Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center

Join us for a two-part online seminar - Understanding Conflict - on September 11th and 18th from 1 PM to 4 PM. This class will delve into communication and conflict resolution skills relevant to home, community, and work settings. You'll gain insights into your own responses to conflict and discover new strategies for effective communication in high-stress situations. This course is also a prerequisite for our upcoming Tools for Tough Conversations series coming up this Fall.

You can learn and register at: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/understanding-conflict

Help us expand our library for our Supervised Visitation program!

To better support the families we work with, we're seeking to add carefully selected titles for our young readers that cover a wide range of topics from diverse perspectives.
Please take a moment to explore our Village Books Wishlist and consider buying a book or two. It's a great way to support families while also supporting local books!

Please check our wish list today: https://www.villagebooks.com/wishlist/1294

Sip & Singo is just around the corner! Please join us for a fun night of musical bingo "Singo", Prizes, and local craft beer at the Boundary Bay Brewery Beer Garden for a great cause! Tickets are $25 and include one beverage, a commemorative WDRC glass, & the opportunity to win prizes!

Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/whatcomdisputeresolutioncenter/1308627

Today is International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples -Here at the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center we are located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, and Semiahmoo People.

The Coast Salish People are the original inhabitants of Washington’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. They lived in villages throughout this territory and continue to have an ongoing relationship with these areas. Since Time Immemorial they have celebrated life on their land, water ways and on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of their People to perpetuate their way of life.

Early Bird tickets are still available for our 21st annual Peace Builder Awards!

At the event we will celebrate our Peace Builder Award recipients and Youth Peace Poetry Contest winners. Attendees will enjoy a delicious meal, see our beautiful award show live, partake in our silent auction and raffle, enjoy live music, and so much more.

You can learn more and get tickets today at: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/peace-builder-awards

We also want to take a moment to thank our sponsors at Peoples Bank (WA), Puget Sound Energy, Brett McCandlis Brown & Conner PLLC - Washington's Injury Lawyers, NetSpeed Learning Industrial Credit Union, Saratoga Commercial Real Estate, Highline Construction, Lautenbach Recycling, Ethos West Construction, Inc., Chuckanut Builders, Barron Quinn Blackwood, PLLC, Chmelik Sitkin & Davis, Four Points by Sheraton, WECU, Care Medical Group, Village Books in Fairhaven. & A1DesignBuild.

We can’t wait to celebrate alongside these fantastic businesses on October 25th. If you or your company are interested in supporting this event - don't hesitate to reach out!

The WDRC will be closed for a mid-summer break this Thursday, August 1st and Friday August 2nd. We will resume our normal business hours on Tuesday, August 6th at 10am.
A heartfelt thank you to our staff and volunteers for the countless ways you support our community and one another.

Please join us at The Blue Room with the lovely Lucia Zambetti this Monday, July 29th at 7pm, a portion of the tickets will be donated to the WDRC.

Tickets on sale now: https://www.tixr.com/groups/liveniteevents/events/lucia-zambetti-at-the-blue-room-106070

We're excited to attend this benefit concert and honored to be amongst extraordinary organizations including: &

Some wonderful tips from Galen Emanuele on handling workplace conflict!

The dos & don'ts of workplace conflict

Early Bird Tickets are available for our 21st annual Peace Builder Awards Gala! We invite you to celebrate community members and youth poets helping put the pieces together for creative conflict resolution. This lovely event will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton on October 25th, 2024 at 5pm.

You can learn more and get tickets here: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/peace-builder-awards

At our Peace Builder Awards we celebrate people doing remarkable acts of community building as well as showcase creative works about peace collected from young poets in Whatcom County. Early bird tickets are only $75, which is a generous savings over the general admission price. Proceeds from the Gala benefit the WDRC’s mission to provide and promote constructive and collaborative approaches to conflict, helping us to serve folks from all walks of life with low cost and free services.

Our staff and volunteers provide a welcoming and inclusive space to help our clients to navigate through conflict. Through each interaction we strive to re-humanize conflict and empower community members to address conflict in healthy ways. Our services have helped the people of Whatcom County better weather conflicts from interpersonal disputes to community-wide divides.

