Author to speak about how husband’s crime changed her life

One month after marrying the man she loved, Shannon Moroney’s life was traumatically altered. She was away from home at a teachers’ conference when police knocked on her hotel door and told her she needed to come home. Her house in Peterborough was a crime scene and her husband, Jason, was in police custody after confessing to violent sexual assault and kidnapping two women.

Shannon’s story, published in October by Doubleday Canada, is a raw honest account of how her husband’s crime impacted her life. It’s a story of grief and stigma, but also compassion, restoration and forgiveness.

On Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at the south campus of Canadian Mennonite University, Shannon will tell her remarkable story. The event is hosted by Mediation Services in collaboration with MCC Manitoba and St. Leonard’s Society of Winnipeg.

“Shannon has a unique perspective. She has suffered as a victim of crime, and was also very close to an offender,” said Lois Coleman Neufeld, director of Mediation Services. “She was compelled to look beyond the justice system for the tools she needed to heal. Her story is a convincing argument in favour of alternative and diverse services for victims and offenders to ensure a safe and healthy future for our communities.”

The event on March 3 is also the launch of a newly formed organization of citizens concerned with improving the quality of justice for victims, offenders and community members. The St. Leonard’s Society of Winnipeg, along with MCC Manitoba, is undertaking an innovative project in Stony Mountain Penitentiary that engages victims, offenders and community members.

Shannon will be available for interviews on Friday March 2. For more information about the event or to arrange an interview, please contact Mediation Services at (204) 925-3416

Restorative Justice as an Art Form

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Friday, January 27, at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, an interesting show is opening up. The featured artists have all been deeply impacted by crime – by the murder of a family member or close relation.

When I have the opportunity to speak about Restorative Justice, I often talk about it as a philosophy or a theory. Most frequently, I explain it as a way of living – a practice. This art show stretches my imagination to think about Restorative Justice as expressed by creative individuals using mediums other than words.

The show runs until March 10 – check out the Gallery’s website for hours – and come, prepared to be moved.

 

Restorative Justice and New Year’s Resolutions!

January is often a time when people make promises to themselves and others to change. And as we all know, January is often the time when many of these promises fall by the wayside.

For those of us working in Mediation and conflict resolution processes, we see people make resolutions all the time. They certainly don’t all happen in January. But throughout the year, we see individuals and groups make decisions to live differently, to respond to others’ actions in a different way, and to be less judgmental of others without knowing the context.

These resolutions are often called agreements – and there is an accountability factor in them that is often missing from New Year’s resolutions. As mediators, we monitor agreements and encourage participants to meet their obligations. In some cases, there are family members that hold the participants accountable. In some of the best cases, the persons involved in a conflict hold each other accountable. Just like resolutions that fail, agreements can also fail if accountability is not a reality.

Resolutions also fail because they are unrealistic – and agreements that are unrealistic often fail as well. Agreements built on the principles of Restorative Justice need to be reasonable, and as much as possible, respond in some tangible way to the harm done. A number of years ago, we saw an agreement reached where the accused was responsible for completing 60 hours of community service for shoplifting less than $10 worth of goods.

In many businesses, nonprofit organizations, and social service agencies, the acronym “SMART” helps us define “good” goals.
S= Specific
M=Measurable
A=Attainable
R=Relevant
T=time limited
I never thought about making my New Year’s Resolutions “SMART” – and neither have I deliberately used the acronym in my work in conflict resolution – but it makes a lot of sense. How do you ensure you remain balanced in the agreements and resolutions you make? I’d love to hear from you

Restorative Justice and the Holidays.

The holiday season is a time when we celebrate those who are closest to us. We get together to eat, play, laugh, and give tokens of care and love. Even for those for whom this is not associated with a religious celebration, this time of year is set aside to enjoy friendships and family.

For many, this time of year makes the reality of difficult relationships more poignant. While others enter a season of parties and fun, many stay at home alone because of damaged relationships and pain associated with those realities.

At Mediation Services, December festivities remind us of the importance of relationships and the work that is necessary to maintain good relationships with those around us. Daily, we see relationships that are broken because of a lack of communication or assumptions made about others’ motivations for their actions. We see how good intentions lead to misunderstandings, and accusations result in divisiveness. We see how harm caused by another person creates confusion and mistrust.

There are moments of truth in an oft-seen movie this time of year – Home Alone. In a church on Christmas Eve, the main character, Kevin, meets his neighbour, Marley, who, Kevin learns, had an argument with his son many years earlier and has not talked to him since. Kevin, in his youthful innocence asks Marley what he has to lose by reaching out to his son and taking the initiative to rekindle the relationship. Marley has no good response.

