dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
Franklin Square DREAM Quarterly Report Quarter 1 October – December 2016 Greetings from DREAM! The Franklin Square DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of activities. Here is a summary of all the Franklin Square DREAM happenings from the last quarter.
Highlights from the quarter include: •
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Eight mentors and several other Saint Michael’s College students spent time on the weekends volunteering at the Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury, Vermont. Not only did they earn pints of ice cream for their service, but also funds for their program! Franklin Square DREAM accepted five new mentors this quarter! All new mentors completed DREAM’s Boundaries & Guidelines Training. Franklin Square brought mentees who won “Mentee of the Week” throughout the semester to eat a special dinner at Alliot! Mentors and mentees had their final DREAM of the semester and said goodbye until 2017!
Weekly Programming: • • • • • • •
Franklin Square DREAM went apple picking at Chapin Orchards. Mentors and mentees gathered on campus to watch a movie! The group celebrated Halloween by going trick-or-treating with the other mentoring programs on campus! Mentees spent time with their mentors on campus playing basketball and baking! The group went bowling! DREAMers gathered on campus and made ice cream! For their last Friday of the semester, mentors and mentees went to Alliot to eat dinner together!
Special Events for Children and Mentors: •
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DREAM hosted its annual mentor conference, DREAMstock. Mentors from Poultney, Bennington, and Rutland got together for a Southern DREAMstock. Mentors from Champlain, Saint Michael’s, UVM, Johnson State, and Middlebury got together for a Northern DREAM Stock. This year mentors were able to collaborate with each other to learn about other programs and brainstorm new ideas. Mentors were also trained in a number of areas thanks to outside presenters. DREAM hosted its annual Teen Retreat in December. Teens from across the state gathered in Montpelier for enriching discussion sessions, pizza, bowling, and laser tag!
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org
Capacity Building and Fundraising: • • • • • •
DREAM participated in the Rodman Ride. DREAM had 34 stakeholders working to raise money - together they raised $30,000. DREAM received a $3500 grant from People’s United Trust for the White River Junction programs. DREAM received a grant from the Donley Foundation for $10,000. DREAM received a grant of $40,000 from Byrne. Dartmouth Mentor, Henry Gardner applied for a grant from Dartmouth Class of 1969 and received $10,000 which will go toward their High Adventure to California! DREAM kicked off its annual appeal this quarter. Office members and volunteers are working hard to get letters signed!
Camp: • •
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Lodge project is getting ready to go out for bid. We will select the best proposal from a local contractor and then move forward with the project. The Davis Conservation Foundation, based in Maine and granting funds to organizations in the Northeast, awarded DREAM $5,000 to purchase winter outdoor gear. We will be able to provide equipment for more youth to get outside and snowshoe and crosscountry ski this winter and for years to come! DREAM held a Day of Caring this fall. Volunteers from IBM came and helped to clear out an area for the orchard. Boston DREAM was recognized as the NCCC Sponsor of the year. Our Boston office also hosted NCCC members to assist with summer programming. The Boston NCCC members came to Camp DREAM for our week long camp session and served as camp counselors!
Teen Accomplishments: •
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Nikki, Teen Futures Coordinator, and Kelsea, the Program Empowerment Director for the University of Vermont DREAM programs led “Girl Talk” for the Elm St. program with some mentors. This event was a safe space for female identifying teens to ask questions and talk about a variety of topics like social media, bullying, and relationships. Nikki, our Teen Futures Coordinator, held a Veterans Day event for the teens in Birchwood. The teens cooked a meal that was later served at an area shelter. A few of our teens were able to attend Baku, an Anime conference, in Burlington. The teens played games and got to attend some informational sessions. A group of Burlington area teens went to Salem, MA for a weekend. The teens were able to take a tour of the town. Northwoods mentee, Nakaya Mitchell, started school at New England School of Hair Design. Justice, a Birchwood mentee, recently applied early decision to University of Vermont and is waiting for her decision letter.
Alumni: • •
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Alumni voted for a new President of DREAM’s Alumni Organization and is honored to announce that Gabby Fisher, a former UVM mentor, will serve as the President. Nikki Duran, former Champlain College mentor, joined DREAM as an AmeriCoprs VYDC member to serve as the Teen Futures Coordinator. Nikki will focus on developing our teen programming for the next year! Former mentee and Camp DREAM Staff, Luigi Alger, joined the office this fall as our new Development Assistant. Luigi will be working out of our Burlington office! Paul Espina, former Dartmouth mentor and DREAM office staff, held a training for staff and mentors on behavior management.
Office: •
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Rachel Kauppila, former Bennington PED, assisted DREAM this fall by serving as a temporary Camp Director while Ashleigh, Camp DREAM Director, was on parental leave! DREAM has expanded its relationship with Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) this academic year. DREAM assisted CHT in running summer programming at Winchester Place this past summer. DREAM was very well received in the community and will now open a new DREAM program in partnership with UVM. DREAM staff and AmeriCorps members from Vermont, Boston, and Philly got together this fall for a retreat. The retreat was focused on teambuilding, training for the upcoming year, and creating a plan for the next year. Burlington area staff spent a day volunteering at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps with Ben & Jerry’s staff for a company wide volunteer day put on by their Community Action Team.
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