The DREAM Program, Hickory Street, Quarter 1, 2014-2015

dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

Hickory Street/Forest Park DREAM Quarterly Report September-November 2014 Greetings from DREAM! Youth from Hickory Street/Forest Park have had a great time getting to know their new College of St. Joseph mentors. It has been a successful quarter with tons of fun activities to help youth expand world-views and social capacity! Mentees are always looking forward to DREAM Wednesdays!

Highlights from the quarter include:  DREAM officially welcomed 10 new mentors to the program!  The Hickory Street/Forest Park program kicked off the quarter with a community meet and greet, giving the families a chance to meet the new mentors!

 The group was able to take on another mentee this quarter, bringing number of mentees to 11!  Weekly Programming:  Youth from Hickory Street/Forest Park had a Halloween-themed costume party meet-and-greet in the community to start a new semester, all families invited!

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Mentees spent a day making fire-safety posters and ended up winning prizes in a communitywide contest!

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The group spent a day playing board games on campus in the game room as well as air hockey, ping-pong, and pool!

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The group took a twilight walk to the movies, taking advantage of the last warm night of the season!

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Pumpkins were carved and painted in the holiday spirit of Halloween.

Youth had a great time making turkey-bowls, each holding 5 things they are thankful for.

Mentees learned how to make new crayons from old ones and spent the rest of the time playing their favorite game, hide and seek.

 Special Events for Children and Mentors: DREAM staff were excited to host teens for our annual Teen Futures Retreat! Teens from all over the state got together to talk about their future plans regarding educational goals and career choices. Teens participated in a small service project at a local farm.

The Chittenden County Mentoring Network hosted mentors from several different Chittenden County mentoring organizations to honor their hard work and dedication. DREAM mentors were invited to attend the function which was held in Burlington.

Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org

Mentor Training and Workshops: For our annual mentor conference, DREAM Stock, we got together at Bolton Valley with mentors from all of our Vermont programs. This year we were excited to have two Philadelphia mentors attend. Mentors attended informational sessions, collaborated with mentors from different programs, and made exciting plans for enhancing their local programs!

Camp: This year Camp DREAM turned 10 years old! To celebrate the milestone DREAM held a birthday bash at Camp in Fletcher, VT. Staff, DREAM alumni, mentors and youth, and friends of DREAM enjoyed fresh baked flatbread pizza, games, and an informational discussion on the history of Camp DREAM and what the years to come will look like!

Alumni Involvement: We are very excited to announce that alumnus Matt Karkut has taken the position of Camp Programming and Operations Manager. Matt was a Champlain College mentor and spent a summer with DREAM as an Adventure Programming Coordinator. While we were sad to say good bye to Rosetta Morse, who moved on to join Burton's Chill Program, we are thrilled to have someone with such energy and passion for getting youth outdoors!

Capacity Building and Fundraising: DREAM received a grant from the Green Mountain Fund to help in sustaining and expanding programming at Johnson State College. DREAM also received a grant from Hills and Hollow to aid in the continued support of our programming at Green Mountain College. DREAM was honored to receive a generous grant from the Donley Foundation to aid in delivery of general programming to all of our Vermont programs.

Our development team met in Philadelphia for a biannual retreat. The team was able to discuss what the coming years will look like for DREAM and got to see the Philadelphia programs in action.

DREAM's annual appeal has kicked off. Staff have been working hard to get letters out to donors. Mentor's also contributed by calling alumni and thanking them for all the work they have done for DREAM and the support they continue to give!

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.

dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

DREAM big, Ariana Walk VYT AmeriCorps VISTA Program Empowerment Director ariana@dreamprogram.org 802.681.3982

Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org