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The DREAM Program

@DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

41 Dearborn St., Roxbury, MA 02119 | (617) 699-8408 | boston@dreamprogram.org

The Madison Park Village DREAM Update January 2013

The Spring Semester began shortly after ringing in the New Year. The mentors and mentees looked forward to the fun activities that awaited them. DREAM Programming:

1/11: (15 mentees, 21 mentors): The activities for this week included: watching a movie on campus at International Village, a paper-football tournament and other games, and spending time in the community for the older teenage boys.

1/18: (24 mentees, 24 mentors): The main activity for this week was ice skating at Kelly’s Rink in Jamaica Plain. Those who did not attend ice skating participated in one-on-one activities with their mentors.

1/25: (15 mentees, 25 mentors): This week’s activities were in small groups. The younger boys went to the dining hall, Children’s Museum, or the Game Room, while the younger girls participated in small group activities with their mentors. The older girls went to the MFA and the older boys participated in activities within the community.

Program Development:

Youth Mentoring Night with the Celtics: Three Northeastern mentor matches attended the Youth Mentoring Night at the Celtics game on Wednesday, Jan. 30th. One lucky Northeastern mentor match even was able to participate in the pregame warm-up session!

New youth additions: The Northeastern program is planning to add a few new youth into the program in the coming month.

Recruitment: The Northeastern mentors are in the planning stages of recruiting new mentors in February.

Community Collaboration:

Teen Resource Meetings: Chad met with Bottom Line and Summer Search on January 7th to build partnerships and gather more information on resources for DREAM youth as they enter high school.

Circle of Promise: On January 24th Chad met with Jason Desrosier the Circle of Promise Community Engagement Liaison, to share resources and explore areas for future collaboration.

DSNI Open House: Rachel Attended the DSNI open house on January 25th

Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force: Chad attended the Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force meeting on January 28th

DREAM Office:

Youth and Parent Surveys: I continued to follow-up with youth and families about the youth and parent surveys.

Parental Engagement: I have had some follow-up meetings with parents who have expressed interest in having more information about what The DREAM Program offers beyond the mentoring component. I have had periodic check-ins with parents to see how their children were doing and address any concerns that may exist at the time.

Teen Employment Guide: The majority of the teens have been surveyed to help better understand their awareness of teen employment resources. The teen employment guide is being revised and will be given out in February. The DREAM Office will be hosting optional office hours for those interested in receiving more assistance with resumes or applying to jobs within the city.

Youth Mentoring Day at the State House: DREAM office staff attended the Youth Mentoring Day at the State House. This day was a great day to network with fellow supporters of mentoring programs and initiatives in Massachusetts. DREAM’s Programs Director, Chad Butt, received this year’s Mass Mentoring’s Program Staff Ignite Award. Mentees from various mentoring programs attended to highlight the benefits of mentoring program and together, assembled a puzzle-piece graphic display of mentoring’s impact. Regional Director, Rachel Lieberman and Chad spent the afternoon lobbying representatives in an effort to gain more support for increasing this year’s mentoring line item in the state budget.

Northeastern Martin Luther King Day of Service: Chad and I attended the Northeastern Martin Luther King Day of Service. It was a fun day filled with workshops, volunteering, and closed with a great open-mic performance presented by local youth.

Inauguration and MLK Day joint celebration at Hibernian Hall: Rachel attended the Inauguration and MLK Day event at Hibernian Hall and had a great time sharing an amazing day with the community.

National Mentoring Summit: Mike Loner, the Executive Director of DREAM presented DREAM’s ”Village Mentoring” program model at the 2013 National Mentoring Summit.

Keep DREAMing! Zahra Ohldin Program Empowerment Director/Mass Promise Fellow/Americorps The DREAM Program 41 Dearborn Street Roxbury, MA 02119 Zahra@dreamprogram.org