As we celebrate 35 years this year, I am thrilled, honored and humbled to be leading this work. Since 1987, Mediation and Restorative Services (MARS), has been working towards creating peaceful communities, through the various programs and services offered. Milestone anniversaries are certainly a time to reminisce fondly about the past, but they are also a time to think about the future. One way we are noting this year’s anniversary is through enhanced collaborative partnerships, program expansion, community-centered approach and accessibility and equity in our multi-faceted services and trainings.
In our 35 years, MARS has emerged as an iconic and independent nonprofit organization that provides solutions and peaceful alternatives to challenging community, family or individual issues, forging meaningful relationships and providing cost-savings for the cities and courts in our service area. It’s a substantial undertaking. It takes thousands and thousands of hours each year from a professional and enthusiastic staff, a wise and committed board, and energized and dedicated volunteers to ensure our programs and services are well-planned and well-implemented to serve our communities.
Today, we continue this work in earnest, with the help of our board, volunteers, staff and collaborative partners. I am happy to announce that we are ready for innovative programming, radical inclusion in community learning, transformative approach to meditation, child inclusive meditation for strong and stable shared parenting meditation, intentionally reconciling the needs of victims and offenders with the needs of the community, and peaceful alternatives in housing disputes.
I want to maintain a level of consistent service to individuals and communities to demonstrate the benefit of our diversified programming services and your outstanding work helping to maintain peaceful communities. My goal with this is to ensure we drive toward the best overall outcome. We will be both purpose and mission driven. A flexibility that will allow our programs to more intentionally target community needs, as we continue being the oasis of peaceful solutions, outcomes and alternatives.
To this end, we will deepen our existing collaborative partnerships and build new ones to ensure that together we continue to form a hedge of support around communities. Our overall plans, coordinate and integrate work across the organization, drive actions and decisions on key objectives, and ensure the plan and outcomes can be effectively communicated to every partner.
I want to crave on your indulgence to join me in making the next 35 years even more successful and thank you all for your warm welcome and support of me since I took office.
Bernadette Foh
MARS Executive Director
