Partial scholarships are available to community members who wish to become mediators at Ku’ikahi Mediation Center. “All of our mediators are professionally trained volunteers who donate their time to help people find their own best solutions to a wide variety
Partial scholarships are available to community members who wish to become mediators at Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center. “All of our mediators are professionally trained volunteers who donate their time to help people find their own best solutions to a wide variety of issues,” said Ku‘ikahi Executive Director Julie Mitchell.
“Since we rely on this exceptional pool of volunteers to provide mediation services, we continually seek out potential new apprentice mediators from the community at large,” she added.
The nonprofit community mediation center offers its annual “Basic Mediation Training” over two consecutive weekends in Hilo. The dates are Sept. 28-29 and Oct. 5-6, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on both Sundays. The 28-hour training offers instruction in the process of mediation and how to apply advanced communication skills—such as active listening, summarizing and rephrasing, and using open-ended questions — in order to help parties resolve their differences.
“We invite people from all walks of life and backgrounds to join us for Basic Mediation Training, with the hopes that they will sign up for our Apprenticeship Program,” Mitchell stated. “Offering partial scholarships supports this effort.”
Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center accepts those who successfully complete basic training as Apprentice Mediators. To become an apprentice, trainees sign a statement of commitment and pass a background check, then are assigned to observe mediation sessions and co-mediate with Senior Mediators for practice and skills building. Additional supervision, support, and training are provided for ongoing mediator development.
“Thanks to Hawaii Island United Way for funding our Conflict Resolution Education program, we are able to offer partial scholarships to those in need. We hope our scholarship recipients give back to the community by becoming Apprentice Mediators,” explained Mitchell. Full tuition for “Basic Mediation Training” is $250, which includes training materials. Training applications are available online at www.hawaiimediation.org. For more information and Scholarship Forms, contact Mitchell at 935-7844, ext. 116, or julie@hawaiimediation.org.