Repairing relationships never happens without work, without a willingness to take a step towards the other person. It doesn’t always happen like in the movies, but when people are willing to work at it, surprising (and good) things may happen.

We at Mediation Services wish you many healthy relationships this season!

Getting the word out about what we do

This fall, I had the opportunity to speak at several businesses as they launched their campaigns to raise funds for The United Way of Winnipeg (I hope you have all had the chance to support this fantastic organization – if not, go to http://www.unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca/donate.html).

At almost every place I spoke, the common refrain was, “Why haven’t we ever heard about this service?” I nod in agreement, and say that we’re working to change that!

We have quickly learned that our job is not only to help people think differently about conflict but to let them know there alternatives exist. I dream of the day when there will be 100s of advertisements in the city proclaiming that there are many positive ways to resolve conflicts, and that anybody can access those tools!

At the same time, although we don’t have billboards, we have many people who support our work – who are willing to tell their friends, neighbours, family members, and co-workers that there is a service that can help them. Let us know how we can support you to spread this word even more broadly – and in the meantime, I’ll continue to speak, every chance I get, and invite others to spread the word, too.

As The United Way Campaign says, “Together, we CAN make a difference.”

Mary Wolfe Award 2011

Our 7^th Annual Mary Wolfe Award Celebration took place on November 17, 2011. This evening is a highlight for me and for many in the community as we celebrate individuals who are involved in making the world a better place to live. This year, we had five nominees, working in five different fields. And although each of their stories was unique, there were also common threads. Each of the five has worked tirelessly to better the communities in which they live and work. They believe in the value of each person with whom they come in contact and they understand how important it is to support people to make good choices for their own lives and to take responsibility for what they do.

It is always exciting for me to see that individuals and organizations all over the city believe that they can make a difference. This year’s nominees fit into this group of people who, more often than not, work quietly behind the scenes and characterize themselves as “ordinary folk.” And like the nominees in other years, this year’s group have helped others accomplish extraordinary things.

This year, we celebrate five people nominated by people who know them well:

Sharon Taylor: Sharon has many years experience leading community development, bringing opportunity, safety and support to families of her community.

Edith Von Gunten: Edith is the woman people go to when they need help or support. She exemplifies social justice through her love, patience, kindness, humility, encouragement, hope and prayer.

David Mouland: Involved at Winnipeg Harvest, Dave has a commitment to building a community where people feel purposeful instead of helpless, optimistic instead of hopeless, and strong instead of powerless.

Eleanor Ulasy: A role model to many in her community, Eleanor exemplifies life long learning, community participation and activism in the neighbourhood in which she lives. She strives to blend the values of social justice into daily living.

The winner of this year’s award is: Karen Mozdzen: Karen is a school counselor who works in many ways to better her students’ lives, increase options for families, and promote safer schools. Between 1992 – 2002, Karen worked under the direction of Mary Wolfe to coordinate the peer mediation program at West St. Paul School. She has also worked to create spaces in schools for empathy and interpersonal conflict resolution where all students and community members are accepted and valued.

Congratulations to all nominees and to those who nominated them. Our communities are better because of you!

Your opportunity to participate in speaking about Bill C-10

We’re back! There’s lots happening on the restorative justice front – and this week, we’re highlighting the initiatives that anybody can become involved in re Bill C-10. Read on!

OPTION 1:   You are invited to take part in a rally being organized at the Legislature, to call on the Manitoba government to follow the lead of Newfoundland, Quebec and Ontario and the Official Opposition in British Columbia in opposing Bill C-10, the crime omnibus bill currently being rushed through Parliament. The rally will be at:
· The Legislative Buildings, North entrance on Tuesday, November 8th at noon

Unfortunately, comments made yesterday by the Attorney General for Manitoba Andrew Swan, reported in the Free Press (see attached) suggest that Manitoba currently favours the Bill, which among other things would immediately aggravate overcrowding in Manitoba jails and siphon much needed money away from social programs and other crime-fighting initiatives– quite apart from that Bill C-10 will do nothing to reduce crime. Therefore it is important to bring out as many people as possible to tell Manitoba we need to ‘get off the omnibus’ if we want to have money left for the kinds of initiatives that do reduce crime, address poverty and build stronger communities.

The Rally will focus on
1. The human cost of Bill C-10
2. The cost to communities, both in terms of squandered dollars, and lost human resources
3. Asking why we should pay for a ‘strategy’ that doesn’t work?

Option 2:   Friday morning (November4) on CTV morning show, Wilma Derksen will be a guest talking about her perspective of Bill C-10.

Option 3:  Go to www.leadnow.ca and send a letter to your Member of Parliament. Every voice counts!

Option 4:  Engage others in the conversation – what are meaningful ways to be SMART on crime?