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The 2015-2016 Annual Report is Here!
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Adopt-a-Family This Holiday Season
It's that time of year again! We're looking for donors to "adopt" Dreamers and their families, providing gifts for those in need. Families range in size from two to 10 members. Each family submits a "wish list" of gift ideas valued around $30. The program reaches over 400 Dreamer families! Donors must sign up by October 28
and gifts should be dropped off the first week of December.
Volunteers are also needed at the beginning of December to help facilitate gift drop off/pick up.
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National Board Visits "I Have a Dream" Boulder County
On September 27th, directors and staff from the National "I Have a Dream" Foundation visited the Boulder County program. After a lunch and discussion at the Program Support office, the members visited Dreamers at Columbine Elementary School and Boulder Housing Partner's Kalmia Community Center, where Oak and Elk Dreamers attend programming.
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Celebrating with Boulder Housing Partners
"I Have a Dream" was honored to join Boulder Housing Partners (BHP) for its 50th Year Celebration this month. BHP cut the ribbon at its new Community Center at the Diagonal Housing Community. One of our Kalmia Dreamer Alumni and her mother shared their testimonial about the importance of housing and "I Have a Dream", and Elk Dreamers shared their Dream Careers with guests at the event. BHP also acknowledged the 20-year partnership it has had with "I Have a Dream" and celebrated plans to grow the relationship in the future!
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Village at the Peaks receives Award for its Support of
"I Have a Dream"
NewMark Merrill
received the Longmont Economic Development Partnership's Community Appreciation Award
for Village at the Peaks' support of
"I Have a Dream." In the past year, Village at the Peaks' retail stores have supported "I Have a Dream" with multiple grand
openings, and Village at the Peaks dedicated its ground breaking party, back-to-school drive, holiday festivities, and a permanent fountain to "I Have a Dream;" the latter is decorated with tiles created by Dreamers.
Pictured here is Jessica Erickson with the Longmont Economic Development Partnership, Allen Ginsberg of NewMark Merrill, and our CEO/President Lori Canova.
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Our VP of Programs Honored by the State
Our Vice President of Programs, Garett Brownlee Plantz, pictured here with staff and friends of "I Have a Dream," received the
2016 Outstanding AmeriCorps Alumni Award
during the Governor's Service Awards ceremony in September at the State Capitol.
Garett served "I Have a Dream" as an AmeriCorps member in 2008 as our first College & Career Coordinator
and became the Vice President of Programs for "I Have a Dream" in 2016.
Congratulations Garett!
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Thank you Day of Caring Volunteers!
A tremendous thank you to Ball Corporation volunteers who gave a day to help us get ready for the upcoming school year by cleaning out our busses, shredding old files, and sprucing up our office! We are so grateful for their service and to Foothills United Way for organizing the day!
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New AmeriCorps Members!
This month we welcomed 35 Notre Dame AmeriCorps members from around the country to serve in our Dreamer program, our College and Volunteer programs, and at several partnering agencies.
This year's team of 35 members makes "I Have a Dream" one of the largest AmeriCorps programs in Boulder County. This year we have 11 members who committed to a second year, and for the first time ever, we have three Dreamer Alumni and one Dreamer parent serving on the team!
This is t
he 16th year "I Have a Dream" has benefited from a collaborative partnership with the Notre Dame Mission Volunteer Program, which allows for the organization's participation in the national AmeriCorps program. "I Have a Dream" AmeriCorps members directly serve children and families by providing tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment support. They also sustain our programs by assisting with outreach events and volunteer recruitment.
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Thank You Dream-Maker Luncheon Guests!
Thank you to everyone who joined us on September 23rd at Ascent Church in Louisville for our 19th Annual Dream-Maker Luncheon!
A record crowd of nearly 1,200 people attended and heard
a moving program of testimonials by and about Dreamer Alumni Kenny's challenges and successes, and attendees generously donated to help sponsor
44 new Dreamers
!
