River Phoenix Center for Peace Building Inc.

“Arlyn heart phoenix rain phoenix president vp family arlyn heart phoenix jeffrey weisberg president ed family”

“There are no committees with the authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“The form is prepared with the assistance of an independent certified public accountant. The form is reviewed by the president and bookkeeper prior to filing.”

“Discussed at board meetings and policy signed annually.”

“Considered by board, conclusions documented in board meeting minutes.”

“Governing documents are made available to the public upon request.”

“Programs- rpcp facilitates police-youth dialogues between law enforcement officers and black and brown youth to assist in de-escalating conflicts, understanding trauma, breaking down of stereotypes, creating healthier relationships and humanizing one another. Our current partners include gainesville police department, alachua county sheriff's department, university of florida police department and santa fe college police department. Since 2012, rpcp has facilitated over 100 police youth dialogues with over 3000 participants in gainesville, port st. Lucie, tallahassee, the philippines and ukraine. Rpcp also teaches social and emotional skills to youth in the community and at schools through the communication & self-esteem program. The curriculum teaches youth to develop self-awareness, responsible decision-making, healthy relationships, social awareness, and self-management. These competencies help youth identify and communicate their emotions, embrace conflict as constructive, rather than destructive, develop empathy for others, and communicate with themselves and others in healthy ways. Rpcp receives referrals from the state attorney's office, schools, department of juvenile justice, law enforcement and community members for restorative justice, a process that brings victims and offenders and their community together to understand what the conflict or crime was, who was impacted, how to repair it and how to prevent it from happening again. Everyone involved gets to have their voice heard and is invited to contribute to developing an agreement of how to make things better. Generally, if the agreement is fulfilled, the case or any other punitive sanctions are dismissed. Restorative justice moves us from a punishment model to a restorative model that includes accountability, respect, and community engagement. It is an evidenced-based practice and philosophy. Rpcp co-created a program with gacta (gainesville area community tennis association) and is partnered with the university of florida to provide peace through sports, a curriculum that combines physical literacy with emotional social/emotional intelligence. The program is offered in several schools. As students practice a variety of sports, gaining and refining new physical abilities, they also learn impulse control, communication skills, empathy, healthy competition, leadership, and conflict resolution. Rpcp also provides mediation and counseling services for youth and adults.”

“Outreach- rpcp's work is effective because of their partnerships within the community. Rpcp is active with many community groups, including students to successful citizens, peace4gainesville, the juvenile justice council, the black on black crime taskforce and more. These meetings allow participants to give updates about their organization and community events, as well as provide the opportunity to collaborate on initiatives and programs. Peace4gainesville was co-founded by rpcp in order to advocate, coordinate and educate the community on responding to the impact of aces (adverse childhood experiences) and other traumas on the lives of its citizens and is committed to ensuring services that respond to citizen's needs are respectful and provided in a caring way that builds resilience. From education to the criminal justice system, the paradigm shifts from asking "what is wrong with you?" to "what happened to you?" the conversation becomes more about helping the person overcome adversity rather than blaming them for the impact of their experiences. In the month of october, rpcp offers peacebuilding skills free of charge to the community. This a gift back to the community and an opportunity for advocacy and education of new and best practices. These skills range from conflict resolution, communication skillbuilding, social/emotional learning skills, movies on peace and dialogue circles, and more. The centerpiece, the unity in community march to end bullying, brings together a huge variety of folks representative of all different agencies, economic and social as well as diverse races, sexual orientation, etc. To march to end bullying in our community.”