New Alternatives to Violence Project updates posted

New updates to the Connecticut Alternatives to Violence Project have been posted below.

Mission of Alternatives to Violence Project: To empower people to lead nonviolent lives through affirmation, respect for all, community building, cooperation, and trust.

Founded in and developed from the real life experiences of prisoners and others, and building on a spiritual base, AVP encourages every person’s innate power to positively transform themselves and the world.

AVP/USA is an association of community based groups and prison based groups offering experiential workshops in personal growth and creative conflict management.  The national organization provides support for the work of these local groups

AVP is a nationwide and worldwide association of volunteer groups offering experiential workshops in conflict resolution,  responses to violence, and personal growth.

AVP is dedicated to reducing the level of violence in our society. Our goal is to reduce the level of violence by introducing people to ways of resolving conflict that reduce their need to resort to violence as the solution. The Alternatives to Violence Project is designed to create successful personal interactions and transform violent situations. We’re dedicated to teaching the same non-violent skills and techniques that were used by Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

AVP May 2016

What a month!  We had three workshops!  We’ve never done such a thing before!  We’d already scheduled two, just to have a few extra and see if we could go beyond twelve for the year.  But then the February one didn’t happen, so we added that to the month!  Fortunately our new staff contact was up to the task, and all three workshops took place without a hitch.  Well, only the mild one that we are still getting more participants than usual who have already done a workshop, so when they leave the groups are a bit smaller than usual, but still of a very comfortable size.  And we had a refresher, a four-hour meeting on a Sunday evening for people who have done a workshop a while back and could use some reviewing of the central concepts.

AVP was on public television, but not on the Connecticut channel.  It was on WGBY, the Spring­field channel, and maybe some people managed to see it.  I was in an airplane at the time, but I saw it last May at the Annual Gathering. 

Upcoming events at MacDougall:

Advanced workshop, May 6-8 or 13-15 (dates TBA)

Training for Facilitators workshop, June 10-12 – this is when we’ll get new inside and outside facilitators to add to the team!

If you’re interested in learning more or in attending a workshop, contact Valentine Doyle at (860) 296-7563 or valentinedoyle@sbcglobal.net.

Buying from Amazon?  You can help AVP at no cost to yourself.  Go to the AVP/USA site,  avpusa.org, and click on the Amazon logo at the bottom of the home page, which will take you to the Amazon site.   Then buy whatever you were planning to, and a small percentage of your purchase will go to AVP. 

AVP March 2016

The Basic workshop we’d planned for February 19-21 didn’t happen because of a paperwork mixup; all but four of the participants who came had already done a Basic and should have been on the list for the Advanced.  The four will be first on the list for the next Basic, and the others for the Advanced.

Valentine Doyle and David Desiderato had a very good meeting with our new prison staff contact, who is interested in coming to a facilitators’ meeting and in making things happen.

Upcoming events at MacDougall:

March 18-20    Advanced with Valentine Doyle (HMM) and David Desiderato

April 1-3          Basic with Margie Goonan and Bruce Morgan

April 8-10        Basic with Lori Fernand and Robbi Labelle-Thomas (replacement for February’s)

April 15-1        Basic with Valentine Doyle (HMM) and Ron Netter (New Haven MM)

If you’re interested in learning more or in attending a workshop, contact Valentine Doyle at (860) 296-7563 or valentinedoyle@sbcglobal.net.

AVP January 2016

An unproductive month. 

The workshop scheduled for December 4-6 did not happen because there was a lockdown, and the two outside facilitators did not have another date for several months when both could make it.

 Elizabeth Saria and Valentine Doyle (both HMM) went to MacDougall to do a refresher (the four-hour session for people who have already done Basic and Advanced), and sat in the room for an hour while nobody showed up.  Eventually they went home, because apparently word had not gotten through to call the participants.

 An all-facilitators’ meeting almost did not happen because the scheduler wrote only three names on the list of inmates to be called.  Fortunately two officers were very helpful and, working from an old facilitators’ meeting list, called all the people.

 Upcoming events at MacDougall:

January 8-10 Basic with Margie Goonan and Cate Tower

January 22-24 Basic with Wayne Boulton (HMM) and Lori Fernand (rescheduled from October, when there was no list at the front)

February 5-7 Basic with Lori Fernand.

If you’re interested in learning more or in attending a workshop, contact Valentine Doyle at (860) 296-7563 or valentinedoyle@sbcglobal.net.

AVP February 2016

 A much better month. 

 We have a new staff coordinator on the inside who is actually making things happen.  We had a team build, a facilitators’ meeting and a Basic workshop with Valentine Doyle (HMM) and Lori Fernand with no glitches except that the new person made it a bit larger than was manageable. The inside guy praise  her highly.  We will be having a meeting with her in early February.

 Upcoming events at MacDougall:

February 19-21 Basic with Lori Fernand and Robbi LaBelle-Thomas

March 18-20  Advanced with Valentine Doyle (HMM) and David Desiderato

 If you’re interested in learning more or in attending a workshop, contact Valentine Doyle at (860) 296-7563 or valentinedoyle@sbcglobal.net.