Subscribe
CommunityStuck in the middle, and glad of it
Bradley seeks way to resolve issues
Friday, May 16, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photos
Lindsey Bradley prepares for the ‘‘We’re Looking for Trouble” Fun Run, a fundraiser and community education event for the Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties mediation centers.
|
E-Mail This Article
Lindsey Bradley, Community Mediation Center executive director for Charles County and operation director of St. Mary’s, had her first run-in with trouble back in 2003 in a shoplifting incident. She was a manager at a CVS pharmacy and she had problems with a regular shoplifter.
‘‘I just wanted her to go away,” said Bradley of the repeat offender.
However, that wasn’t happening for Bradley and eventually the local mediation center got involved through law enforcement. She was hesitant in the beginning and it took her six phone calls from the center to finally try out mediation.
‘‘The job of the mediator isn’t to make a decision, but to help people communicate, and to be heard is a big issue for me,” said Bradley.
Eventually the problem was resolved between Bradley and the shoplifter. The end result was that the offender would not trespass on the property any longer.
‘‘It was give and take in mediation and the woman was banned permanently,” she said.
Bradley was so impressed by the efforts of the folks with the mediation center she wanted to learn more about how to get involved. And so she did.
Bradley soon found herself volunteering in various capacities with the center and even contributing ideas to implement other programs.
‘‘I asked them how you get involved and it took them about six months to call me back. It’s sometimes a couple of years in between trainings. But once you get a skill, you don’t want to let go. So I asked myself, ‘How can I get these people before they go to court?’” she asked.
Bradley learned that law enforcement could use her help in mediating situations that aren’t criminal by going out on ride-alongs and developing a program in St. Mary’s that allows the mediation center to work hand-in-hand with the police department. Now any time an officer goes out to a dispute and a crime hasn’t been committed, officers can refer people to the mediation center to allow participants to make a call for assistance.
‘‘The participants can call us, so they really want this,” she said. ‘‘We get quite a few referrals, [as many as] Baltimore city and we’re not even as big.
‘‘I love the work I do. It’s a lot of hours, but I love it.”
Sheila Martel, an AmeriCorps volunteer for St. Mary’s County Mediation Center, said that’s the kind of enthusiasm Bradley shows in her job.
‘‘She’s very enthusiastic about her work. She lives, eats and breathes mediation,” said Martel. ‘‘Her retail career indirectly led her to mediation. She didn’t want to do it, but it just clicked for her. As a volunteer she just busted through the roof and she wasn’t even getting paid. That’s when people knew they had to bring her on board.
‘‘She kind of has a radar about what’s going on and how to get mediation out there. It’s about how to help the community.”
Bradley said there are some things people don’t know about mediation and that’s why she feels it’s her duty to get the word out there.
‘‘It’s free, it’s voluntary and you don’t have to wait until something blows up,” she said. ‘‘It doesn’t have to be during a time of crisis when you need a mediator. The success rate is 85 percent across the state and with high schools the rates arehigher.”
Maurice J. McDonough High School Principal Jervie Petty works with the mediation center and said it’s been of help in resolving situations.
‘‘I met [Bradley] through the [Charles County] Board of Education. We began working with the mediation center in October 2007. They help resolve conflicts between parents and students and students and students. They’re very useful any time there are a variety of strategies to be successful and stay in school. We have a good partnership. It allows students to expand positive thinking by avoiding physical and verbal conflict and that’s a positive step,” she said.
Petty said the school may consider the mediation center’s idea of getting students involved with peer mediation next year, while this year was just a general introductory program.
Bradley said, ‘‘Before there is a big huge conflict we like to come in and help resolve it. Referrals seem to be on the rise, because there seems to be a breakdown in communication between parents and teens. The only limitation is no domestic violence situations almost anything else can be mediated. People are empowered by being able to resolve their own problems. When the parties make their own decision that is what’s going to stick. Just give us a call. We set up a time, location and we want it to be convenient – it’s daytime, nighttime and weekends. It works out for everyone. It’s an opportunity to fix what’s broken.”
Martel added, ‘‘She’s like a hustler. She gets outs there and gets things done. She’s very much hands on. She’s perceptive about what’s going on in the community. It’s her passion.”
