What is the Athens Area Mediation Service?
The Athens Area Mediation Service is a nonprofit organization that provides the residents of Athens County with cooperative approaches to dispute resolution. As such, AAMS is dedicated to promoting and supporting reconciliation, integrity, openness and inclusion. In addition, by training community members to serve as mediators and sharing these skills with others, AAMS empowers individuals and community groups to respond to conflict effectively.
Our past
With a team of many trained mediators, the Athens Area Mediation Service officially opened its door in the fall of 1993. In its first two years, the group conducted five mediations. Since that time, the organization has grown dramatically. Over 500 area residents have completed mediation training. Our pool of potential mediators averages about 50 trained individuals. Nearly 1000 people in southeastern Ohio Have participated in mediations over the last ten years. About 87 % of our mediations result in signed agreements between the parties involved.
The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management was established in 1989 to provide Ohioans with constructive, nonviolent forums, processes and techniques for resolving disputes, but it wasn't until 1991 that a group of community members began to discuss the possibility of a mediation service in the Athens area. In June, letters of invitation were sent to a variety of community leaders, civic organizations and local agencies announcing an informational meeting. At this meeting, the group was officially named the Athens Area Mediation Service, and a formal board and advisory group was selected.
Sue Smith served as the first director of AAMS. Under her direction, Claudia Hale of Ohio University's Interpersonal Communications Department used her experience as a mediator in Ames, Iowa to train the first group of Athens mediators.
In January1997, John Schmieding became the first paid director of AAMS, a position he still holds. We now conduct about forty mediations each year and will soon be expanding our services to rural areas in Athens County.
