Keeping the Center sustainable

A question we often ask ourselves here is how to keep the Center sustainable. That is, how can we make sure that we can continue to do all that we are currently doing? Ultimately, this is where the Center’s outreach program is useful. Making connections in the community, sending out word of our services to newspapers, and putting up booth displays are all ways in which we spread the word about the Center and maintain sustainability.

While it may sound like sustainability is just retaining all the business we have, it is really about making new business connections as well. Contracts end and training programs are finite affairs, so when we fulfill one contract with an organization it is important that we have another organization that we can offer our services to next.

Over the years, the Center has done a good job of not only being sustainable, but increasing its capacity as well. I hear stories from older staff about how when the Center started there was only one full-time position and only a handful of volunteers. Additionally, the Center’s only purpose was to provide mediations to clients. Over time the Center has expanded its staff to around 8 full-time staff, 4 Americorps volunteers, and several interns from the community, and increased its services to include certification training, presentations to local businesses and community groups, arbitration, and youth programs. As Bob Glover used to say, we are in the business of conflict resolution.

The Center’s work to maintain sustainability is not as visible as the services that it maintains, but it is always on the minds of those who work here. Hopefully, the continued work we do will be as successful as it has been in the past.

Nathan Eckstrand
Community Outreach Advocate