Volunteer Program

Volunteer Mediation Application

Volunteering is a critical part of the services we provide to the community. In order to participate in the Volunteer Mediator Program, you must have a real desire to help others. Becoming a Mediator is based on many factors, a primary one being an individual’s readiness to commit to training, service and his/her own continuing growth.

The qualities the Center looks for in volunteer mediators includes individuals who are:

  • Generally calm, relaxed, patient, positive, tactful.
  • Able, with training, to be comfortable with conflict and intense feelings.
  • Able to stay neutral and non-judgmental with people different from themselves in lifestyle and viewpoint.
  • Able to refrain from advising; judging; counseling; or taking sides.
  • Zestfully committed to training and the task.
  • Able to value their own learning and growth.

The process to become a Volunteer Mediator:

  • Complete the MCP Mediator Application
  • Send completed Application to MCP
  • Participate in an interview
  • Register and complete the- 3 day Basic Mediation Training class
  • Agree to follow the Mediation Center of the Pacific’s Volunteer Mediator policies

After completion of the required steps the volunteer will enter a one year Apprenticeship, which includes:

  • Observing a mediation
  • Co-mediating a minimum of ten (10) cases with an experienced Mentor Mediator
  • Completing the Advanced Mediation Training course
  • Attending skill update workshops
  • Successfully passing an evaluation of Basic Skills

For more detailed information about the training and a registration form, please visit our Basic Mediation page.

Additional trainings are offered to active MCP Volunteer Mediators.

Volunteer Mediators at the MCP are trained to be impartial facilitators of a wide range of disputes involving: neighbors, landlords and tenants, consumers and merchants, juvenile restitution, special education, foreclosures, condominiums, divorce and other family issues. Additional training is required for all specialty areas of mediation.

Mediators master a powerful set of conflict resolution attitudes, knowledge, and skills, as well as a structure for enabling collaborative problem-solving. This process has obvious benefits for the community and it has equally positive effects on the personal and professional lives of the mediators themselves.