Cooperation for a non-violent future

CNF serves Trenton, NJ and the surrounding communities, doing mediation and conflict resolution throughout the states. CNF provides services and donations to low-income communities. We also house THE MALLOY PROJECT, which spreads the inspirational story of African-American watercolor artist and civil rights leader Tom Malloy to children, communities, and institutions across the nation. Dr. Risa Cardwell Smith, President. risacardwell@yahoo.comrisacardwell@yahoo.com . Charisa A. Smith, Esq., Vice-President. info@charisasmith.cominfo@charisasmith.com . P.O. Box 5111, Trenton, NJ 08638. (609) 896-3710.

THE MISSION OF COOPERATION FOR A NON-VIOLENT FUTURE (CNF) is

1) To provide alternative methods of solving conflicts in society before violence occurs, and

2) To teach ways of dissipating anger and destructive reactions, which will lead to positive self-imaging and more cooperative communities. Through our Conflict Resolution Training, disputing parties learn to personally develop mutual agreements with the help of a trained, unbiased mediator. Conversely, our Mediation Training instructs citizens to help others resolve their own conflicts. As participants formulate practical, non-violent solutions to potentially turbulent or violent situations, they learn to engage non-violent reactions and cooperative reasoning daily. Our trainees thus help decrease the prevalence of aggression and violence in society, by spreading knowledge and skills.

OUR METHOD is to reach out to schools, community centers, churches, businesses, and other places where people congregate regularly in both urban and suburban areas. Our trainers, hailing from diverse backgrounds and professions, hold workshops in these places with dual possibilities:

1) We assist current disputants in resolving their disputes, and

2) We train interested citizens to learn mediation skills that they can perform within their communities. We invite organizations to install their own conflict resolution programs by becoming a local Peace Center with several trained mediators. Many such mediators later attend workshops to become trainers of new, potential mediators. Utilizing a “YOU WIN / I WIN” philosophy in conflict resolution, we teach communication skills, problem solving, role play, diversity, and self-esteem, which enable the formal Mediation Process of assisting disputants. Participants are trained in both general conflict resolution and in specific peer mediation tactics for their particular organizations.

CURRENT PROGRAMS include the following workshops and consultations:

1) Mediation (interpersonal dispute resolutions) for Intrafamilial, Parent-Child, and Community Conflicts.

2) Training for Adult and Youth Mediators (18 hour Training for adults and older students; 12 hour Training for elementary school students. Both K-12 and college-level trainings are available).*

3) Conflict Resolution Workshops. (2-24 hour seminars on the nature of conflict).*

4) Training Mediation Trainers (12 hours – Participants must be certified, trained mediators).*

5) Consultation: Help planning and implementing Mediation & Conflict Resolution Programs. *Workshops #2-4 require three trainers to facilitate.

WE HAVE SERVED over 1,650 children, parents, and community members by training in both inner cities and suburban areas. Our mediators hail from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Cooperation for a Non-Violent Future was started as a brainchild of Dr. Risa C. Smith in 1992, with the assistance of Mrs. Geraldine Doswell and Mrs. Patti Norris.

WE AIM TO continue with the endorsement of the New Jersey Department of Education Violence and Vandalism Prevention Task Force, whose mission and publications strongly advocate mediation as a means to reduce violence. We hope to gain your assistance in this goal.

ANTICIPATED IMPACT UPON THE COMMUNITY: We seek to help transform conflict-ridden populations and areas into peace-loving communities. We anticipate that our efforts will have created a climate of moral support, increased communication, understanding, and anger-management by the time workshop skills and / or Peace Centers are fully integrated into community life. Peace Centers should serve as permanent fixtures in a community, and in such Peace Centers, individuals and families can receive mediation to resolve conflicts; low-income residents can obtain food and used clothing; and children can play peacefully, receive homework help, and find mentors.