The Blue Wagon
Alumni Newsletter – November 2011
Inside This Issue Amuse Bouche & Announcements Reflections from a True DREAMer New Local Program at Somerville & Tufts Meet the Alumni Council Meet the Board of Directors An Update on the Alumni Appeal Camp DREAM is Open for Visitors DREAM Doppelgängers
2 3–4 4 5 6–7 8 9 10
AMUSE BOUCHE By AJ LeGaye, Alumni Council President DREAM has been a major part of my life since 2003, and the past two years have proven to be an incredible chapter in my personal history with DREAM. I would like to thank everyone on the Alumni Council and within the Alumni Organization who contributed to the tremendous progress we have made towards empowering Alumni to take an active role in DREAM after graduation. I’m honored that I had the chance to lead such an accomplished and dedicated group of folks. Together, along with the invaluable support of the Office and the Board, we dreamt big and made great things happen. That having been said, it’s time for me to step down as President of the Alumni Organization when my term wraps up at the end of February. I want to take on another volunteer role within DREAM, either on the Alumni Council, on the Board, or as a member of the Alumni Volunteer Pool. I want to stay involved and continue giving back to DREAM, but I need to give my personal and professional lives a bit more attention in the near future. I’m intentionally giving plenty of advance notice because we need someone with a fresh outlook, ambitious but attainable ideas, and contagious energy to take over the position. We need a leader who can take the Alumni Organization to the next level. There are numerous untouched initiatives to tackle and much that can still be improved. It’s important to remember, however, that changes in any organization take time and happen in stages. See an opportunity? Speak up. Propose a solution. Take action. And follow through. Within the next few weeks we’ll be holding an election to nominate and choose the next President of the Alumni Organization. I’m thrilled to see who it will be and even more excited to see where we go next! DREAM On, AJ LeGaye Alumni Council President, 2010 – 2012 a.legaye@gmail.com
ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. DREAM has a short-term job opportunity, available immediately, and Alumni are encouraged to apply. If you or anyone you know has an interest in doing development work with DREAM, please review the job description @ http://goo.gl/oo2vk and consider applying ASAP. Please contact Kristin Burdge @ kburdge@gmail.com if you have any questions at all. DREAM is growing and developing in some major ways, so this could definitely be a connection to more long-term opportunities in the future. 2. Interested in how DREAM can improve its programming for Teens? Was your former mentee a teen DREAMer and you wish you’d had more resources to talk with them about sex, drugs, alcohol, college, etc.? DREAM recently received some funding to revamp our programming focus on teen-specific needs and Kristin Burdge is interested in hearing your ideas, as she’ll be spearheading those efforts. Please reach out to her at kburdge@gmail.com if you have any thoughts to share. 3. The 2011 Alumni Appeal ends on December 1st, so please be sure to donate by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2WlH1S
DREAMers Around the World: Mass Promise Fellow Jessica Stein poses with Robin Hood in Serwood, UK.
Reflections from a True DREAMer By Ashley Elizabeth Seymour, Elm St. Alumni Mentee Hey all you DREAMer gals and pals! I wanted to give an update that is a bit different from the “norm,” if you will. Although, DREAM has never really had one of those...which is a very good thing, mind you. The difference between the usual news you get and this news is the person. Instead of an update about a mentor alumni, this one is all about a mentee. I began the program when I was 11 years old (a weee little one). I was shy and insecure, plus I was growing up in a community that was often looked down upon. DREAM picked me up and taught me the most important lesson of my life so far: it is perfectly okay to be yourself. I was a part of many incredible journeys DREAM led. This included fundraising for the Alaska High Adventure Trip and the New York City and Maine trips (where we stayed in a hostel and provided services in a busy New York City soup kitchen and camped at Acadia National Park). One of the trips I took was to Washington, D.C. to attend the National Low-Income Housing Conference, where DREAM gave me the courage and passion to stand up in front of everyone and speak from my heart, resulting in the addition of a new children’s chapter to the conference. Ashley graduated in Spring 2008
Now, I am almost 22 years old, in my Junior year at Lyndon State College, from Winooski High School. studying Graphic Arts. Last school year, my college president announced that we were thousands of dollars in debt and that they were going to cut full-time staff to save money. This meant I was going to lose some of my best friends and colleagues by August. Now, knowing where I came from, do you really think I was going to let that just happen? I think we all know the answer to that. I was part of the studentbody effort to let the administration know what the students thought about everything. We had silent, peaceful sitins in the lobby and we went to the capitol to speak to Senators and Auditors about the funding problems with the Vermont State College system. I am planning on becoming a student representative for the student government at Lyndon this coming Fall, and still planning on keeping close communication with State Auditor Tom Salmon about the importance of Technical education and college degrees.
