The DREAM Program, Hickory Street, Quarter 2, 2014-2015

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Hickory Street/Forest Park DREAM Quarterly Report December - February 2015 Greetings from DREAM! This quarter, youth patiently waited for their mentors to return from winter break. Programming started right back up as soon as the mentors returned and kicked off the new term right with plenty of games and activities for the children.

The group attended Winter Adventure Camp and had a great day sipping hot chocolate and going sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing!

Highlights from the quarter include:  The group attended Winter Adventure Camp and had a great day sipping hot chocolate and going sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing!  Youth celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the community center and painted how they would change the world.

Weekly Programming:  This month, the group spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day trying to match their skin color with paint only to learn that skin color doesn’t matter!  Youth also thought about what they would do to change the world. Hickory Street mentees finished off the day with painting plastic stained glass fixtures, snow forts and sledding outside, and watching Ponyo, the movie!  The group also celebrated Valentine’s day with hand-made valentines for loved ones.  The group watched 101 Dalmatians in their pajamas at the college’s theater!

Special Events for Children and Mentors:  There were no special events this quarter.

Capacity Building and Fundraising:  This quarter we completed our annual fundraising drive to raise money to support programming for DREAM participants. With the support of our many wonderful

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

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partners, we were able to raise around $170,000 this year, breaking our record from last year by over $50,000!

DREAM’s ‘Growing DREAMs Campaign,’ our Capital Campaign to raise funds for revolutionizing Camp DREAM, continues this quarter. This campaign includes plans for building a bath house (currently in progress!), a lodge, an infirmary, and more. At this point we have raised around $76,000, and we expect to raise more in the coming months!

Mentor Training and Workshops:  There was no mentor training or workshops this quarter.

Camp:  This winter we held our annual Winter Adventure Camps (WAC) with great success! This year we held two WACs:  Day WAC: a day at camp DREAM with mentors and mentees from northern and central Vermont DREAM Programs. Around 50 people from age 8 to adult descended upon Camp DREAM for cross country skiing, sledding, broomball, hot chocolate, fun and bonding!  Southern WAC: For our mentors and mentees from Southern Vermont programs, we held WAC at Emerald Lake State Park. Around 40 people ages 8 through adult attended Southern WAC this year, the highest attendance at this event ever! The group spent the day snowshoeing, cross country skiing, sledding, and of course, drinking hot chocolate. Additionally, since we were forced to cancel our teen WAC this year due to weather concerns, we invited teens to Southern WAC to act as ‘CITs’ or Counselors in Training. We had around 10 teens from across Vermont attend and help run a truly successful WAC! Alumni Involvement:  This quarter Julia Dillavou, a Community Intern Alum from last summer, began work as a Program Partner volunteer with the Birchwood/Champlain College program. In this capacity she attends meetings and DREAM Fridays with them, and is supporting their efforts to grow their mentee base and address transportation challenges. Additionally, Julia is volunteering several hours per week on a project reconnecting DREAM with mentees who have graduated from the program. We are hoping to use this reconnection as a means for strengthening our level of support to mentees as they graduate from DREAM.

Office:  This quarter DREAM celebrated our CEO, Mike Loner’s ten year anniversary working for DREAM. The DREAM staff, VISTA’s, and board members kidnapped Mike Loner from a board meeting and smuggled him to a beach party themed celebration in the back of a U-haul truck, complete with sand, lei’s, and beach balls! DREAM recognized Mike Loner with the honor of having our new bath house at Camp DREAM named for him. Henceforth it will bear a plaque reading “Loner’s Loo!”  We were excited to welcome a new staff member, Sarah Attridge, to the Vermont DREAM team in the role of Development Associate. In this role Sarah will be working closely with our National Development Director to cultivate Vermont development and fundraising. In addition to bringing skills from former development position, Sarah also brings experience as a former mentor at Elm Street DREAM!

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