PHILADELPHIA, Aug 2, 2021—PHILLY TRUCE is hosting their second free training event on Saturday, August 7, 2021, at Morris Estates Rec Center located at 1610 W. Chelten Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19126. Training begins at 10:00 am and ends at 3:00 pm. Attendees can expect a crash course in all things PHILLY TRUCE APP and get a feel for what it might be like to sit in the hot seat as a PHILLY TRUCE Mediator.
Nonprofit PHILLY TRUCE is honored to host their next free training with expanded options. More than 100 Philly residents have hit the “Become a Mediator” button on PHILLY TRUCE APP since its launch on May 8, 2021. That’s more than one Philadelphian per day deciding to join the PHILLY TRUCE Movement. This time around, volunteers will have the opportunity to sign up not only for mediation but intake, referral, and a host of other support roles that have become necessary because of the overwhelming response from the community.
The vision and hope were that PHILLY TRUCE APP would provide a vehicle for concerned neighbors and relatives to bring mediators into conflicts where gun violence felt imminent. That has only been part of the reality though. Two 16-year-old disputants caught up in what has unfortunately become a garden variety Instagram beef did sign a public TRUCE over the 4th of July Weekend at Made in America festival. But many residents who use the app are themselves, one of the disputants, and often present with other issues beyond the scope of what PHILLY TRUCE does – community-based mediation by volunteers.
“We hit the ground running fast,” says recording artist Mazzie Casher, Director of PHILLY TRUCE and co-creator of the app, along with Firefighter Steven Pickens. “There was such a huge response we had to ask our first cohort of mediators to start taking on roles like Interim Director of Intake & Referral, stuff like that. We wanted to at least be able to facilitate help even if mediation wasn’t immediately a viable option.”
The strategy team at PHILLY TRUCE is working diligently to make sure their referral capacity and manpower are up to par with the task at hand. DBHIDS and Unite Us are on the shortlist for major partnerships going forward.
The PHILLY TRUCE APP, which launched on May 1, 2021, provides Philadelphians with knowledge of potentially violent conflicts in direct contact 24/7 with trained mediators. The PHILLY TRUCE APP is designed to empower the Philadelphians most affected by gun violence to give and receive community support around nonviolent conflict resolution.
Philadelphians who want to be a part of the solution should register for the August 7, 2021 training session at Morris Estates Rec Center (1610 W. Chelten Ave, 19126) by signing up at www.trucetraining.com. For more information or to donate to PHILLY TRUCE, please visit http://www.phillytruce.com. You can also call/text 267-458-7823 or follow PHILLY TRUCE on IG or FB @phillytruce.
