I used to say “we had to crawl before we could walk, walk before we could run”. I believe every organization, non-profit and Restorative Justice program goes through a variety of stages. Even if you are just implementing some changes in your school and brining more Restorative approaches. You hit stages. You also have to find your place and sometimes that means carving a Niche. Once you create the niche, you keep ‘belonging’ to that. Belonging.
Yesterday was a good example of SCVRJP “walking” in our community. We we’re called upon to attend a municipal court hearing. Forgive me, I never remember the ‘label’ the ‘law’ the ‘crime’. I focus on getting the process there. Suffice it to say, some young people made bad choices and Restorative Justice was recommended. I listed it as a “pre-preconference” in my Executive Directors report to the board. I met all the families right there at the hearing. It wasn’t always like this for SCVRJP we had to develop and grow.
I think being aware when you are “carving out your niche” and being aware of what you fill it with is important. To show up yesterday unprepared or ‘un-restorative’ would have been a mistake. I was early and had multiple copies, knew exactly what I was going to address with the families. I had one of my advanced class students along. That even added because the Clerk said “oh you teached advanced restorative justice now?” I got to tell her how well recieved Intro to Restorative Justice was. Teaching has been a step in the evolution of SCVRJP.
Another example – I am working on carving a niche with regard to social marketing and Restorative Justice. On of my newest board members is on LinkedIn. He updated his profile to include his Restorative Justice board position. Linked In sends me search results for ‘Restorative’ so I got sent notice of his update. So I was able to follow up – he seemed impressed I had that setting.
This blog is a social marketing tool, putting SCVRJP on the world map as a RJ provider. I help the WRJC with a wordpress site and at least one program listed doesn’t even have a website. If we didn’t have a website, we couldn’t have a blog . . . crawl, walk, run.
If I wasn’t blogging I wouldn’t be looking for stories to tell, examples of how Restorative Justice is evident in every day life. Formalizing how I teach Restorative Justice. It is deepening the impact of our program, while developing the individual skills of staff. It is growing individual and agency – and carving a niche like that takes the development of new skills.
I’m trying to get a visual of my “niche carving” . . .
Somedays I guess it’s delicate and needs a steady hand . . .
then I have days . . . 
it feels like I need to get buckle down, work hard, focus and move mountains. Good thing I like variety!
another benefit of social marketing . . . I googled “Carve Your Niche” and found good article to read!
