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The Village Mentoring Organization
Elm Street DREAM Quarterly Report December-February 2015-2016 Greetings from DREAM! Elm Street mentors enjoyed some time off for their winter break and came back energized and ready for another semester with DREAM. Mentors and mentees made the most out of the snow-less winter with lots of fun activities!
Highlights from the Quarter Include:
Elm Street, Riverside, and Salmon Run planned a joint talent show. Everyone had fun performing their talents and watching their friends’ performances! For Martin Luther King Jr. Day DREAM invited a group of teens to Camp DREAM for a day of service and bonding. DREAM hosted Winter Adventure Camp (WAC) at Camp DREAM in Fletcher, VT. Over 60 mentees from all over Vermont came to play in the snow, including 7 from Elm Street! We played broomball, went sledding, and went for a hike. DREAM also hosted Teen Winter Adventure Camp (WAC) in Burlington! Youth from all over VT came together for a fun day of winter activities. Some teens raised money for the Penguin Plunge and bravely jumped into Lake Champlain! The rest of the group cheered them on from the side lines. The day ended with watching a Saint Michael’s Women’s hockey game and ice skating! Elm Street’s online fundraiser has raised $5,500! This money will be used to help teens cover the costs associated with applying to college.
Weekly Activities with Youth:
The group went to Zachary’s Pizza and had a blast playing arcade games! The group cheered on mentees at a Winooski Middle School girls’ basketball game! Mentors and mentees went on a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s Factory and enjoyed free samples at the end. DREAM partnered with the UVM dance group Orchesis. Orchesis members taught mentors and mentees some popular dance moves. Mentors and mentees split up into small groups and did several different activities. These included going to Pizza Putt, playing Laser Tag, going to the Echo Aquarium and Science Center, and making pizza at a mentor’s house.
Special Events for Children and Mentors:
This quarter DREAM held two Winter Adventure Camps (WAC), one for teens and one for 8-12 year olds WAC for 8-12 year olds took place at Camp DREAM. We had a total of 117 attendees, including 42 mentors, 12 staff and volunteers, and 63 youth. The group enjoyed activities such as broomball, sledding, magical winter hikes, and of course, plenty of hot chocolate! We had a total of 48 attendees for Teen WAC, including 21 teens, 15 mentors, 10 staff, and 2 volunteers. A team of 6 DREAMers, made up of staff, teens, and alumni, participated in the annual Penguin Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics, jumping into the freezing Lake Champlain waters while the rest of the group cheered them on! The team raised a total of $900 for the Special Olympics and won a facebook photo
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org
contest! After the plunge, the group spent the afternoon ice skating and bonding at Cairns Arena. This January DREAM teens from across Vermont, including one Middlebury DREAM teen, convened at Camp DREAM on Martin Luther King day to do service, reconnect, enjoy some sledding, and share a meal.
Capacity Building and Fundraising:
We had a strong annual fundraising drive, raising $326K in individual support, far exceeding dollars raised in previous appeals!
Mentor Training and Workshops:
This quarter a small group of Vermont mentors, teen mentees, and staff made the trek to Boston to attend their annual DREAMstock, mentor conference for DREAM mentors. Our two teen mentee attendees hosted a Q&A panel for mentors, answering questions about their experiences and opinions on mentoring.
Camp:
We are about 4/5 of the way to completing our capital campaign for Camp DREAM and plan on breaking ground this summer, permits allowing, for a large multi-purpose lodge. We hope this building will be heated and have a large great room, a nurses station with a bathroom, a working office with internet and phone access, and more! Work on the bathhouse facilities continue. The frame is up and we are well on the way to completing this project. Once finished the bathhouse will have both composting toilets and shower facilities. The youth could not be more excited to have shower at Camp DREAM soon!
Alumni Involvement:
This quarter we have begun recruiting Alumni Liaisons from current mentors in our programs. These Liaisons will work closely with the Program Liaisons from the Alumni Council to help keep alumni updated on current program happenings.
Office:
DREAM has hired a Student Employee from Champlain College to be our Board Assistant. The Board Assistant will provide support and clerical assistance to our Board of Directors and CEO.
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/mentoring/vermont/local-program-reports. DREAM big, Kelsea Moulton Program Empowerment Director VYT AmeriCorps VISTA kelsea@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979