LOS ANGELES , Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Unlikely Collaborators has given a grant of financial support to The Mend Collaborative for its Los Angeles -based programs. The Mend Collaborative provides opportunities for healing and transformation to victims and survivors of violence and incarcerated people by bringing together survivors of violence and those responsible for harm in restorative dialogues.
Mend facilitates direct Victim Offender Dialogues (VODs) between the victim/survivor and the person responsible for harm, and if a survivor would like to have a dialogue but no one was identified as the person responsible, or the person responsible is not available or lacks capacity, Mend can facilitate a Surrogate Restorative Dialogue with incarcerated people who are responsible for similar harm, are working on their own accountability and are seeking to engage in dialogue to deepen their insight and empathy and provide this opportunity for a survivor. Mend Collaborative meets the needs of survivors of harm in ways that the U.S.
legal system was not designed to meet and recognizes that almost all incarcerated people are survivors too and should have access to healing for the violence they experienced before and during their incarceration. These restorative justice programs offer powerful pathways to healing for survivors. Unfortunately, many survivors are unaware that they can request this free service through Mend or the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services, Cal.
