with a large Hispanic and Asian-American student population.

The Nesbit Leadership Team approached PCRC and after hearing about PILP realized that if parents feel comfortable, then children tend to feel comfortable at school. CRISP Director Alicia Santamaria and Michelle Vilchez, Civic Engagement Manager, developed a plan for the Leadership Team that received 100 percent financial support. Marco Durazo, Parent Involvement and Leadership Facilitator at Nesbit, has worked with the Leadership Team to bring collaboration to the school. He is building strong relationships with fathers, three new parents have taken leadership roles, and all school events can boast excellent attendance. Now the flicker that was started by the Leadership Team has sparked an interest throughout the Belmont Redwood Shores School District with more principals requesting programs at their schools.

Wanting to be more aware, capable of communicating with schools in transition, active and able to communicate more with staff, the Homework Central Board also looked to the PCRC earlier this year for help with civic engagement and community building. Homework Central is a collaborative program in Sunnybrae, Horrall and College Park elementary schools in San Mateo. These schools provide afterschool tutoring at different sites throughout their communities. Each school is at least 50 percent Latino and 85 percent of the children enrolled in Homework Central are Latino. Homework Central also engages parents in the program based on the concept that once a parent is more engaged, a child’s academic success improves. Responsible for skill enhancement, PCRC offers a safe environment for newly trained parents to develop skills in 8-week sessions. Twenty parents are enrolled from all three schools. Additional sessions have been added at College Park School, due to funding obtained with the aid of PCRC.

“When Alejandro was talking about gangs,
he made me change my mind.”

In the past year, PCRC staff and volunteers made 35 outreach presentations to city staffs, service clubs, neighborhood associations and schools. Reflections from high school students showed the immense impact of PCRC programs and presentations. “I was thinking about how to get in a gang, but when Alejandro said that I don’t have to give my life to homeboys, I have to give my life for my family, my parents, brothers, sisters, I learned what respect means,” wrote one young man.

Advocates for Process

As PCRC looks forward to the next 20 years, growing services, growing programs and growing projects, the innovative approach to solving conflict in our community will be a hallmark. We will continue to work with everyone. We will continue to train, coach, model and advocate a safe process for everyone.