This work is only possible if everyone has access to and knowledge of our services. Please consider making a monthly gift to help support our work and help us continue our 31 year legacy of never turning a client away due to lack of funds. Becoming a monthly partner for peace is one the best ways to support the work we do here at the WDRC.

Please consider becoming a Partner for Peace today: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/monthly-giving

We're excited to announce that Sip & Singo is back by popular demand! Support the WDRC while enjoying your favorite brews and playing musical bingo at Boundary Bay Brewery , Sunday August 18th at 5pm. Tickets on sale now: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/whatcomdisputeresolutioncenter/1308627

Come join us at the Birchwood International Market this Sunday, July 14th from 1pm to 5pm at the Park Manor shopping center and support minority owned businesses and enjoy delicious food, crafts, and family friendly entertainment from all over the world!

The WDRC is excited to be tabling at the NW Tune-Up mountain bike music festival in downtown Bellingham July 12th - 14th. We’re excited to be partnering with this community-forward festival and hope to see you there!

P.S. Volunteer shifts are still available before, during and after the festival, so folks can work around any events or existing plans and attend the festival for free! Sign-up today: https://tuneupeventsllc.festivol.net/nwtuneup2024

In observance of the July 4th holiday our office will be closed Thursday, July 4th and Friday July 5th. Will we reopen on Tuesday, July 9th. In the meantime we wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday.

We believe that people need equal access to impartial spaces, structures, and services for conflict resolution to maximize self-determination, access to justice, and dignity. Everyday we aim to create a sense of belonging for everyone, while also considering people’s differing perspectives and interests. This requires kindness, energy, and investment in the well-being of our staff and volunteers.

Please help us continue our work by becoming a partner for peace today: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/monthly-giving

Are you an experienced mediator and/or highly skilled at listening deeply and compassionately? Do you feel passionate about helping Whatcom County to be a community in which people approach conflict in creative and healthy ways? Then you might be a good fit for our Family Case Manager position.

To learn more and apply: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/volunteer-and-job-opportunities

The Family Case Manager position is a combination of administrative and direct service. This position requires strong written and verbal communication skills, resilience to emotionally charged conversations, and familiarity with and belief in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. An ideal candidate will be an experienced mediator, highly skilled in listening deeply and compassionately; and will share a strong belief in the mission of the WDRC, enthusiastically embracing the opportunity to work with our team. This is a 30hr to 40hr/week position and includes benefits. And of course, the added benefit of joining a team of compassionate, supportive, hardworking, and sometimes silly co-workers here at the WDRC!

Conflict impacts everyone at some point in their life. Whether we are reuniting families through supervised visitation, helping new neighbors with difficult conversations, or serving a family navigating conflict around elder care, the WDRC helps to re-humanize conflict throughout different transitions in life. Over the past 31 years, the WDRC has helped the people of Whatcom County grow their collective capacity to better weather conflicts. This work is only possible if everyone has access to this knowledge and services. That is why WDRC is committed to providing services on a sliding scale, with many completely free. Making a monthly gift to the WDRC is one of the best ways to support our work and continue our legacy of never turning a client away due to lack of funds. Please become a partner for peace today: https://www.whatcomdrc.org/donate

In honor of the Juneteenth holiday our office will be closed on Wednesday, June 19th. We are also honored to be joining the Juneteenth celebration that will be hosted by Miraculous Eventz this Saturday, June 22nd at Boulevard Park from 2pm to 6pm. We hope to see you there!

Juneteenth commemorates the day that the news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally made it to the more than 250,000 enslaved people living in Texas. Juneteenth is a time to celebrate the freedom of enslaved people and also a time to appreciate the value of enduring hope in uncertain times.

We would like to share with you a little about an organization that is near and dear to us here at the WDRC, the Chardi Kala Project. Their mission is to build bridges between Sikhs and non-Sikhs to reduce hate crimes against Sikhs. This is accomplished through outreach and education in classrooms and at community events in Whatcom County. Recently, our Executive Director, Moonwater, was honored to be recognized alongside other recipients at a recent Celebration of Sikh and Punjabi Culture, hosted by the Chardi Kala Project.

Moonwater is pictured with TJ Brar, past Peace Builder Award Recipient and Director of the Chardi Kala Project, alongside Mt Baker Foundation staff member Maria Macpherson and Executive Director Zeenia Junkeer.