West hawaii mediation center's mission is to provide dispute resolution and education services to empower individuals and build communities that view conflict resolution as a catalyst for positive change. Through our mediation and education programs, whmc provides tools and opportunities for people to resolve their differences in a safe and neutral environment.

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General mediation program. In fiscal year 2016-2017, whmc provided mediation services in 326 self-referred an court-referred cases. All of whmc's mediation services are provided for free or at very low-cost, and no one is turned away due to an inability to pay. peer mediation program. Through its peer mediation program, whmc trained 242 student mediators in grades k-12 and indirectly impacted 3,940 students in 13 schools throughout north and west hawaii in the 2016-2017 school year. Whmc's peer mediation program is designed to train students of the same age group to use mediation techniques to resolve disputes between their peers. The goal is to provide a safe space where students can talk about their issues and, hopefully, work towards a win-win solution for both disputants. The program empowers participants by improving their self- esteem, leadership and conflict resolution skills while simultaneously helping to decrease violence and create a greater sense of peace and security within the school community. foreclosure mediation program. Since its inception in 2011, whmc's foreclosure mediation program has assisted at-risk homeowners to negotiate agreements with lenders that help keep them in their homes or facilitated non-retention options such as short sales. In 2016-2017, whmc's foreclosure mediation program mediated and resolved a total of 17 cases and closed a total of 28 cases. The program is conducted in partnership with the state judiciary, the state department of the attorney general and our sister mediation center, kuikahi mediation center.