Friends, A lot to dish about: Peace in the 'Lou Approaching, Leadership Changes, and People 4 Peace in November. See what we've been up to and JOIN US!

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CRCSTL News & Updates

Where Conflicts Find Solutions

October/November/December 2026

💜 PEACE IN THE 'LOU - RSVP NOW! 💜

Thursday, OCTOBER 15 • 4 PM - 7 PM

Come celebrate with us and our 2026 award winners!

RSVP HERE for this fun, free event. EVERYONE is welcome!

See what you'd be missing! Revisit the wonderful memories from Peace in the 'Lou 2025!

2026 John Doggette Mediator of the Year:

Arianne Aughey

The John Doggette Mediator of the Year award recognizes one mediator in the St. Louis region who goes above and beyond in actively facilitating peaceful community dialogues. This award is named after John Doggette, co-founder of CRCSTL and long-time advocate for community mediation. The winner of this award not only shares CRCSTL’s belief in the power of community mediation, but also practices it by volunteering their time and expertise to help resolve conflicts in our community. The 2026 John Doggette Mediator of the Year award recipient is CRCSTL’s own dedicated and reliable volunteer, Arianne Aughey (she/her).

Arianne is a skilled mediator and conflict coach. Her calm and peaceful presence sets our clients at ease no matter what service she is delivering. Arianne is our most consistent volunteer, logging more than 90 hours since January of 2026. She also says yes to every type of service delivery we offer. She is one of our most regular docket team volunteers where she is present nearly every week and willing to pivot at a moment's notice into any role we ask her to fill, often serving in multiple capacities on the same day!

In addition to her docket work, Arianne volunteers to provide conflict coaching and community mediation services on all platforms - via phone, Zoom, and in person. When she sees that a case assignment has not been filled, rather than simply saying “I’m not available”, she instead offers alternative dates and times when she CAN offer the service. This readiness and willingness to help is invaluable to the CRCSTL staff as it helps us get our clients to service as soon as possible. Arianne is a true pillar of peacemaking and she brings to life CRCSTL’s mission of making mediation services accessible and approachable to the community.

Congratulations Arianne!

Arianne (second from right), with some of our dedicated Friday eviction court team

2026 Mary Wheeler Peacebuilder of the Year:

Lisa LaGrone

The Mary Wheeler Peacebuilder of the Year is Lisa LaGrone (she/her). This award recognizes one individual from the St. Louis community who advocates for peaceful conflict resolution in the region. Named after Mary Wheeler, co-founder of CRCSTL and champion for building community across divides, this person embodies the values of dialogue, collaboration, and community connectedness.

Lisa is a person who embodies what a true pillar of the community looks like. She is open and approachable using her own past experiences on the streets to connect with folks from every walk of life, regularly serving as a trusted ally and advisor resolving conflicts at the community level. She has become a community resource, and often takes calls from families who have just lost a loved one to gang violence. She brings peace and resources, helping with funeral arrangements and the needs of the family.

Lisa has been a huge advocate for stopping gun violence. In 2021, she started Safe Streets, Safe Neighbors - part of the City of St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention working in the community - but has worked in violence prevention since the late 1990's. Her strong advocacy, hard work, and resilient life story make her someone everyone loves to see at events. She truly dedicates ALL of herself to this mission, and has a huge heart that carries the burden of unnecessary violence, community lives lost too early, and the hurt of grieving families. So many of the community trust her explicitly, and that is why she is our Peacebuilder of the Year.

Congratulations Lisa!

You'll find Lisa at all of the community events!

A Leadership Change at CRCSTL:

We at CRCSTL have a bit of a bittersweet announcement about a transition in our leadership team, and you might notice words from a new leader a little later in the newsletter.

After six accomplished years at CRCSTL, Executive Director Wolf Smith has moved on to their next great adventure. Wolf has led with a passion for teaching others and growing peace in all aspects of our lives. Among many other great things about them, we will certainly miss their kind heart and devotion to community. We can't wait to see what wonderful work Wolf will do next!

