dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
Birchwood Manor –DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2015
Greetings from DREAM! The Birchwood Manor DREAM program has finished up another wonderful winter of activities. Here is a summary of all the Birchwood Manor DREAM happenings from the last quarter. Highlights from the quarter include: • The Birchwood DREAM Program recruited new mentors who have jumped right in to programming! • Birchwood mentors collaborated with the Saint Michael’s College-Franklin Square DREAM program to help put on Franklin Square’s annual Thanksgiving dinner! • Two younger DREAMers came to Champlain for the first time. It was their first time ever visiting a college campus! Fridays: • Mentors started programming on September 19th with a day of outdoor fun and games on the Champlain campus! • Youth attended a fall themed party at the community center. Mentors and mentees baked cookies, played Apples to Apples, and decorated pumpkins! • Mentees came to campus for an afternoon of video games, Magic: The Gathering, and drawing on chalkboards! • The mentees came to campus for a movie night! • Mentors and mentees spent time together in the community and painted each other’s nails! • Mentors and mentees spent an evening playing games, making macaroni and cheese, and baking a Halloween themed cake! • Mentors and mentees spent time in the community playing games and coloring in the community center. They took advantage of the early sunset and played more than 5 rounds of flashlight tag! Special Events for Children and Mentors:
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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This fall DREAM hosted its annual mentor conference, DREAMstock, at Bolton Valley Ski Resort. Mentors from all over the state attended for a weekend full of trainings, fun activities, exchanging of ideas, and bonding. Mentors talked about teen programming, how to connect with families, meeting facilitation, and fundraising ideas. Amanda Rhodenburg from Outright VT came and talked with mentors about how to create safe spaces for our youth.
Capacity Building and Fundraising: • DREAM staff members kicked off the annual appeal this November. Through the help of staff, volunteers, mentors, board members, and alumni we are over half way to our goal of $200,000. • Hannaford gave a generous gift of $10,000 to DREAM. • The Merchant’s Bank gave a gift of $7,500 toward Camp DREAM. Camp: • We had a great Day of Caring this year with volunteers from Green Mountain Keurig. The day was filled with completing important tasks such as bedding the garden for the winter and dismantling old structures for materials. • Camp Programs and Operations Manager, Matt Karkut, has been working hard on building structures at camp. Matt, along with volunteers, broke ground for a new cabin this fall. The group has constructed a foundation and a subfloor for the structure. Matt also got the roof completed on the bathhouse. Office: • In September staff from Boston, Philadelphia, and Vermont got together for a retreat. The retreat focused on how staff can strengthen local programs, work across regions, and more. • DREAM is excited to announce that we have a new VYDC AmeriCorps member. Alicia Pacelli has joined the team to serve as a Teen Coordinator. Alicia will be working closely with our teens throughout the state. She will be working on postgraduation plans, teen programming, teen retreats, and summer programming opportunities. • Former VYT AmeriCorps member Kate Cahalane received a Governor’s Service Award for her dedication to DREAM during her two years of service. Kate was a mentor at UVM for four years, a summer intern, supported our three Dartmouth
programs as a PED, and supported our three UVM programs as a PED. Kate’s dedication to DREAM has impacted many youth and mentors throughout the state. 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, Julia Dillavou Program Empowerment Director, VYT AmeriCorps VISTA Julia@dreamprogram.org, 802.338.8979