Friends of Brower Park Presents: Holiday Tree Lighting

Join the Mediation Center for Holiday Caroling!

This #GivingTuesday - Give to Stop Gun Violence and Save Lives!

"Before this program, I was a hothead, everything would get me upset and I had a really bad temper. Because where I come from, we always resort to violence first and since I’ve been here it really changed my life. I don’t get as mad as I used to; I just walk away from certain situations; I let stuff roll off my back. Honestly, it really changed my life. Without S.O.S., I really don’t know where I’d be right now, to be honest.” - Rezzeia Alexander, 16, Graduate of Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.) Dear Friend, I am writing to ask you to donate to the Mediation Center to help us continue to make our neighborhood a safer place. Your donation will go toward programs that prevent violence from spreading throughout our neighborhood and literally save lives.  We use an innovative approach that interrupts and prevents future violence, and has been evaluated and demonstrated to be effective. This year, an evaluation of our work by the Center for Court Innovation reflected what our participants have been reporting to us, our program really works to curb gun violence.  The research indicated that gun violence in Crown Heights was 20% lower than what it would have been without Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) One current participant recently shared, “S.O.S. isn’t just about saving the streets; it’s about saving ourselves.” Your donation will go toward teaching young leaders in the YO S.O.S. program, who have been surrounded by a climate of violence, how they can stand up against violence and help their friends make positive choices and avoid violent conflict. Your donation will support our work with gunshot and stabbing victims at Kings County Hospital.  Our Hospital Responder, Kenneth Edwards, meets with victims in the midst of their crises and helps them consider how they can call off potential retaliations and be safe in the future. So far this year he has met with 50 people whose lives have been transformed due to violence and provided support and guidance. Your donation will support our neighbor services, which assisted more than 800 people last year, helping them build resumes, find jobs, get health care screenings, and connect to other services and agencies throughout the city. Your donation will support the mobilization efforts to involve the entire neighborhood in the movement to end gun violence. So far this includes 100 volunteers, 30 Houses of Worship that are active in the S.O.S. Clergy Action Network, eight barber shops that hold conversations about ending violence, 40 artists that contribute to our annual arts festival and 25 small business that count up the days between shootings and promote the public education materials designed to stop the shootings. Our work has caught the attention of national press including CNN Radio, the New York Times, Al Jazeera America. Take two minutes to watch an award winning film that profiles an S.O.S. staff member and be inspired by how dedicated the S.O.S. team is to stopping gun violence and changing the culture. We are dedicated to achieving lofty goals – saving the most vulnerable lives and changing cultural norms around violence. Our work is possible because of the support of people like you.  Join us in the movement to end violence.  Please make a contribution today! Donations by check should be made out to the “Fund for the City of New York” and mailed to the Mediation Center at 256 Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11213. Please put the Mediation Center in the subject line. Or, you can donate online here, and select Crown Heights Mediation Center in the drop down menu. With appreciation and gratitude, Amy Ellenbogen, Project Director, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center PS: Follow our progress on our blogs, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, refer people to our programs, come volunteer, and join us at our events!

2013-2014 Reentry Resource Guide

Our new and updated guide for formerly incarcerated people is out, including resources for housing, legal advocacy, mental health and counseling, employment, medical services, and other resources. An electronic version of the guide can be found on our website under "Community Resources Guides" on the right side of the page. You can also access the guide by clicking on the image below. In addition, we will have hard copies at our office, and will distribute them around the community. Please share this guide widely!

Praying With Our Feet

The S.O.S. Clergy Action Network (S.O.S. C.A.N.) is pleased to present a new book, entitled "Praying with Our Feet: Faith-Based Activism to Stop Shootings and Killings in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Beyond." The book features interviews with a few members of S.O.S. C.A.N., and gives information about how clergy members can increase the presence of heir congregations in the movement to stop gun violence.

Click on the image below to view a PDF of the book.

Free Creative Writing Class for Brooklyn Youth

October at the Crown Heights Mediation Center

Dear Crown Heights,

October has been an exciting month at the Mediation Center.

We began a new year of our youth program, Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets, with a fabulous group of Youth Organizers. They have done a lot in the few weeks since they got started, including exploring the neighborhood with a Crown Heights scavenger hunt, learning about techniques for conflict resolution, and beginning to discuss the roots and causes of violence.

Youth Organizers outside the Brooklyn Children's Museum as part of their scavenger hunt

Our program for young men ages 16-24, Make It Happen!, began last week, with a new group of participants.

On October 16^th, we hosted the New York Legal Assistance Group’s mobile legal clinic at the Mediation Center, providing free legal services to more than 20 community members.

The S.O.S. team, along with community residents, held two rallies in response to shootings within the catchment area. Both rallies received a turnout of about 20 people, and reinforced our message that gun violence must not go unnoticed.

Neighborhood residents at the October 10th rally against gun violence

We held our first Community Conversation of the winter season, bringing together a diverse group of 25 neighbors to discuss experiences of and causes of violence within the community. The conversation sparked a dialogue that we will continue into our second Community Conversation on November 21^st.

The S.O.S. Clergy Action Network held a youth symposium, called Power Filled Me, in which over 50 community members came together to listen to a panel of young people share their lives, struggles, and experiences. The annual S.O.S. C.A.N. Faith Walk had a fantastic turnout, with over 200 attendees walking from Nostrand Avenue to Troy Avenue on St. Johns Place, raising community awareness with prayers for non-violence.

Audience listens to youth panelists at Power Filled Me

We welcomed two new staff members to our team – Farrah, S.O.S. Program Assistant, and Frankie, Youth Program Assistant.

We are looking forward to November, when we will have a number of events. NYLAG will bring their mobile legal clinic to the Mediation Center on November 13th. We will hold our second Community Conversation, on November 21^st, 6:30 pm, at Launch Charter School on 1580 Dean Street. We will also hold an S.O.S. Fish Fry on November 22^nd. All are welcome!

As always, thank you for your continued support, and we always welcome your ideas about how to make Crown Heights safer and healthier for all.