Established in 2012, The Nelson Good Neighbour Program is a community-based mediation initiative in which volunteer mediators help community members resolve disputes and build relationships in an empowering, confidential, and non-adversarial setting. Mediation is a voluntary, confidential process for resolving disputes with the help of a trained, neutral third-party called a “mediator.” Our media
tors are community volunteers who have completed a 3-day training course. They are neutral parties, and they help parties reach a mutually acceptable resolution to a problem. It is not part of a mediator’s role to provide legal advice. Examples of conflicts that community mediation can address are: landlord/tenant issues, neighbourhood conflicts, interpersonal problems or roommate disputes. However mediation is not appropriate in cases of domestic violence, when the issue is against the law, and when one of the parties declines mediation. The Good Neighbour Program cuts to the heart of the matter by helping neighbours share conversations when tensions run high. The Good Neighbour Community Mediation Program strengthens the social fabric of our community by revealing and developing the inherent connections within our neighbourhoods. As our systems adapt to rapid economic and ecological changes, our community ties will become more important than ever. Our parent organization, Transition Nelson, hopes that these conversations will be the first step to remembering how to share all our resources for the benefit of our community, whether that means a shovel, a porch, a cup of sugar, or an idea. Here’s how it works. If you’re involved in a dispute and would like some assistance, you can call our Good Neighbour program at 250.551.0262. If you do not live in the Nelson area but live in the RDCK, you can contact the Mir Centre for Peace at 250-365-1234 or email [email protected]. A trained volunteer will take your information and assign a volunteer mediator. The mediator will contact you to understand the situation in more depth. The mediator will help make contact with the other party of the dispute to invite him or her to the mediation. The volunteer mediator will then schedule a mediation session if the other person has agree to meet and mediate. Finally, you and the other party will sit down with two trained mediators for approximately three hours to discuss the situation and see if its possible for you to create a solution. All information and discussions in the mediation processes are confidential and will not be shared outside of the mediation. This is a proven mechanism for resolving community disputes, and its free (although a donation is appreciated to offset the costs of the program) !
