Yael Friedman, a Spectrum board member, donated to us online. Her response to the question: “Why do you support Spectrum?”:

I am continuously impressed with the work Spectrum does in our community. We’re lucky to have such talented and dedicated staff and I’m grateful to be a small part of the organization.  Thanks for all you do!

I received this in the mail:

“The day after you spoke, I was talking with someone and he was raving (as he often does) about the help Spectrum is giving his granddaughter.  He says it is the first time a counselor has gotten her to open up, after a long time coming.  After hearing you and hearing him, I can see that many impossible dreams can come true.  Change can happen with heroic efforts like yours and your team’s and we are forever thankful.”

Last night I was at the Vermont Community Foundation annual meeting in Manchester, and a woman came up to me and said, “I know an 18-year-old woman who recently had some difficulties in her life and even became homeless, I decided to try and help her so I called several nonprofits in Chittenden County.  Your staff were great, they got right back to me, they followed up, they really helped this young woman who is now back at home and doing great, they even took the initiative a few days later to contact me to see how she was doing.”  I asked her for specific names and she replied, “I think someone named Jeff.”  (I presume that’s one of our new counselors, Jeff Nowlan.)

It was very gratifying to hear about the experience this woman had and to know that the staff who work at Spectrum truly do stand out in terms of commitment, professionalism, dedication and compassion.

We have started a new program at Spectrum called WIT’s End.  It is an open support group for parents, family members, and concerned adults who are troubled by the substance use or abuse by a young person in their life. These issues can take a great toll on family members and this group provides peer-to-peer support from other adults who have experienced similar issues. WIT’s End participants share experiences, provide understanding and support and help each other find new ways to cope with problems. The Wit’s End group is a safe place to express concerns and frustrations while receiving unconditional support, education, and resources.

The Burlington WIT’s End group is always co-facilitated by a family member who’s been directly impacted by the substance use of a young person and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. The group is confidential and there is no cost to attend. The group meets every Thursday evening from 6:00 to 7:30pm at the Robert Miller Center in Burlington.

I sent an email out about the new WIT’s End group and received this in return:

Thanks for passing along. I could use this right now! I am not sure who does or doesn’t know about my daughter right now but this is a God send today.

The Community Health Center of Burlington operates a satellite health clinic right in our Pearl Street location, next to our Drop-in Center and below our 12-bed Shelter.  They provide free health care to our youth and in the last few months we have worked hard with them to figure out new ways to collaborate in order to provide better service.  Here is a nice email I received from one of the staff there:

A quick check in on the improving relationship between the clinic and Spectrum programs! In my experience over the past several months, the relationship between the clinic and your programs has been growing stronger with increasing collaboration. We’ve coordinated with Drop-in staff to be more involved with your outreach program. Our Medical Assistant will go out with Lauren’s group once weekly, and I will start a once a month session health-focused chat and chew in the Drop-in Center.

I really enjoy working directly with your staff and am very pleased both with what we’ve improved upon over the past several months and upcoming collaboration.

David Battick works in our Violence Intervention and Prevention Program and was just selected by the Kids on the Block–Vermont to receive their Puppets’ Choice Award for Abuse Prevention.  The award was established “in order to honor an individual who has made outstanding contributions advocating for children in our state.”  David will be presented the award at Puppets Choice Awards Luncheon on Sept 28th.

Nice going, David, we are very proud of you!

I received this email from one of our mentors:

“Things with my mentee have been going great, and I wanted to update you with where we’re at.  He and I took a short walk after our meeting with you and his foster father last Monday.  We agreed that I would pick him up for lunch on Friday at noon.  Since he had expressed a little concern about finding his way around the high school and losing his schedule, I offered that we might want to begin our time on Friday with a visit to the high school to get a new copy of his schedule and then go on a self-guided tour.  He thought that would be a good idea, and so we spent about an hour touring Burlington H.S. (my old alma mater, too), getting a new schedule, and reconnecting with some of his old friends from Middle School who happened to be there for summer school.  He seems to know everyone, which will help him transition to the high school, I think.  Then, we had a nice lunch at the Olive Garden, one of his favorite spots (and mine, too.)

Yesterday, Monday, we went for dinner at the food court in U-Mall and went window-shopping.  When I picked him up, I had a chance to have a nice chat with his foster mom.  He and I made plans to meet again for dinner next Monday and then hang out at Barnes and Noble, another one of his favorite spots (and again, mine, too.)

I asked him if he’d like to commit to a mentor/mentee relationship for a year, and he said “yes.”  I agreed that I would also like to do so.  You’re right: he’s a GREAT guy, and I look forward to connecting with him as his mentor.  I have already learned a lot from him!”

The Spectrum Ride is coming up, Sunday, October 3!  Go to the Spectrum Ride Page on our website in order to sign up to ride.  Please consider forming a team, like I did, in fact here is the leader of Team Redmond, my son Liam.  As you can see, he is rarin’ to go and lead us on to victory!

Liam, Leader for Team Redmond

The Ride was great last year, it will be even better this time. Ride lengths and start times are below.

10K Family Fun Route (10:00am)
25K One Stop Route (9:30am)
50K Vermonter Route (8:45am)
100K Shifting Gears Route (8:00am)

Team Redmond is doing the Family Run Ride, just a few miles, if we can do it, you can do it!