Greetings!

Did you know that today is Conflict Resolution Day?

For the last 17 years, this one day a year has been a celebration to promote awareness of mediation, arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict.

Because yes, it’s still needed more than ever. 

Unfortunately, over the past five years, hate activity has been on a rise both here in Orange County and nationally.  Our recent 2021 Hate Crime Report in Orange County shows that there was an overall 165% increase in hate activity and 73% increase in hate crimes reported compared to 2017. More specifically, there was a 5000% increase in anti-Asian, 26x increase in antisemitic and an 525% increase in anti-Black hate incidents compared to 2017. Furthermore, there was a 2100% increase in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes and hate crimes targeting race/ethnicity/national origin bias were more than double compared to 2017.

That’s why, with your help, OC Human Relations is so proud of the tools we are able to provide for mediation, conflict resolution and supporting individuals to shift their mindset on approaching conflict. We aim to resolve conflict before it escalates.

This past year, we have been working with over 11 schools to provide daily onsite support to address conflict in restorative ways. Equipping administrators and teachers with skills on de-escalating conflict and applying restorative approaches to conflict. Furthermore, our Dispute Resolution Program team equipped 240 individuals across all dispute resolution trainings.
Among those 240 trained, 111 are volunteering currently and provide over 5,000 hours of free mediation at county courts, in-person and virtually by being paired with an experienced mediator to resolve disputes. 

Here is a sample of feedback from a conflict engagement skills training participant: 

“I learned how to communicate better in a professional setting as well as in my personal life. Prior to the training, I thought I was an effective communicator and knew how to deal with conflict, but after this training I learned I had a few blind spots and needed some improvement.” 

In many instances, training participants were given opportunities to lead the mediation and grow from their experiences: "Each facilitator and coach that I worked with took special care to provide positive feedback to help facilitate the learning/exploring process better. The collaboration with all of the coaches was helpful to understand the process better and feel as though you could ask anything questions without being judged." another mediator said. 

With these programs and because of your ongoing support, we are building the next generation of mindful mediators across Orange County working to find peaceful solutions to resolving conflicts. 

As one Family Court Litigant shared about their mediation experience: “Best mediation I ever had. The first five failed. Thank you.” 

Sincerely,

Alison Edwards
CEO, OC Human Relations
OC HUMAN RELATIONS ochumanrelations.org