Briefly describe the structure of your program. The Violence Intervention Program is now an independent not for profit agency whose mission is to prevent violence by changing community attitudes and fostering individuals responsibility to solve their own conflicts. VIP teaches conflict resolution skills and provides mediation as a structured process through which to settle disputes.
Mediation helps people communicate and work together to resolve their differences.
Last year a community celebration for peer mediation involved over 450 students, parents, and educators with a contagious enthusiasm for conflict resolution, a direction that changes their schools and their lives. The program originated in 1992 as a project sponsored by the City of Elkhart Human Relations Commission. The Commission provided office space and support for a intern conducting a survey on Community Attitudes Toward Violence as his Master s thesis. The survey produced important data on the community s perception of violence as it related to frequency, seriousness and other factors. This led eventually to a community dialogue on violence related issues including handgun safety and registration.