After all of that excitement, I had to face the time every student dreads during the summer: taking care of funding for the coming school year. Turns out, with the 5% increase in tuition (since Lyndon is a tuition-based profit college), I was over $2,500 short. I am not considered an independent student yet, based on national requirements, and I do not have anyone to co-sign a private loan for me. It was beyond frustrating, especially since the financial aid department kept telling me, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing more we can do.” I took a deep breath and simply told them what DREAM taught me growing up, “there is always something that someone can do.” I advocated politely, but sternly for myself, informing them I would be willing to make a trip to campus to speak privately with the head of financial aid. A few days later, I received an email notifying me that I had been awarded a second Stafford Loan of $5,000. I returned for my third year of college on August 28th.
Reflections Continued… During all of that hoopla (such a DREAM term, yeah?), I met a boy named Daniel that I was able to have 3-hour discussions with, the topics ranging from religious beliefs to what our burps taste like when we drink ginger ale vs. Mountain Dew. He is my best friend, and has encouraged me every step of the way through many struggles I have faced in the past 4 months. He proposed to me underneath the Burlington fireworks on July 3rd, right on the boathouse in front of hundreds of strangers. He is usually a quiet person, goofy at all of the perfect moments, but still reserved in some ways. So, you can imagine that I was not expecting this at all. Now that I sit and think about it, he went above and beyond for me that night, just to see me smile. The best part is, he does the same thing every single day in everything he says and does. I was taught by my mentors to never settle for anything (or anyone) that was less than I deserve, so I haven’t. Funny thing is, he seems to have a tiny part of every mentor I was ever close to from the DREAM program, which is exactly how I know he is the love of my life. I never completely realized it, but DREAM isn’t just a program I grew up in. It isn’t just meeting people and hanging out every Friday for over 5 years. It isn’t just cool to travel and meet people all over the country. DREAM isn’t a program, it’s an action. It’s a lifestyle and a feeling. DREAM is forever a part of who I am as a person. So there you have it. I am an adult. I am engaged. I am strong and wise. And the majority of it goes to DREAM. I just wanted to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart and soul for changing me and inspiring me throughout my life. When others told me I couldn’t, you lifted me up and said, “Yes, you can.” I can’t wait to hear the other success stories from the other people you have touched. I’ll end it with this: on the hard days, the days you wake up achy and feeling exhausted, like the endless hours of work you do everyday don’t count for anything, know for a fact that to even one kid like me, it counts for everything. I hope you’re all doing spectacular, and I hope you keep in touch throughout the years. I know I will. Ashley Elizabeth Seymour
Introducing Our Newest Local Program: Somerville Housing Authority & Tufts University By Sandy Mervak, DREAM Development Director
Beginning a few months ago this fall semester, students at Tufts University have been forming relationships with children living in affordable housing neighborhoods owned by Somerville Housing Authority (SHA). Getting the brand new Local Program off the ground has largely been the work of Boston Programs Director Chad Butt. According to Chad, DREAM has already recruited about 12 interested Tufts students. The students began the program by knocking on doors and posting flyers to introduce DREAM to the families. They’ve since held their first four official afternoons of DREAM programming in the Clarendon Hill community in Somerville. Questions? Comments? Wish to refer a Tufts student to DREAM? Email us at info@dreamprogram.org.
