News

Time to sign up for CMC’s Spring fundraiser—a run/walk to be held at Ijam’s Nature Center in beautiful South Knoxville, Tennessee.  This year, we will reprise our Peace Out 2021 virtual event.  Peace Out 2023 will be in-person and will take place in the heart of Knoxville’s urban wilderness.

Check in begins at 7:30am and the race start-time is 9am.  Run or walk, fast or slow, around Ijam’s beautiful trails and City Greenway.  Participate as an individual, or in a friend/family group.  The cost is $45/person (children 10 and under are free).  In return, you get a t-shirt, a swag bag with vouchers for Fanatic beer (on site, along with KARM Urban Table food truck), PLUS that good feeling of having supported an organization which takes care of our community by mediating hundreds of disputes each year.  Take a look at our amazing sponsors!  Yes, there will be prizes! (And the Urban Table breakfast menu looks delicious.)

If you don’t feel like getting out to exercise, you can donate with the click of a button!    REGISTER OR DONATE HERE.

 

 

Food, Fun, Live Music, Door prizes, Ping-Pong Tournament, Silent Auction

Kick off your summer season by joining us in supporting the Community Mediation Center (CMC) and participating in our 2nd Annual Peace Out Event. This year it includes a evening of fun and food with a ping-pong tournament and silent auction.  We have partnered with Fanatic Brewing Company who is hosting this event on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 2735 N Central St.

Tickets can be purchased online for $50 each. 
The money received from each ticket sale will be matched 1:1 by an anonymous donor.

The fun will begin at 4:00 p.m. and last until 8:00 p.m. With each $50.00 ticket purchased on the safe and secure GiveSignUp website, you will receive:

• Two beer tickets for the Fanatic Brewery’s beer of your choice.  Fanatic brews quite a few all natural one-of-a-kind craft beer, including orange shandies and grapefruit radlers.
  Read Fanatic’s story here. Needless to say–but we’ll say it anyway–you must be 21 years old with a valid  government-issued picture ID to partake of alcoholic drinks.  There will be non-alcoholic drinks on hand, too.
• Fabulous food provided by Oakwood BBQ.
• Excellent live entertainment by the amazingly talented Stina Nesbit & Friends (Listen here and here).

Each ticket purchased gives you a opportunities to win door prizes.  Door prizes will be given every half hour starting a 4:30 PM and ending at 7:30PM. You must be present to win.

The Peace Out event benefits Community Mediation Center in Knoxville.  CMC offers mediation services to those  in our community, regardless of ability to pay.  To learn more about CMC and what we do, please explore our website.

And there’s a Ping-Pong Tournament!
There will be a cash prize Ping Pong Tournament (limited spaces available). The entry fee for the Ping Pong Tournament is an additional $20.  If you just want to play ping-pong and can resist the delicious food and drink, you can join the tournament only. The Ping Pong Event will be played as a singles and double elimination tournament.
Yes, ping-pong and table tennis refer to the same game! 

Please check back soon, either here on the CMC website or on the GiveSignUp event page for a list of silent auction items.

We would like to thank our wonderful sponsors for their support of our Community Mediation Center and the 2022 Peace Out Event:

The Law Firm of Breeding, Olinzock, Carter, & Crippen
Forshay Management & Consulting
The Law Office of Heidi Plehn Wegryn
Law Office of Lisa Collins Werner
Redeem and Restore Mediation Group
The Law Firm of Sharp & Attanasio
The Law Firm of Sobieski, Messer, & Elledge

SOCK IT TO 2021 and kick off your spring by joining us in supporting the Community Mediation Center (CMC) by participating in our inaugural Peace Out Virtual 5K Run/Walk AND 15K Bike event.     

The race will take place between April 10th through April 24th 2021.

Sign Up Here

The “ask” is easy:  Just $35 to join until March, when the registration fee increases to $40. The virtual race event takes place wherever you would like it to take place: at a track, in your neighborhood, on the way to your favorite coffee shop, on the elliptical while watching TV, or on the couch with your feet up. (And yes, there is a way to simply donate using an ottoman and an iPad for those who are recuperative or more contemplative! You still must post pictures.) When you’re finished, post your results in the same place you registered.  We have several prizes in store for those who participate. Dogs and children are free!

• Your net donation will triple thanks to a generous anonymous donor!
• And with each Peace Out registration, the registrant will get to pick out a free pair of Bombas, the best running and walking socks in the universe.  If you register early, you will have your socks by the time the virtual run/walk/bike happens.
• And paying it forward, for every registration, Bombas will send a pair of these wonderful socks to Compassion Closet of East Tennessee to give to adoptive and foster families in our area.

Participants will register, post their results when the running, walking or biking is done, and then check in to see if they’ve won a prize. It’s also where you can send your friends and family to sign up! Please help us spread the word about this virtual race.

