The DREAM Program, Inc. 41 Dearborn St. Roxbury, MA 02119 (617) 699-8408 www.dreamprogram.org
April 18th, 2012
The Orchard Gardens DREAM Update March 2012 This month has been busy even with two weeks off for BU’s Spring Break. DREAMers have been hard at work fundraising and planning a culminating experience for late April. DREAM Programming: 3/3(8 mentors, 10 mentees): Everyone spent time at BU Central playing pool and foosball, and painting a giant DREAM Banner with everyone’s names on it. 3/10 and 3/17: No DREAM BU Spring break. 3/24(14 mentors, 7 mentees): The group set up an iced tea, hot cocoa, and t-shirt sale in front of BU’s student center. 3/31(9 mentors, 6 mentees): Another day of fundraising, this time it was a bake sale and t-shirt sale. Fundraising: This month the program has focused on fundraising for their culminating experience. They are planning an overnight trip to Camp DREAM in late April. From the two Saturdays of fundraising, the group raised over $400 to support their trip. Community Collaboration: Be Safe Training: Sandy Mervack, DREAM’s Development Director, Chad and I attended the second of a two part training put on by Be Safe and sponsored by the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship on March 30th. We discussed different messages we send within our organizations, and ways to build strong organizational policies. We then wrote a social media policy for DREAM and received feedback on it from other organizations in the training. Orchard Gardens Safety meeting: Chad attended the Orchard Gardens Safety Meeting at the Orchard Gardens Boys and Girls Club on March 15th. Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force: Chad and I attended the Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force meeting on March 26th at the Madison Park community room. DREAM Office: DREAM Staff retreat: Chad and I spent March 5th and 6th in Vermont with our northern coworkers at an all staff retreat. It was a great time for us to reflect on the year so far, collaborate on larger organizational wide projects, and plan for the future. Massachusetts Promise Fellowship: DREAM has been granted an AmeriCorps Massachusetts Promise Fellow for the upcoming academic year (August-July). I will be departing in August, and the new Fellow will continue the work that I have done this year along with a couple of new yearlong projects. Regional Director: We continued our search for a Regional Director for the Boston DREAM office.
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Summer Community Interns: Hiring for our Summer Community Interns continued as well.
Keep DREAMing! Jessica Stein Program Empowerment Director Massachusetts Promise Fellow/AmeriCorps