Meet the Alumni Council By Kate Haggerty, Money Initiative Area Head This is the first monthly series of “Meet the Alumni Council.” Each month a new council member will share their DREAM story, their role on the council, their vision for DREAM’s future, and how we hope to get there. 1. Who am I? Name – Kate Haggerty; Age – 27; Hometown – Allentown, PA Current Residence – Somerville, MA Alma Matter – University of Vermont, 2006 Local Program – Elm Street Favorite Disney Character – Cinderella 2. Why did you originally join DREAM in college? During my Freshman fall, I was looking for something to volunteer in and my friends (all education majors) were going to a DREAM info meeting, so I went along to find out more about it. Mike Foote, Elisabeth Rosen, Lindsey Davis and Aaron Gaines sold me on it! 3. What are you doing now? (Work, school, etc.) Are you volunteering outside of your job? I work for a nonprofit research and strategy org called the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. We focus on growth in economically underserved areas through business development. I do some work for another organization called Main Street Partners, but the bulk of my volunteering hours definitely go toward my work on the DREAM Alumni Council. 4. Are you where you thought you would be this many years out of college? What are your “next step” plans? I think I am, actually. When I graduated from UVM, I wanted to do economic development but at the time didn’t know what that meant in terms of a job. Somehow I ended up at an organization that focuses on the economic growth with a tangible, research-based focus. I love it. Next steps may include an MBA. I’m between that and a Master’s in Development Economics. 5. What prompted you to consider joining the Alumni Council? What do you hope to achieve as part of the Alumni Council? I had been involved with the Alumni Appeal Committee (which I think I had joined mainly to reconnect with the organization) for a couple of years, and the Money Initiative Head role included that work. I thought this would be a good opportunity to continue to work on the Appeal, as well as work on some other DREAM-related initiatives. Since joining the Council in March of 2010, our goal has really been to reconnect Alumni with DREAM. We’re hoping that through local events, newsletters, and more transparency in fund disbursement, more Alumni will feel informed about and connected to DREAM. 6. What is your position on the Alumni Council? What does that mean on a day-to-day basis? My role is the “Money Initiative Head”, so I am connected to all things regarding Alumni money. Under the umbrella falls not only the Alumni Appeal, but also Alumni Grants and the Alumni Fund Allotment. Day to day, this means I may be on an Alumni Appeal Committee conference call or working with the Office and Board to find out where Alumni Funds are most needed within the organization. 7. What is your favorite memory of DREAM from when you were in college? Our big events (Chili Cook-offs, Spring Things) always seemed to bring the whole team – kids, mentors and staff – together in a way nothing else could. I think I remember taking a look around at the Spring Thing my senior year and being amazed by how the program had grown since my freshman year. I also saw four kids who would be first generation undergraduate students the following fall, and a group of mentors I cherished as friends. That was a great day. 8. Where do you envision DREAM will be next year? In five years? In ten years? One year: One to two more locations in New England. Five years: Geographically I hope to see it expand to locations outside of New England. Organizationally, I’d like to see DREAM’s offices funded by local foundations and corporations, and would hope that the Alumni funds can be more influential in terms of funding the program logistics (DREAM Fridays, PEDs, etc.) Ten years: Oh boy. Look where it’s gone in the first ten years. As a 20-year-old organization, I hope to see DREAM with a demonstrated village-mentoring model that can be easily replicated across the U.S.
