The DREAM Program, Inc. 41 Dearborn St. Boston, MA 02119 (617) 699-8408 tel www.dreamprogram.org
February 15th, 2012
The Orchard Gardens DREAM Update January 2012 This month has been quiet in the office with the majority of the mentors heading home for break. We spent the month processing intake paperwork and preparing for a great second semester. At the end of January we welcomed back the mentors and are excited to see what they have planned for the spring! DREAM Programming: • 1/28(14 mentors, 10 mentees): For the first official DREAM of the semester, the group went to BU’s gym, Fit Rec, to have a discussion about what the mentees want to do this semester. After that they broke up into groups to play basketball, rock climb, and more. Program Development: • With the new semester mentor recruitment is once again underway. The mentors are in search of the next great group of students who want to make the commitment to be amazing DREAM mentors. Programming Opportunities: • Shamrock Dreams: Through Mass Mentor and the Boston Celtics, DREAM has continued to receive tickets to Celtics games and had some pretty incredible seats. It is a great opportunity for matches to take in a game and spend time together outside of Friday programming. This month we had 2 matches attend games. • Ski Trip Planning: A lot of the youth have been asking for the opportunity to get out of the city and to go skiing or snowboarding. So Eric, one of the older teenagers in the Madison Park Village DREAM Program, has been working with Chad over the last month plan a ski trip for DREAM youth ages 10+ in the Madison Park Village and Orchard Gardens communities. The youth will be raising money to go on the trip and we have received a great package deal from Killington Mountain and help from Mass Housing for transportation. • Spaghetti Dinner: The youth attending the ski trip helped put at a Spaghetti Dinner to raise the money they needed to attend the tip. The dinner was held on January 29th at 122 Dewitt Dr. in Madison Park. The youth sold tickets to the dinner, worked to set up the room, make the food, serve, and clean up. We brought in over $300! Community Collaboration: • Mentoring Day at the Statehouse: Chad and I both attended Mass Mentoring Partnership’s annual mentoring day at the statehouse on January 19th. We heard about the great mentoring work happening across the commonwealth, the importance of funding mentoring on the state level, and were able to network with other Boston organizations that we can collaborate with in the future.
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Orchard Gardens Safety meeting: Chad and I attended the Orchard Gardens Safety Meeting at the Orchard Gardens Boys and Girls Club on January 19th. Mass Mentoring 2012 Youth Mentoring Forum: I attended Mass Mentoring’s annual Youth Mentoring panel which explored the past, present, and future of mentoring in Massachusetts on January 23rd. It was great to hear about how far we have come, and hear ideas for growing and improving the mentoring movement. Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force: Chad attended the Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force meeting on January 23rd at the B-2 police station.
DREAM Office: • MLK Day of Service and Leadership: Chad and I participated in Northeastern University and The Massachusetts Promise Fellowship’s MLK Day of Service and Leadership on January 23rd. We took part in a number of different workshops and service projects with participants from across Greater Boston. Keep DREAMing! Jessica Stein Program Empowerment Director Massachusetts Promise Fellow/AmeriCorps