This fundraiser is to benefit Community Mediation Center’s local and statewide work. We are remotely mediating cases for our own Knox County Sessions, Juvenile and state Circuit and Chancery courts, as well as helping law enforcement, social service agencies, schools, churches and neighborhoods. In December, CMC was asked by our Tennessee Supreme Court and Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission o serve as a “hub” for the courts in the Eastern Grand Division to assign cases to Rule 31 mediators willing to take on backlogged cases to mediate pro bono, through the Tennessee Supreme Court’s MediateTN ADR Plan. Out of crisis comes opportunity to demonstrate how useful mediation can be to our county, state and municipal courts and the people they serve!

This workshop is free for CMC volunteer mediators and will be held as a Zoom (video) conference.

The workshop is 2 hrs in length and has been approved for 2 hrs of general mediation CME credit.

Please email Jen Comiskey (faculty and host) at cmcjuvct@gmail.com to register.  She will send a link to join the conference.  Ahead of the start time, you will need to download and install the Zoom app on your device or laptop.  Please “test-drive” the audio and video connection on your device before attending the workshop.  Thanks!

[mappress][/mappress]  Community Mediation Center in Knoxville has scheduled a 40 hr Basic Mediator Training in general civil mediation, as follows.
ALL TRAINING DAYS ARE REQUIRED TO BE ATTENDED IN PERSON.

Thursday, January 16, 2020: 4PM – 9PM
Friday, January 17, 2020:  4PM – 9PM
Saturday, January 18, 2020: 9AM – 6PM
Thursday January 30, 2020: 4PM – 9PM
Friday, January 31, 2020: 4PM – 9PM
Saturday, February 1, 2020, 9AM – 6PM

We will reserve the following weekend (February 6-8) for make up sessions due to weather-related cancellations.
Family-to Civil Crossover Training (16 hrs) will be included for those who have already received Family Mediation Training. (dates and times TBA).
The training is an approved TSC General Civil Rule 31 training, and is designed for those who have never taken a mediation training.  We will focus on topics such as:

• Conflict resolution concepts
• Negotiation dynamics
• Court process
• Mediation process and techniques
• Communication skills
• Standards of conduct and ethics for Rule 31 Neutrals
• Community resources and referral process
• Cultural and personal background factors
• Attorneys and mediation
• The self-represented party and mediation
• Confidentiality requirements, and any exceptions. as required by law, and
• Rule 31 and procedures and ethical standards
• Forms and protocol for co-mediating in CMC’s Civil Sessions Day-Of-Court Mediation Program, as well as in CMC’s non-court civil programs.

Our training will prepare the student to be a Volunteer Mediator for CMC throughout the coming year.  An important part of the overall training is the opportunity to observe real mediations and then co-mediate with more experienced mediators in our Day-Of-Court Program.  Since 1994, CMC volunteers have been co-mediating in Knox County General Sessions Civil Court for those whose disputes involve landlord-tenant issues, car accident damages, fee for service contracts, sales, repossession of personal property, collection matters, personal and business loans, roommate troubles, family renting from family.

We will co-train with the University of Tennessee College of Law Mediation Clinic at 1505 W. Cumberland Avenue, Knoxville, TN  37916, room location TBA.
Email Jen Comiskey at cmctraining@2mediate.org for more information. Once you have spoken to us and filled out an application, use this link to pay.

 

[mappress][/mappress]The Board of Directors of Community Mediation Center is hosting a gathering on Saturday, August 17, 2019, so that we can show gratitude and love to all our volunteers.  There will be a time to meet and catch up with each other, mix and mingle, followed by a sit-down summer supper.  Refreshing drinks will be served!  The party will begin at 3PM and go until 7PM.  The meal will be served at 5PM in the big family room at TVUUC on Kingston Pike.  There is plenty of parking, a cool, air-conditioned space inside, and plenty of friends, fellow mediators, and love!

The party will be held at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (TVUUC) at 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919.  Come in the main doors and the big fellowship room is to your right, just off the foyer.

Important!  We need you to RSVP to be able to plan the supper.  Call us at 865-594-1879 or email to jackie.kittrell@2mediate.org

Peacemakers Wanted!

Community Mediation Center is a non-profit organization that provides pro bono mediation services to local families, neighborhoods, organizations, schools, and individuals in conflict.  CMC also provides ongoing training and mentoring to our mediation community. We are seeking individuals with a passion for peacemaking to attend our upcoming Family Mediation Training and make a volunteer commitment for at least one year.

In our training, you will develop your skills in listening and helping others to have empowering and constructive conversations, and have opportunities to practice those skills through group exercises and mediation roleplay.  You will learn about conflict dynamics, active listening skills, collaborative facilitation techniques, our 6-step mediation model, screening and safety planning protocol, power balancing, procedures for mediating cases from Knox County family courts, and many other subjects.  We will include a variety of expert guest speakers who can provide you with practical advice on many topics.

Our volunteers assist hundreds of people a year with mediation services, giving them access to a positive and empowering alternative to the court system.  When mediators help parents resolve parenting and/or divorce disputes, they are often able to save time and money, improve communication, create stability and consistency for their children, and develop a resolution that is workable for everyone involved.  Mediators also reduce costly administrative burdens on local courts and are a critical avenue to help people who cannot afford lawyers access the justice system.

