dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
Riverside DREAM Quarterly Report July-September 2014 Greetings from DREAM! Summer brought warm weather and plenty of DREAMing this quarter. Youth participated in activities in their community, trips to nearby attractions, and sessions at Camp DREAM. They were sad for summer to end, but are excited that the mentors are back. Here is a summary of Riverside DREAM happenings from this quarter: Highlights from the Quarter Include: • Riverside youth enjoyed a fun-filled summer with Americorps summer VISTAs Rachel Zelouf, Amna Mustafic, and Meagan Borofsky. Some of their amazing activities can be found below. • Many Riverside youth attended sessions at Camp DREAM this summer! • Summer VISTAs celebrated a successful summer on August 1st with a Thank You Luncheon from the office. • Mentors and mentees were happily reunited this September after summer break! Welcome back mentors! Weekly Activities with Youth: • Summer VISTAs planned daily programming for Riverside mentees. • Riverside youth had a movie night at a Summer VISTA’s apartment in Burlington • Summer VISTAs took trips with youth to the pool many times this summer • Youth and Summer VISTAs hiked Mt. Philo for a challenging afternoon with a great view! • Youth participated in sailing on Lake Champlain with the Sailing Center • Summer VISTAs and youth spent an afternoon exploring ECHO in Burlington! • Riverside and Franklin Square collaborated for an epic talent show, raising enough money to take a ride on the Spirit of Ethan Allen. • Riverside had two scavenger hunts on Church St. this quarter! One over the summer, and one in September. • Mentors returned to the community for a potluck afternoon Special Events for Youth and Mentors: • Teens from four Local Programs participated in three four-day sailing trips with Time of Wonder sailing in Harpsell, Maine with our Adventure Program
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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Coordinator, Zoe Hoffman. They learned to sail the boat, went swimming and kayaking, and made friends with their fellow sailors. 5 teens from across Vermont participated in the College Road Trip! Lead by Summer VISTA, Gabi Kaplan, the teens went on tours of New York City colleges and universities, navigated the metro, toured the 30 Rock building, and spent some free time practicing college essay writing and exploring NYC! The Young Women’s Interpretation Program had its second successful summer, sponsored by the Vermont Women’s Trust Fund. Three teens from Elm Street and Franklin Square, with the support of intern Alexandria Bacheller, spent the summer knocking on doors in the Salmon Run and Franklin Square communities asking refugee families if they knew about DREAM, what language they speak at home, and if their kids participated in summer programming with DREAM. The teens communicated with families, interpreting and translating information about DREAM, in the hopes that DREAM will reach more families!
Capacity Building and Fundraising: • This year’s Summer Appeal raised over $36,000 from 89 donors. This has been our biggest summer appeal to date. Thank you to all who supported DREAM’s summer programs! • DREAM is working to rebuild our summer programming for next year by raising funds for new facilities at Camp. With the opportunity to host more kids for longer periods of time, our summers at Camp will have more of an impact! Mentor Training and Workshops: • This year’s team of 14 Summer VISTAs and Community Interns from across Vermont and the greater Boston area participated in a three-day orientation in Burlington and at Camp DREAM, where Camp staff joined them. Session topics included managing a budget and fundraising; purposeful activity planning, DREAM’s Mentor Boundaries, Transportation Guidelines, & Child Abuse Reporting Procedures; difficult conversations and trauma; and family involvement. Interns also took part in team building activities, went on a night hike, and learned more about the communities in which they would plan and lead enriching summer activities for DREAM youth! Camp: • Camp DREAM celebrated another wonderful summer! This year, Camp welcomed 57 campers, 9 teen counselors-in-training, 8 staff members, and several volunteers over five sessions.
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During these sessions, campers and counselors swam, canoed, sailed, hiked, built fires, took nature walks, ate healthy and delicious food, watched and performed in skits, played oodles of games, made new friends, and learned more about themselves, their communities, and their environment! 7 Camp staff served as AmeriCorps members through the Vermont Youth Development Corps (VYDC) AmeriCorps State program, served as the Adventure Program Coordinator, Lifeguard/Lead Counselor, and Local Foods Program Coordinator/Iron Chef.
Alumni Involvement: • DREAM is excited to have Kylie Edwards, Franklin Sq./Saint Mike’s alumnus, returning to DREAM as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Dartmouth College’s Local Programs. Kylie also spent the summer running programming supporting our summer VISTAs at Elm St. in Winooski. We are thrilled to have her back! • One Elm St/UVM alumnus and ongoing program partner, Steph Baer, will be the new Money Initiative Head on the Alumni Council. Thanks for all you do for DREAM Steph! • Zoe Hoffman, Riverside/UVM alum, spent the summer up at camp and sailing in Maine with DREAM youth as DREAM’s Adventure Program Coordinator. Zoe did an outstanding job helping our youth take healthy risks and challenge themselves through adventure this summer! Office: • DREAM said goodbye to Ali Siegal, Mark Hengstler, and Katie Purcell, who finished their AmeriCorps terms this quarter. • Staff welcomed three new AmeriCorps VISTA members who are serving through Vermont Youth Tomorrow (VYT). Adam Hurwitz, Ariana Walk, and Kylie Edwards will be supporting DREAM’s Local Programs in Chittenden, Rutland, and Windsor counties. A fourth AmeriCorps VISTA member, Kate Cahalane, joins them for her second year with Vermont programs. Thank you for your ongoing support of DREAM. If you would like additional or more detailed information, please contact me by email or by phone. You can always look back at past reports or other programs’ reports by going to: http://dreamprogram.org/mentor-program/vermont/local-program-reports.
DREAM big, Kate Cahalane Program Empowerment Director kcahalane@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979