Alternatives to Violence Project - Omaha

Omaha Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is a wholly volunteer-led non-profit.  There is no paid staff.  Thus, volunteer opportunities are many and volunteers often choose to volunteer in more than one role. 

Some of our opportunities include:

Mini Workshops We offer 2 - 3 hour mini-workshops on topics such as Making Friends with Conflict, Toxic Masculinity, and The Benefits of Mindfulness. Volunteers facilitate the workshops, and when incarcerated citizens are attending, they also provide transportation to and from incarceration. AVP provides supplies and food. Mini-workshops are offered both in the community, to invite greater civic involvement, and also in prison.

3-day Workshops These are offered in the community and incarcerated citizens attend on 8-hour passes. Using the AVP curriculum we explore a topic or two in depth for 3 days. Topics might include transforming power, grief, healthy relationships, forgiveness and nonviolent conflict resolution. AVP volunteers provide facilitation and transportationwhen incarcerated citizens participate. Alternatives to Violence Project provides the supplies and food, which volunteers set up and clean up. Participants who choose to, can train to become future volunteer facilitators.

Field Trips Volunteers can qualify as a sponsor to drive to field trips. With permission from and support of the warden, AVP sponsors incarcerated participants for cultural community events. Passes are for enough time to go to the symphony, opera, a museum, tour the Malcolm X Center, etc. One participant summarized the importance of the field trips this way: “We know how to survive on the inside [in prison], but we've forgotten or never knew how to succeed on the outside, in the free world. Field trips show us what success looks like, what we can model to succeed when we're free again."

Weekly Sessions Weekly, we conduct sessions in the Community Correctional Center - Omaha, an incarceration facility for men in various stages of transitioning from years or decades of incarceration to the community. Our weekly sessions explore the AVP curriculum, offer support, and provide a confidential community for these very overwhelming times of learning how the free world works, often so differently from the when their incarceration began. Volunteers for this need a security clearance.

*All volunteers working with incarcerated citizens will be asked to complete the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Security Clearance Process.

Secretary/Vice President of the Board of Directors – assist the President in setting agendas, scheduling meetings, recording meeting notes, and other duties that will arise as the never-before-held position evolves. Someone to help think outside the box and help move OAVP forward strongly