Blog Archives

Northwest Denver Nonprofits Coordinate Efforts For Colorado Gives Day

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Northwest Denver Nonprofits Coordinate Efforts For Colorado Gives Day

24 Hours to Give Where You Live Save the Date – December 4, 2012   Did you know that Northwest Denver is home to over 40 nonprofit human service providers? And did you know that many of them will participate in “Colorado Gives Day” on Tuesday, December 4th? “Colorado Gives Day” is an annual, 24-hour “virtual” fundraiser through which people throughout the state of Colorado are encouraged to make online donations to support their favorite local charities. For the first time this year a dedicated group of fifteen Northwest Denver nonprofit providers are collaborating to actively promote the neighborhood’s widespread participation in Colorado Gives Day. Beginning in mid-November, members of the collaboration will distribute 10,000 Save-The-Date postcards throughout the community, reminding you and your neighbors to Give Where You Live! The nonprofit providers leading this effort include: Arrupe Jesuit High School                          Bienvenidos Food Bank      Catholic Charities                                        Colorado Youth for a Change          Caring Connection                                       Colorado Renewable Energy Society        El Porvenir                                                   Denver Children’s Advocacy Center Escuela de Guadalupe                                 Groundwork Denver                          Servicios de la Raza                                    Share Our Strength                                       The Argyle                                                    The Conflict Center                                       The First Tee of Denver In the last year these organizations alone have served a combined total of over150,000 individuals and families throughout the metro

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Photo Exhibit Demonstrates Coloradans Solving Problems Together

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By Mary Zinn. President, Zinn Mediation Associates “Talking It Out: Getting To Agreement” is a unique photo and story exhibit that features Coloradans working together to solve problems. The exhibit illustrates seven stories of people and communities that have made a choice to solve their problems constructively. It gives evidence of the changes that can be made when we deliberately choose collaborative conflict resolution methods. The exhibit, displayed at the Colorado State Capitol Oct. 1–16, was one of many events in conjunction with Conflict Resolution Month in Colorado, observed every October. Conflict resolution Month’s activities increase public awareness about constructive conflict management and its many benefits. Details can be found at www.conflictresolutionmonth.org.  The goal of Conflict Resolution Month is to decrease violence and increase creativity and productivity for problem solving in relationships, communities, organizations, and businesses. The stories offer possibilities and options for every person and group to consider for bringing more civility to the disputes they encounter. Communities and organizations in Colorado are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to display this free exhibit throughout next year and beyond.  You can see “Talking it out: getting to agreement” Nov. 5–Jan. 7 at the Ft. Morgan Museum; Jan. 15–March 15

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The Conflict Center Joins Community Shares

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The Conflict Center Joins Community Shares

We are proud to announce that The Conflict Center is one of eight non-profit agencies that have been accepted as new members of Community Shares. Starting with the 2012 campaign, The Conflict Center will now be listed in all Community Shares materials for workplace giving and public sector campaigns, in over 175 worksites throughout the state of Colorado. Started in 1986, Community Shares is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Community Shares raised $1.6 million dollars last year for more than 100 Colorado nonprofit organizations. According to the Center on Philanthropy, workplace giving campaigns are the most cost efficient method of raising charitable dollars. Year-round giving through payroll contributions provides charities with a steady flow of dollars to support many important programs and services. Although we enjoyed a long history of partnership with Mile High United Way, recent revisions to their funding priorities changed our status so The Conflict Center decided to pursue active membership with Community Shares. Through Community Shares, the majority of workplace giving is done through designations to specific agencies. Community Shares has no minimum donation amount and encourages each donor to choose the nonprofit(s) to receive their gifts. We ask that any of our supporters who participate in

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Resolutions for Better Relationships

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By Becci McCormack As the New Year starts many of us make promises to others and ourselves for improving our lives. This year why not make a resolution to improve your relationships.   Building face-to-face relationships can be tough. Whether you are a parent, single, divorced, working, going to school or married learning how to build meaningful relationships is vital. Relationships can be healing, fun, and healthy when communication is flowing. But when communication breaks down, relationships can take a hit.   Relationships can bring out the best and worst of us. Do you ever feel defensive when communicating with friends, family members, co-workers or loved ones? Do you repeatedly say the same thing over and over, but don’t feel heard? What about expectations, or broken promises? As we enter the New Year, let’s look at a few tips to maintain and revitalize our relationships.   1.  Active listening builds trust and rapport with intimate and casual relationships. Everybody likes to be heard, but when a speaker speaks and the responder is busy, disinterested or distracted, the speaker can feel unimportant. To ensure this doesn’t happen, restate what is said, reflect the feelings you hear, clarify with questions to better

