Our Mission
The Mend Collaborative understands that violence, grief, and traumatic loss impact all communities. Our mission is to provide opportunities for healing and transformation to victims and survivors of violence, including incarcerated people, many of whom are also survivors. We bring together survivors of violence and those responsible for harm in restorative healing partnerships to transform our punishment-focused justice system to one that creates true healing.
Our Unique Approach
Mend Collaborative steps in to respond to the needs of survivors of harm that the U.S. legal and carceral systems were not designed to meet. We center the skills and experiences of survivors and formerly incarcerated people to work as partners in healing in the field of Victim Offender Dialogue. We believe that people from these backgrounds can bring their skills and lived experiences to provide holistic and compassionate support to survivors and people responsible for harm. We also understand that to address the needs of survivors we need to include all people harmed, regardless of their background. Nine out of ten incarcerated people are also survivors; these individuals also deserve access to healing. We also believe that survivors deserve access to restorative processes, whether that is a direct Victim Offender Dialogue or a Surrogate Restorative Dialogue.
Our Work
Victim Offender Dialogues (VODs)
VODs are facilitated dialogues between the person(s) harmed and the person who caused harm. We facilitate dialogues at California correctional facilities, Federal correctional facilities, and in the community throughout the State of California.
Survivor Support
We prepare and support survivors who will share experiences through in-prison restorative justice programs and facilitate support groups and provide ongoing support for survivors in collaboration with other VOD program providers.
Surrogate Restorative Dialogues
When there are survivors for whom no one was identified as the person responsible, or the person responsible is not available or lacks capacity, a dialogue can be facilitated with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people that are responsible for similar or other forms of harm and seeking to engage in dialogue.
Training
We provide training and mentoring for VOD facilitators and community-based organization program staff and collaborative partners and agencies. We provide training on VOD facilitation, incorporating CDCR’s accountability letter program (ALP) for program participants, and training for re-entry providers on providing restorative circles for returning citizens.