We look forward to reviewing volunteer applications from anyone in our community who is interested in serving others through mediation.  Read about our volunteer mediation programs  HERE and download the volunteer mediation application HERE.

Our 46-hour Family Mediation Training will take place on the following dates:

Weekend 1: Required for all new CMC volunteer family volunteers, as well as those seeking training for Rule 31 listing

• Thursday, January 17, 2019, 3:30PM – 8:30PM
• Friday, January 18, 2019, 3:30PM – 8:30PM
• Saturday, January 19, 2019, 8:30AM – 5:30PM

Weekend 2: Required for all new CMC volunteer family mediators, as well as those seeking training for Rule 31 listing (46 hr family & 32 civil-to-family crossover)

• Thursday, January 24, 2019, 3:30PM -9:00PM
• Friday, January 25, 2019, 3:30PM-9:15PM
• Saturday, January 26, 8:30AM – 5:30PM

Weekend 3: (NOT required for new volunteers) Required to complete 46 hrs of training for those seeking Rule 31 listing (46 hr family & 32 hr civil to family crossover)

• Thursday, February 21, 2019, 3:30PM – 8:30PM
• Friday, February 22, 2019, 3:30PM – 8:30PM
• Saturday, February 23, 2019, 8:30AM – 5:30PM

We are looking for community members who would like to become CMC family mediators.  In return for training, observing and mentoring, we expect volunteers to commit to 1 year of volunteering, approximately 1-2 cases each month in Knox County Juvenile Court.  Those volunteers who want to continue may take an additional training for divorce and post-divorce mediation.

If you’re interested in our upcoming training, please contact Jen Comiskey, our Training Director: cmctraining@2mediate.org  or call 865-215-6570.  Thanks! 

PLEASE JOIN US AT THE CENTRAL COLLECTIVE

Friday, June 22 at 6PM-9PM for our annual special event to benefit CMC! Italian Hors d’Oeurves & Small Plates by Holly’s Eventful Dining, Wine, Beer & Prosecco Bar, Wine Auction & Silent Auction. All attendees will automatically be entered in a drawing to win a catered dinner for 8 or lunch for 12 by Chef Arnold Bondi. Bid on VIP passes to finals of the the USA Cycling National Championships in downtown Knoxville on June 24th! Get ready to bid, race fans!! VIP tickets are valued at $150 each.

TICKETS: $75 per ticket
SPONSORSHIPS: $300 (includes 2 tickets) or $1000 (includes 6 tickets)

For more information or to purchase tickets or sponsorships by phone please call CMC (865) 594-1879.

Premium Sponsor (includes 6 tickets) $1,000.00 USDSponsor (includes 2 tickets) $300.00 USDTicket $75.00 USDVolunteer ticket (limit 2) $25.00 USD

 

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Thank You to OuR Sponsors

CMC staff and volunteers will be participating in a Tenant Rights workshop convened by the City of Knoxville Office of Neighborhoods (David Massey, 865-215-3232) and Parkridge Community Organization (Jennifer Montgomery, 865-406-4364).  Jackie Kittrell, Executive Director and CMC Volunteer Sessions Mediator, Tim Howell, will be on the panel, along with representatives from Legal Aid of East Tennessee (Christina Magrans-Tillery) and Tennessee Human Rights Commission (Saadia Williams), as well as City Codes Enforcement (Cheri Hollifield and Tracey Berry) and City of Knoxville Community Development (Mark Rigsby).

At the O’Connor Senior Center, 5:30-7:30 PM.  To reserve a seat and/or arrange for childcare, please call 865-215-3077.  Refreshments will be served!

Please save the date, Saturday, April 22 at 7PM-10PM for our annual special event to benefit CMC! We will have heavy hors d’oeuvres, lots of beverages, including a Blue Slip wine tasting. The amazing Chillbillies will be on hand to provide music for dancing, and we’ll also have Silent Auction items to browse and bid on.  The link to purchase tickets via Paypal is just below: 

Our fabulous sponsors this year:

PLATINUM SPONSORS:
Elizabeth Cooper, Divorce Better Knoxville
Sherry Mahar, Esq.
David Valone, Esq.

THE REST OF OUR WONDERFUL SPONSORS:
John Anen, Esq.
Angela Blevins, Esq.
Breeding & Henry, LLC
Laura Metcalf, Esq.
Adam Moncier, Esq.
Hutson Mediation Firm, PLLC
Elizabeth Psar, Esq.
Vanessa Samano, Esq.
Tennessee Land Development Services
Tennessee Mediation School
Mary Ward, Esq.
Heidi Plehn Wegryn, Esq.

PURCHASE AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS FOR $75 EACH.
CMC VOLUNTEERS CAN PURCHASE UP TO TWO (2) TICKETS FOR $25 EACH.

Ticket $75.00 USDCMC Volunteers only. Limit 2 $25.00 USD

Add-on: Blue Slip wine tasting: $10 for 4 tastings (4 different wines) and a CMC glass.