Meet the DREAM Board of Directors By Kristin Burdge, Vice President of the Board This is the first monthly series of “Meet the DREAM Board of Directors.” Each month, a different Board member will share their DREAM story, their role on the Board, their vision for DREAM’s future, and what they think Alumni can do to help us get there. 1. Who am I? Name - Kristin Burdge, KB, Burdge, Office lady, Board lady, etc. Age - 29 and 11/12 (give or take); Hometown - Pasadena, CA Current Residence - Washington, DC/Burlington, VT Alma Matter - Dartmouth College, 2004/Boston College MSW 2011 Local Program - Templeton Court, then Armory Square (now Northwoods/Hollow Drive and Windsor/Union Square) Favorite Disney Character - Ooooh, tough one. Tie between Tigger, the Beast, and Simba. And Sebastian. 2. Besides sitting on the DREAM Board, what is your primary occupation? I am a social worker--which can take on a variety of shapes and sizes. Most recently I was a community service case manager, connecting youth on probation in Washington, DC with meaningful, engaging, mission-driven service learning opportunities to complete their court-mandated 90 hours of community service. That program did not get its grant renewed for their 2012 fiscal year starting in October, so I’m now currently looking for youth & family development jobs nationally and internationally in the mentoring, community building, and mental health fields. For the next couple months, I will be working with DREAM’s Central Office in VT to catalogue and formalize DREAM’s teen programming offerings. 3. How long have you been on the DREAM Board? What was the path that led to you joining the Board? I joined the DREAM Board officially in January 2009 – about five months after I finished serving my three years of AmeriCorps service as a Programs Director in what was then DREAM’s only office location near Burlington, VT. After three years as a mentor, a one year hiatus teaching in the Marshall islands, and those three years in the office, it was clear to me that family and community building work was where my passion lay, and that DREAM had one of the most captivating, energizing, innovative models around. I couldn’t fathom leaving it, and felt that after participating in so many levels of the program, my experience and skill sets would be really beneficial in helping to shape the organization’s vision and maintain safety and best practices through the Board’s policy governance model. 4. In your own words, what exactly does the Board do on a day-to-day basis? What is your role? There are a few key things to know about DREAM’s Board of Directors. First and foremost, is that Board meetings are open to the public, and always involve a conference call option. They happen the last Monday of every month for the most part, so contact Executive Director Mike Loner or the Board Chair Bill Finnegan if you ever want to join in. Also, we are actively recruiting new members, so help spread the word. On its most basic level, the Board is tasked by our 501(c)3 standing with the government to ensure that we are fiscally responsible and in good financial standing. On a more human level, the Board exists to represent all of the organization’s stakeholders and to ensure that the program is meeting their desired outcomes (stakeholders being the Children, Mentors, Families, Alumni, Staff, Community, & Environment--we are also exploring the addition of a stakeholder group to represent our monetary and in-kind resource providers). The Board does all of this through policy governance, based off of John Carver’s policy governance models. This means that we check in on DREAM’s overall operations through our bodies of policy that mostly state what the organization cannot do through a series of mandates to the Executive Director (http://bit.ly/spaQLv). The Executive Director reports to us each month the recent activities, successes, and struggles the organization is dealing with, and we use those to monitor all of these policies over the course of the year. At a minimum, this is a three hour meeting and homework requirement monthly, but for most members the commitment probably ranges between 6-10 hours. I was just elected Vice President of the Board last month, a position that is designed to support the Chair in case of his absence, but which will soon gain more definition, including driving several of the Board’s projects and professional development initiatives. Prior to that, I served 2.5 years as Secretary of the Board--the main point of communication between the Board and outsiders, responsible for publicly recording the organization compliance and non-compliance with the full body of policy.
Meet the Board Continued… 5. What is your proudest DREAM moment? I’m pretty sure there is no way I could choose just one, for there are proud moment’s with each stakeholder group, and proud moments in each of my different roles over the years. When mentee-alum Ashley Seymour called to catch up on life and told me she had stood on the Vermont house floor and spoken to represent the higher education needs for low-income students whose families couldn’t cosign on loans, I’m pretty sure I cried I was so proud. When the office made the momentous decision to launch a Boston office and really embrace the expansion movement to serve more of the northeast region’s low-income housing communities, I could not have been more excited (and a little nervous--that’s a big responsibility, and I could not be more proud that we are all driven to take that on.) And I could go on forever...
Kristin & fellow Board members “see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil” during a Board retreat at Camp.
6. What do you hope to achieve or contribute during your time on the Board? One of the essential and beautiful things about the Board is that we strive to act as a unified front. To that end, we work by consensus and endeavor to guide a shared vision. At the same time, we acknowledge the reality that we each bring different and unique perspectives and experiences to the Board, which is an essential aspect of our ability to be effective and representative of a diverse group of stakeholders. One of the current initiatives that I’m most excited about is the movement to better realize the community-building component of DREAM’s mission. Through my graduate school studies and other work experiences, I am able to bring best practices and theories related to mental health, trauma prevention, resiliency, stakeholder engagement, and community organizing to that initiative, which has been incredibly fun! 7. Where do you envision DREAM will be next year? In five years? In ten years? This past August 2011, the Board and the Alumni Council gathered for a joint retreat and proposed a comprehensive set of five-year goals for the organization that should be finalized soon. These goals are framed around the following three central ambitions. “IN FIVE YEARS DREAM… • • •
maintains the quality and cost effectiveness of programs, contagious energy of stakeholders, and integrity of brand through robust, diversified revenue streams and responsible growth! is a hotbed of innovation and a pioneer in the field; stakeholders across the organization embrace the concept of social entrepreneurship, constantly creating/experimenting to improve DREAM’s outcomes! will leverage its innovative culture and program knowledge to reach 1,400 kids in 20 colleges across the Northeast, including two new “regional” cities and one major hub!”
