Community Mediation Services, Inc.

Community Mediation Services, Inc. (CMS) is dedicated to helping individuals move from conflict to resolution through a respectful, private and efficient mediation process.

We train and coordinate volunteers who mediate a variety of disputes among:

• Neighbors
• Students in schools
• Youthful offenders and their victims
• Landlords and tenants
• Family members
• Businesses and customers
• Employers and employees

In 2011, over 100 CMS volunteers will mediate more than 1,000 disputes in our community. Conflict is difficult for the individuals directly involved and places a burden on our public resources. Through partnerships and collaborations, CMS helps thousands of individuals put conflict behind them and decreases the burden on the increasingly scarce resources of our police and court systems. Our collective impact is changing the way our local communities address and resolve conflict.

Founded in 1983, CMS is a nonprofit organization funded by both public and private support, serving the 40 communities in the Twin Cities' north and west metro. We are proud to meet all standards of the Charities Review Council, demonstrating sound governance, transparency, and fiscal accountability.

"Mediation is important because it helps communities and societies to be more civil on the local level. We provide a safe, comfortable, neutral place where people can be listened to and feel they are being heard. Resolution most often would not happen without a neutral place and a neutral person present to guide the conversation. Listening, hearing and acknowledgement occur when parties sit down face to face. It can really change the tone."

--Karen, CMS volunteer mediator for 8 years

Learn more at www.communitymediations.org