With this change, we are very excited to see CRCSTL's Reshad Staitieh step into the role of Interim Executive Director. Reshad has served CRCSTL for eight years, first as a volunteer mediator for two years prior to joining the staff in 2020. As our Programs Director, Reshad spends a lot of time behind the scenes making sure all of our trainings and community programs go off without a hitch. With Reshad's steady leadership and vision for CRCSTL's future, we are confident this transition will continue to be a smooth one.

We also have two internal promotions: Becky Bishop as our new Acting Programs Director, and Sheila Webster has moved into the Development Director role.

Congrats to Wolf, Reshad, Becky, and Sheila. Their commitment and care for the team and our clients has helped CRCSTL to become St. Louis’s largest conflict resolution agency!

SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER 17-18

PEOPLE 4 PEACE

On November 17-18, 2026 we are asking our friends, family, and neighbors TO SUPPORT our free conflict resolution programs that are impacting lives throughout St. Louis by participating in our 24-hour crowdfunding campaign. Together, we will raise funds to ensure no one is left alone when they experience conflict. Here’s how you can help with a gift…

$28 provides one student with supplies for the Student-Led Peer Mediation program.
$59 provides 1 of the 8 Steps of Housing Support so people can stay in their homes and avoid eviction.
$118 provides 2 of the 8 Steps of Housing Support so people can stay in their homes and avoid eviction.
$216 provides one training for Student-Led Peer Mediation.
$305 supports one conflict interaction through our Community Case work.
$474 provides resolution of one Eviction Prevention Housing case.

Combine our clients’ courage and willingness with our programming and the empathy, care, experience, and expertise of our team, and you’ll find lasting and meaningful solutions with hope for brighter days.

The People for Peace campaign will create healthier, conflict-free communities, AND thanks to generous donors, YOUR GIFT WILL BE MULTIPLIED DURING THIS EVENT. Stay tuned for additional information as the event approaches!

OUT & ABOUT

JULY 29 - CRCSTL staff was pleased to attend the St. Louis Metro Housing Collective Landlord Event

SEPTEMBER 10 - CRCSTL staff attended the yummy Let's Build Hope S'mores Hope event

SEPTEMBER 23 - We loved hosting STLMHC Board Meeting at CRCSTL's CIC-CET office

SEPTEMBER 27 - We were excited to attend the Start the Peace Fest ☮️

PLEASE NOTE: Currently, CRCSTL is unaware of any Rental Assistance available. We recommend checking back with 2-1-1 regularly to find out updates on funding availability.

A Word from Our Interim Executive Director

Reshad Staitieh

Hello CRCSTL Friends and Family,

This quarter has brought many changes and challenges for Team CRCSTL, and our outstanding team has weathered all of them with grace and aplomb. I am so proud of the incredible people on our staff that make this work happen, and I’m honored to spend my days alongside them. During this season of transition, our staff have been working tirelessly to ensure that our work continues uninterrupted with the quality and care that our community deserves. We have celebrated several milestones, including:

Opening our 5,000th case! This is a massive accomplishment, and one we can’t have achieved without the support of our staff (looking at you Johnesha and Becky!), our board, our volunteers, our contractors, and our many partners throughout St. Louis.
The publication of our first ever Student-Led Peer Mediation Guide. This open-source guide is available on our website peermediation.net. We designed it (kudos to Anna and Ebtihal!) for educators and program sponsors who might want to speak to their students about conflict resolution or even start a program of their own. The guide also details our experiences with developing the program over the last 5 years and includes tips, exercises, and templates! Help us spread the word!
The hosting of our 5th Lunch & Learn, 3 volunteer callbanks to check in with clients who previously received CRCSTL service, 8 landlord/tenant docket days, and several peer mediation programs in City and County schools!

It takes a lot of bridge-building, research, understanding, liaising and (sometimes) de-escalating to make this work a success! So many of these tasks are invisible and daunting. I want to thank all of our staff for the invisible work they do behind the scenes to make all of the work in front of them a success. Thank you to Sheila, Becky, Johnesha, Anna, and Ebtihal!