We are still in need of 16 more Dreamer Sponsors!
Dreamer sponsors make a commitment of $3,000 per child, per year for 10 years.
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Program Staff Creates Plan to Improve Reading & Writing Performance
On September 24th, "I Have a Dream" program staff engaged in a day-long Improvement Science session with Dan Condon, Associate Director of Professional Development at Eagle Rock Professional Development Center. At the end of the day, the session had generated prototype projects to help our program staff in improving student reading and writing performance.
The Eagle Rock Professional Development Center works with educators committed to making school a more engaging experience for our country's youth.
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We Still Need Volunteers!
"I Have a Dream" trained 68 new volunteers over six sessions this fall to support our Dreamers this semester. We still need volunteers to support our Carbon Valley Dreamers after school in the St. Vrain Valley School District. Trainings take place in our new Conference Room Training Space, which allows us to train more volunteers at one time than we could before!
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Welcome New Staff Members
Arielle del Rosario, College Coordinator
Arielle joined the "I Have a Dream" team as an AmeriCorps member in September 2014. In 2016 she became a full-time staff member as the College Coordinator. She is passionate about broadening post-secondary opportunities for first-generation students and keeping up to date with relevant social science research. Originally from New Jersey, she earned a BA in psychology from Rutgers University and an MSc in Cognition in Science and Society from the University of Edinburgh. She was an AmeriCorps Bonner Leader, serving as a college-access mentoring supervisor in the Rutgers Future Scholar Program and later served for another college-access organization, the Schuler Scholar program in Chicago, IL.
Keelin McGill, Phoenix Class Program Coordinator
Keelin's interest in volunteerism and working with communities was sparked when she started volunteering at the farmers market in her hometown of Morgantown, WV. After graduating from West Virginia University with degrees in Technical Editing and Spanish, she joined AmeriCorps as a nonprofit literacy program coordinator and ESOL teacher in Virginia. Her second year of AmeriCorps service brought her to "I Have a Dream," where she worked with 3rd and 4th graders in the Oak Class. Working with "I Have a Dream" has deepened her passion for youth empowerment, multicultural education, and social justice, and she continues to pursue learning and growth as the Phoenix Class Program Coordinator at Boulder High School.
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Thank You Hassan + Cables Law Firm
 Hassan + Cables Law Firm, LLC., enjoyed a day on the green with colleagues, clients, and friends during its Annual Golf Tournament
at Indian Peaks Golf Course. As in years past, the firm and players from the day donated to "I Have a Dream" with Jared Hassan, Founding Partner, matching all donations; over $3,200 was raised! Thank you Hassan + Cables and all the donors from the day for making "I Have a Dream" the beneficiary from your tournament!
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Upcoming Events
October 12th
4:00 - 5:30pm
Griffin Class
Angevine Middle School (Lafayette)
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November 9th
4:00 - 5:30pm
Aspen Class
Timberline PK-8 (Longmont)
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December 5th
2:30 - 4:30pm
Phoenix and Iris Classes
Boulder High School &
Broadway Housing
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*Click to RSVP
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2016 Corporate Dream-Makers
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About the "I Have a Dream" Foundation of Boulder County
Since 1990, the award-winning "I Have a Dream" Foundation of Boulder County has assisted 900 children from low-income areas in achieving their education and career goals by providing long-term personal and academic support, tutoring, mentoring and four-year tuition-assistance scholarships to each graduating student. The organization sponsors entire groups of students from elementary schools or from low-income housing sites and works with these children and their families from elementary school through high school graduation and then "to and through" college. Currently, there are nine active "I Have a Dream" classes in the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts. The "I Have a Dream" Foundation of Boulder County has doubled expected graduation rates for its graduating classes of students and has awarded $2 million in scholarships. The program follows the national model established in New York in 1981 by founder Eugene Lang.
"I Have a Dream" Foundation of Boulder County |
5390 Manhattan Circle #200, Boulder, Colorado 80303
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