Baby Celebration: CRP Fundraiser

Welcome to our baby celebration and fundraiser page! We feel surrounded by kindness, love and care from our beloved Alamosa community—a remarkable place where we met and which has been such a supportive and gratifying place to live and work for the last 7-8 years. 

To give back to this community with so much history, depth and charm, but also social disadvantage, addiction and lack of opportunity, we encourage you to donate to the Center for Restorative programs (CRP) rather than buy us a gift. However feel free to pass along your favorite children's book recommendations or baby- or toddler care must-have. 

With warmth and gratitude, 

Sam and Lauren.

Continue below to learn more about the Center for Restorative Programs: 

Center for Restorative Programs (CRP) is a non-profit Restorative Justice (RJ) based organization supported through local, state and federal grants that began in 1995 as a response to the over-criminalization of typical youth behaviors. A group of local leaders recognized the disproportionate impact on minority youth and determined that RJ diversion would be one of the best ways to address this issue. Our service area includes the six counties of the SLV, a large, impoverished rural geographic expanse. While youth RJ diversion remains central to CRP’s work, programs now include a broad array of prevention and intervention services for youth and families, all rooted in restorative principles.  CRP’s mission, Strengthening community in the San Luis Valley by bridging conflict and restoring relationships, is critical to helping the community find productive ways forward when there are incidents of harm. All programs are grounded in dialogue, accountability, reconciliation, and are designed to empower youth and adults with opportunities to build empathy, have ownership over their futures, and utilize strengths to accomplish their goals.

The organization has intentionally and sustainably grown in response to myriad community needs. Services include: a) youth and adult RJ diversion; b) school-based restorative practices implementation in schools to build strong school cultures rooted in social emotional learning (SEL) and positive youth development (PYD); and c) family-based restorative interventions, including Hi-Fidelity Wraparound with a Family Support Partner.  Since CRP’s inception, staff and volunteers have facilitated over 5000 restorative interventions with youth, and provided skills trainings to over 4000 youth and adults.

Key community partnerships play an active role in CRP’s work and strengthens support services for those who need additional resources like housing, healthcare, and behavioral health. CRP also has collaborative partnerships with community volunteers and affected youth/families. Finally, CRP has been actively involved in numerous youth/family serving collaboratives seeking to thoroughly infuse culturally responsive interventions, family/youth driven decision-making, evidence based practices, and trauma informed approaches. 

Local evidence over the past 20 years demonstrates a much lower recidivism rate for juveniles who complete RJ as compared with a similar cohort who did not participate in RJ and is typically only 7-9%,. consistent with national research. CRP has evaluation data showing that youth who complete an RJ process through CRP are less than half as likely as comparable youth to have another offense in the next twelve-month period.  Data shows that Crime victims who receive RJ tend to fare better on average in dealing with trauma and/or post-traumatic stress than victims who do not. RJ provides both victims and offenders more satisfaction with justice. RJ exceeds the rate of compliance with court-ordered sanctions. Victim Offender Conferencing, Lorraine Stuzman Amstutz, (2009)