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Editorial Fall 2011: When We Make a Difference With What We Have It Expands

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Ron Ludwig - Executive Director -The Conflict Center

Mark Your Calendar – December 6, 2011 24 Hours to Give Where You Live Please remember to support The Conflict Center on December 6th by participating in the second annual Colorado Gives Day! By giving on-line through the Giving First website you can become one of the thousands of Colorado citizens who will come together again to raise millions of dollars for over 350 nonprofits throughout Colorado.

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Brain Science and Conflict

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By Martha Woods A shorter version of this article appeared in The North Denver Tribune in Sept. 2011   Hello, meet Your Brain! In recent years, there have been amazing discoveries about the human brain. We are used to thinking that the brain leads and we follow. Scientists have been studying how the brain works among different groups of people including persons with brain injury, meditating Buddhist monks, and ordinary people who are just trying to change a behavior or learn a new skill. At the most general level, the scientific studies reveal that the brain is much more changeable than previously thought. This concept of the brain being changeable (or “plastic”) is called neuroplasticity. In the past, scientific dogma held that, after a critical period in early childhood, the structure and function of the brain was mostly immutable. These more recent findings reveal that many aspects of the brain remain plastic even well into adulthood, as a result of input from the environment.   For example, areas of the brain involved in certain activities will become more active or enlarged the more that activity is performed— or even thought about! Two particular activities illustrate this—playing a sport or a musical instrument. One exciting implication of brain plasticity is

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Parenting: Letting your children deal with their own conflict

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By Tamara Sherwood A woman found a cocoon of a butterfly and a small opening appeared. She sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, as if it couldn't go further. So the woman decided to help the butterfly. She took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.  The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The woman continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly. What the woman in her kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved. Sometimes struggles are exactly what our children need in their lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple them. Wait a minute, if our children are struggling

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How do you feel today? Emotional Intelligence For Your Children

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July 19, 2011 by Salma Shukri, The Conflict Center  This article was published in the North Denver Tribune in July  2011 Children often have a hard time verbally expressing how they feel. When faced with certain situations, you may find that your child cannot put into words what they are feeling on the inside. Because of their limited vocabulary, children may instead act out as a way of expressing in action what they can’t express in words. As they grow and experience new things, children may get overwhelmed and their emotions can sometimes get too big for their little bodies to contain. Without a proper form of release, children may resort to expressing themselves physically. For example, a child that can’t explain that he is upset may fall back on behaving badly, and you may find them hitting, stomping, or crying to get the message across. That’s why we think it’s important to teach emotional intelligence to children from a young age – so that they can communicate their emotions well. You can do this by helping to expand your child’s vocabulary to include emotionally descriptive words, and then encouraging your child to identify his or her feelings on a constant

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Introduction to Relationship Conflict (Video)

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Youtube TCC Relationship Video

By Pearl Bell Look at this introductory video about Relationship Conflict and tell us what you think. Tweet

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Reframing Political Conversation

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By Mitzi Hicks   Each season brings clear signs announcing its presence: autumn is heralded by turning leaves and cool nights, winter brings snowflakes, and election season blows in on a wind of heated political rhetoric.  We are at the beginning of a new presidential election cycle, and if the past few years are any indicator, the coming months will be chock full of sound bites designed to divide us along ideological lines.  The political climate wasn’t always this way, and it doesn’t have to stay this way.  But does the average person have the power to change this?  Absolutely!  In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of committed, thoughtful citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  Civilized political discourse is essential if we are to uphold the spirit and ideals of our democracy, and creating this conversation is within everyone’s power.    If anything is to be learned from the ongoing struggles between political factions in Washington, it is that we must find ways to reframe political discussion around values, beliefs, and visions of the future for our communities and our nation as a whole. By reframing

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