The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

Elm Street DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2012 Greetings from DREAM! The Elm Street DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of DREAM activities. The children were sad to see the mentors leave for winter break but are looking forward to their return in January. Here is a summary of all the Elm Street DREAM Program happenings from the last quarter. Highlights from the quarter include:

• On September 30th a group of Elm Street Mentors and Teens hiked a portion of the Long Trail as part of the Catamountain Classic. The event was in honor of Elm Street mentor Avi Kurganoff. Other clubs from UVM also volunteered by hiking their own sections of the Long Trail. This fundraiser helped to set up a scholarship for a DREAM teen to attend an Outward Bound Program. The event planners hope to make this an annual fundraiser to keep the scholarship available to DREAM teens in the future.

• This year, Elm Street DREAM partnered with Riverside DREAM to host the annual Chili Cook-off, which raised $222 for both programs.

• The Elm Street program welcomed Alumna Steph Baer as their program partner. The South Burlington DREAM Office also welcomed alumni Caitlin Patey, Nicole Stevenson, and Laura Kingston as Burlington-area Program Partners.

• Three Elm Street mentors attended DREAMstock, the South Burlington DREAM office’s annual mentor training event. This year’s event featured sessions on: being a co-chair, how to be a mentor, working with teens, open space opportunities, and behavior management.

• Four Elm Street teens attended the Teen Futures Retreat along with two Elm Street mentors. Teens learned about preparing for college, summer opportunities, and applying for jobs, all while bonding with other DREAM teens from around the state

Friday Activities:

• Elm Street kicked off a new semester of mentoring with a barbeque at Oakledge Park. Mentors and mentees played lots of fun yard games like Frisbee and tag.

• Mentors took the kids down to the waterfront for a day of fun in the sun. Mentors and mentees competed in a watermelon seed-spitting contest that was tons of fun.

• DREAM and the UVM Outing Club teamed up to lead an afternoon of survival skills at Centennial Woods in preparation for the Catamountain Classic. Mentors and mentees learned about navigation, fire building, and plant identification.

• The programs split up for one-on-ones to relax before a big Saturday of hiking at the Catamountain Classic.

• Mentors and mentees got lost at Sam Mazza’s Corn Maze.

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

• Elm Street DREAM collaborated with Riverside DREAM to host the annual Chili Cook-off which raised $222 for Elm Street DREAM.

• Elm Street DREAM enjoyed a great Friday of Bowling at Champlain Lanes. • Mentors and mentees celebrated Halloween with a party at the Chill Out Zone in Downtown

Burlington. • Mentors and youth split into small groups for activities. Some of the adventures included

cooking pizza, exploring Church Street, and going for a walk down the bike path. • The DREAM mentees created some artistic masterpieces during an arts and crafts day in

Billings’s hall. An older group of teens left the festivities early to attend a teen dance hosted by the Franklin Square DREAM Program.

• Mentors and mentees had a chance to show off their many talents during Elm Street’s annual, year-end talent show.

Special Events for Children and Mentors:

• Three Elm Street mentors attended DREAMstock, the South Burlington DREAM office’s annual mentor training event. This year’s event featured sessions on: being a co-chair, how to be a mentor, working with teens, open space opportunities, and behavior management.

Capacity Building and Fundraising:

• This year, Elm Street DREAM partnered with Riverside DREAM to host the annual Chili Cook-off which raised $222 for both programs.

• Mentors volunteered at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury Vermont to raise money to support their program.

• Mentors launched a “Friend-raising” campaign to raise money in support of the Elm Street Program. So far the campaign has raise $480 for the Elm Street DREAM program.

• On November 19th, DREAM launched its Annual Appeal! Keep a look out for your letter and please consider donating. So far the annual appeal has raised $45k from 73 donors.

• Mike Foote re-joined the DREAM office as the Director of Strategy and Growth in early October and will be spearheading expansion efforts into Philadelphia.

Mentor Training and Workshops:

• Mentors received their annual Mentor Boundaries and Guidelines Training to kick off the semester and help orient new mentors to DREAM.

• Mentors enjoyed training on Child Behavior Management where they learned tips and tricks for dealing with a difficult mentee.

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

Camp and Teens: • Four Elm Street teens attended the Teen Futures Retreat along with two Elm Street mentors.

Teens learned about preparing for college, summer opportunities, and applying for jobs, all while bonding with other DREAM teens from around the state

• Teen Futures Retreat—November 3-4. 60+ mentors and teens gathered to hear about future opportunities available to them. If you would like more information, check out this article from our Alumni Newsletter, the Blue Wagon, http://www.dreamprogram.org/about/announcement/teen-futures-retreat-skyrocketing-future.

• Camp Work Days and Days of Caring occurred in late September and early October. Approximately 100 volunteers assisted staff in various work projects around camp in order to clean up from the summer and prep camp for Winter Adventure Camp in January.

• On September 30th, mentors and alumni joined DREAM Support Staff for the DREAMstock camp workday.

• On September 30th a group of Elm Street Mentors and Teens hiked a portion of the Long Trail as part of the Catamountain Classic. The event was in honor of mentor Avi Kurganoff. Other clubs from UVM also volunteered by hiking their own sections of the Long Trail. This fundraiser helped to set up a scholarship for a DREAM teen to attend an Outward Bound Program. The event planners hope to make this an annual fundraiser to keep the scholarship available to DREAM teens in the future.

• Camp DREAM has partnered with Yestermorrow, a sustainable design school, to create a sustainable design plan for the new bathroom facilities and kitchen at Camp DREAM.

• Camp DREAM was proud to be awarded a VT Buildings and General Services Recreational Facilities grant to help fund the new septic system that will be installed at camp.

Alumni Involvement:

• The Elm Street program welcomed Alumna Steph Baer as their program partner. The South Burlington DREAM Office also welcomed alumni Caitlin Patey, Nicole Stevenson, and Laura Kingston as Burlington-area Program Partners.

• The South Burlington DREAM office welcome alumni: Danielle Jenkins, Andrew Lassiter, Nicole Stevenson, Phil Ortego, Rachel Kauppila, Jenna Rae Genest, Caitlin Patey, Paul Espina, and Megan Kerrigan as volunteers at DREAMstock and the Teen Futures Retreat.

• On October 18th we launched our annual Alumni Appeal. For the appeal, a group of Elm Street mentors participated in the annual Alumni Phone-a-thon. So far, the UVM programs have received donations from 40 of their alumni. Overall, the alumni appeal has raised $33k from 196 donors.

• Two former DREAM mentors, Kate Piniewski and Alison Siegel joined the DREAM Support Staff as Program Empowerment VISTAs serving in the White River Junction and Bennington offices.

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

• DREAM Support Staff have begun the process of engaging with DREAM alumni in Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC to gauge opportunity for DREAM to have impact in these new cities.

Office:

• DREAM launched its new website in October, check it out at www.dreamprogram.org • Mike Ewan, former South Burlington DREAM office member, has recently transitioned into

a new role as the Program Director, Advanced Support working with all of the DREAM offices.

• The DREAM office welcomed back former Program Empowerment VISTA Sarah Caliendo as the Program Director, Direct Support for the South Burlington DREAM office.

• DREAM has recently extended its support network through opening a DREAM office in White River Junction at the Northwoods Community.

• DREAM moved one step closer to attaining its goal of opening programs at all the State Colleges in Vermont by launching a program at Johnson State College this past fall.

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 visiting the “program reports” section of our website. DREAM big, Britt Wedenoja Program Empowerment VISTA Britt@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979