8. How do you think Alumni and current mentors can best support DREAM’s mission? I can think of a gazillion ways that Alumni and mentors can best support DREAM’s mission!! We seem to have done a very good job challenging our younger youth and newer mentors by choice and offering them constructive risk taking opportunities and an expanded and broadened worldview. There seems to be still a lot of room for the organization to grow when it comes to offering these same opportunities at even more advanced levels for our older youth and more advanced mentors. Think about what helped you grow healthy and succeed in your life. Think about why you loved and still love being a part of DREAM. Be a part of offering those same challenges and opportunities to others you know in the organization. You definitely know how to make those things happen, because you’ve seen others support you in doing them. And share your thoughts and ideas with the Office (dreaminc@dreamprogram.org), the Board (board@dreamprogram.org), and the Alumni Council (alumni@dreamprogram.org) -- because these are the groups that can help centrally coordinate major DREAM initiatives and improvements. But remember, this is a grassroots organization centered on empowerment, so it all starts with your voice and your action. You can start the college tours for DREAMers in your city. You can volunteer to counsel or tutor a high school DREAMer who needs essay writing or academic support. You can coach a group of enthusiastic teens and mentors in how to run a High Adventure trip. You can provide the connection to valuable new donors that will help fund a new office, a new local program, or an additional programs staff position... You can launch the next regional DREAM Office!
An Update on the Alumni Appeal By Frieda Arenos, Alumni Appeal Leader
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Camp DREAM is Open for Visitors! By Ashleigh Ellsworth-Keller, Camp DREAM Director In case you haven’t heard, Camp DREAM is this amazingly cool property that sits beside Metcalf Pond and is buried in the forest of Fletcher, VT. During the summer and in January and February, sounds of children and counselors/staff/mentors can be heard frolicking through the woods, engaging in all sorts of seasonally-appropriate activities. But during the rest of the time, camp is relatively quiet, and area wildlife begin to encroach upon the property once again. What does this mean for you? Well, did you know that Camp DREAM belongs to ALL DREAMers, which includes YOU!?! When Camp DREAM was built, the land was publicly conserved with the help of the Vermont Land Trust so that the property could be enjoyed by people, animals, and plants (yes, plants can enjoy things, too) for generations to come. We want to get the word out there that Camp DREAM wants YOU to come visit! • Are you thinking about taking a day, night, or weekend away from it all and going camping? • Do you love peeing in the woods, swimming in a mountain pond, walking on trails, cooking on a grill or in a clay oven, and sleeping under the stars in an honest-to-goodness tree house? • Do you enjoy quiet nights and days filled with playing on the trails at camp or hiking at any of the nearby state parks? If you answered “HECK, YES!” to any of these questions, then you probably need to come visit Camp DREAM. • If you want to visit just for the day, let the DREAM office know at least a week in advance in case anything else is scheduled at camp for that time. If you want to visit for a weekend or an overnight, let the DREAM office know at least three weeks in advance so we can give you our detailed “Camp Guests” instructions. • A suggested donation of $25 per night (for every 5 people) would help offset some of the staff time to make sure the property was ready for you AND would go towards our camp programs with kids (larger events would be priced on a case-by-case basis; donations for day visits would be at your own discretion). • Blackout dates (when we have programs going on) include January, February, June, July, and August. If you want to come up during those times, we’d LOVE to have you as a VOLUNTEER! For more information, please call the DREAM office at (802) 338-8979 or email Ashleigh@dreamprogram.org. Hope to see you at camp!
Even if Camp is not in session, there’s no reason you can’t still get your feet wet in Metcalf pond, or play the guitar around a campfire.