The DREAM Program, Willowbrook, Quarter 2, 2013-2014

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Willowbrook DREAM Quarterly Report December 2013 – February 2014 Greetings from DREAM! Though the winter is still not over, it held many exciting events for Willowbrook DREAM mentors and youth, including Winter Adventure Camp and Field Work Term activities. Please read below for events and highlights for Willowbrook DREAM’s winter quarter!

Highlights from the quarter include: •

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January marked the start of Field Work Term, a winter term in which Bennington College students find off-campus jobs and internships. Mentor Emily Leader has spent her Field Work Term interning with DREAM and leading enriching afterschool activities four or five days each week!

Four Willowbrook teens and one mentor attended Teen Winter Adventure Camp (WAC) at Bolton Valley Resort, where they learned to cross-country ski thanks to an AmeriCorps member from the Catamount Trails Association.

Seven Willowbrook mentees and three mentors attended Day WAC for the Southern Vermont Local Programs at Emerald Lake State Park in East Dorset. There, they met up with a group from the Poultney/Green Mountain College Local Program for an afternoon of sledding and crosscountry skiing.

Fridays: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Mentors and mentees celebrated the final DREAM Friday of 2013 with an end-of-semester celebration complete with holiday treats and paper snowflake making.

Willowbrook youth celebrated the start of Field Work Term with a kick-off event, during which they made dream catchers and enjoyed delicious baked goods.

The group played games and designed sun catchers.

Emily spent three Tuesdays making dinner with groups of DREAM youth. The menu included grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, and carrot sticks.

Mentees tested their engineering skills building paper airplanes and held a contest to see whose airplane flew the farthest.

The group filled the community center with a wonderful scent when they made sculptures and ornaments out of cinnamon and apple sauce.

Emily and DREAM youth made their own Chex Mix and planted lima beans.

The group had two game days in the community center.

Mentees showed off their creative skills painting with balloons, and then played balloon tag.

Emily showed DREAM youth how to build structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows.

The group got creative again while designing a mural, which they drew on a shower curtain.

Willowbrook youth made their own trail mix and played games in the community center.

Emily continued hosting weekly dinners with DREAM youth for two more weeks.

The group spent one afternoon doing arts and crafts activities.

Emily and Willowbrook youth made their own bracelets and shared some snacks.

Willowbrook youth showed off their creative side yet again with an afternoon of balloon painting and other crafts.

Emily helped the group design their own t-shirts.

Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org

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The group spent another afternoon in the community center playing games and making their own Chex Mix. Emily and the Willowbrook youth celebrated the final day of Field Work Term with a Valentine’s Day party. They made valentines for their returning mentors and ate pizza, which was generously donated by Ramunto’s Pizza.

Mentors and mentees celebrated the first Friday of the spring semester playing games and setting rules for the group to follow.

Special Events for Children and Mentors: •

Emily took several of the older mentees on a Sunday field trip to the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT, where they explored the exhibits and learned about scientific principles.

Capacity Building and Fundraising: •

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This year DREAM raised $102,368 during its Annual Appeal. Gifts came in all sorts of sizes from DREAMers around the world. With the $20,731 raised during the Alumni Appeal, DREAM raised over $123,000 this quarter.

DREAM was recently awarded $15,000 from the Hoehl Foundation and $5,000 from the Redducs Foundation for work at Camp DREAM. These grants were awarded for the construction of a new bathhouse in Fletcher, VT, where Camp DREAM is located, and for working with New American families to send their children on overnight camping trips. A hearty thanks to both foundations for supporting Camp DREAM! We look forward to serving more youth than ever before.

Mentor Training and Workshops: • •

Emily took part in a day-long orientation to learn more about DREAM and get acclimated to her new role as an intern.

In appreciation of National Mentoring Month, 22 mentors volunteering with northern programs in Vermont were invited to Boloco for a night of celebration and thanks for their hard work. Thanks to our partnership with Boloco, DREAM was able to provide free burritos. Mentors bonded with staff, ate cake, and competed in a DREAM t-shirt raffle.

Camp: • DREAM staff gathered for a work day in order to prepare Camp DREAM for Winter Adventure •

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Camp. Because of December’s severe winter storms, staff members were busy repairing the stove and removing branches from the trails.

Mentees, ages 8-12, made the trek to Camp DREAM for an afternoon of skiing, sledding and broomball on the frozen Metcalf Pond. Temps were cold, but everyone had fun, made friends, and stepped outside of their comfort zones. Out of the 36 mentees who attended, 8 spent the night at Camp DREAM, braving the winter storm.

Teens from all over Vermont gathered at Bolton Valley Nordic Center for a day of cross-country skiing. DREAM teamed up with Catamount Trail Association, whose AmeriCorps member Emily Licht instructed mentors and mentees and led some fun (and very difficult) rounds of sharks and minnows. All 27 teens decided to explore Bolton’s Nordic trails, where they worked together to navigate the rough terrain.

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Because of the long drive to Camp DREAM, staff brought Winter Adventure Camp to the Local Programs in Bennington and Poultney. Mentors and mentees met up at Emerald Lake State Park, where they went sledding and cross-country skied.

Alumni Involvement: •

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After last fall’s successful phone-a-thons in which mentors called alumni from their respective local programs, DREAM raised $20,731 from 151 donors. We look forward to the New Alumni Welcome this spring, when we will officially invite graduating mentors into the alumni network.

DREAM alumni were present at three of DREAM’s four WAC sessions this winter. Three mentor alumni volunteered for the Day and Teen sessions, and one former mentee volunteered during Overnight WAC. Three Local Programs applied for grants from the Alumni Grants Committee this semester. Two grants were for culminating activities, and one was for funding for healthy lifestyle programming for teens.

Office: •

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DREAM is excited to announce the hiring of Jen Horan, the new Regional Director of our office in Philadelphia. Jen’s hiring comes as a result of a generous contract with the Philadelphia Housing Authority. We are excited to continue building our programs in Philadelphia!

DREAM welcomes Andrew Lassiter, longtime DREAMer, to the Board of Directors! Andrew was a staff member and also served as an AmeriCorps member with DREAM. We are excited to have him on Board!

Program staff from Boston and Vermont gathered in Portsmouth, NH, for two days of fun bonding activities and summer planning. Program staff also fine-tuned a program assessment tool created to facilitate stronger mentor ownership.

All members of the Burlington office gathered for MLK Day, where they made Valentines cards for veterans. Thanks to Essex CHIPS and Operation: Military Kids for organizing the event!

Thank you for your ongoing support of DREAM! If you would like more information, contact me by email or by phone. You can always look back at past reports or other program reports by visiting: http://dreamprogram.org/mentoring/vermont/local-program-reports.

DREAM big, Ali Siegel Program Empowerment Director VYT AmeriCorps VISTA alison@dreamprogram.org 802.681.3982