There
are several ways for you to volunteer at CRCMC. Check out the list
below and feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.
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Join a CRCMC Committee
- Outreach Committee - The Outreach Committee spreads the word about CRCMC throughout the County. They meet once a month in the evenings.
- Development Committee - The Development Committee looks for sources of funding for CRCMC. They meet once a month in the mornings.
If you have experience with grant writing or fundraising, especially for non-profits, this may be of interest to you.
Office Work
- General - Answering
the phone, filing, organizing, and all the other day to day tasks that
keep an organization running. It's a great way to get to know who we
are and what we do even if you don't have former mediation experience.
- Data Entry - We occasionally have need for a few hours of data entry or cross-checking database entries.
Translating
- At home - If
you would like to donate an hour here or there and you are fluent in
another language, consider translating a few documents for us. It's a
volunteer opportunity that you can do from home!
- At a mediation - Fluent
speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese (Mandarin or
Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean or American Sign Language are needed
occasionally to interpret mediation sessions into English. The time commitment is usually about 2 hours. No mediation experience needed, however an appreciation and understanding of
confidentiality is a must.
Scribe
- Sit in on a dialogue circle as an observer and keep a record of what is
said and what happens. Appreciation and understanding of
confidentiality is a must.
Volunteer Opportunities that Require Training
Dialogue Circles
- Facilitators lead the Dialogue Circles and
facilitate discussions within the group. Requirements: Basic mediation training and an additional 3 hr training.
- Commitment: Contact us for further information.
Intake
- This is a great way to practice your reflective listening skills! Handle telephone requests for mediations. Requirements: Basic mediation training and a 10hr intake training.
- Commitment: Minimum of 4 hrs a month (approximately one morning or afternoon a month)
Community Conferencing
- Requirements: Two and a half day training and a $250 cost, reimbursable with completion of commitment.
- Commitment: Observe two cases and facilitate 4 cases or donate 20 hours in services over the course of one year.
Facilitation
- Requirements: Basic mediation training and a 20hr facilitation training.
- Commitment: Contact us for further details.
Training Others in Conflict Management
- Requirements: Basic mediation training and a 2 day "Train the Trainer" training.
- Commitment: Sign up for a minimum of 6 trainings a year.
Basic Mediation Training
- Requirements: 40 hour training over the course of 2 - 3 weeks. A minimum of 2 observations of real mediations and an apprenticeship with experienced mediators.
- Commitment: Volunteer for 120 hours over the course of one year. (These hours can be used on mediations or any of the other volunteer opportunities listed above.)
- See "Volunteer as a Mediator" section below for further details on the Basic Mediation Training.
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If you are interested in any of the above opportunities or if you have any questions contact us at 301-942-7700 ORfill out our form online.
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| Volunteers receiving the Conflict Resolution Day Award |
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VOLUNTEER AS A MEDIATOR
♦ At this time CRCMC is not offering training for new mediators, however we are maintaining a waiting list of interested individuals for the next available training. ♦
If you
would like to be added to our waiting list or have already received the
40-hour training and are interested in volunteering with us,
please send an email to: mediationmanager@crcmc.org.
CRCMC offers free
mediation training to Montgomery County residents, who commit to
volunteering as mediators with CRCMC. The frequency of our trainings
and the screening process for mediator trainees is guided by community
needs in Montgomery County.
The Basic Mediation Training through CRCMC includes the following:
- 45 hours of mediation training
- apprenticeship program, which consists of:
- observing two mediations
- co-mediating two mediations with an experienced mediator
- 5 hours of follow-up training
The
basic mediation training is based on experiential learning.
Experiential learning builds skills sequentially by incorporating past
experiences with conflict, as well as, new experiences that will be
created in the training through games and activities. Because this type
of training relies heavily on group participation, individuals who miss
1 hour of training will not receive a mediator certificate and those
who miss 3 hours of training will be asked not to return to the group.
Trainees, who cannot complete the training due to unexpected
emergencies, have the opportunity to restart their training with a new
group.
Upon completion of all 50 hours of training and the apprenticeship, mediators receive their certificate and are required to:
- volunteer 10 hours a month for one year or a total of 120 hours of service for one year
- volunteer for outreach, fundraising activities, or on a CRCMC committee
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participate in the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence (MPME).
This is a statewide quality assurance program that requires mediators
to commit to continuous learning and skill building. For more
information on MPME please visit www.marylandmacro.org.
Mediators
trained in models that are different from the community co-mediation
model, may be required to participate in additional trainings before
volunteering their services with CRCMC.
To volunteer with
CRCMC, applicants are required to participate in a 2 hour New Volunteer
Orientation. The orientation informs participants of CRCMC’s mission,
services, and expectations regarding volunteer commitments. Next,
applicants submit an electronic Application to Become a Volunteer.
These electronic forms will be emailed after the orientation to the
attendees. The
CRCMC staff will review the applications and schedule personal
interviews with each applicant. Then, CRCMC will notify applicants by
email about the outcome of the interviews. New volunteers will be
informed about the mediation assignment process, upcoming trainings,
and next steps.
New Volunteer Orientations
are scheduled once or twice throughout the year. To inquire about the
date and time of the next orientation, please email your request to
mediation@crcmc.org.
CRCMC is dedicated to its volunteers’
growth and offers free trainings, opportunities to build new skills
(i.e. facilitation and training skills), mentoring programs, and an
open supportive community. We thank you for your support in promoting
free mediation services to the Montgomery County community.
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