The Spectrum Memo: a conversation with Mark » SUCCESS STORIES

Happy New Years!

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:15:26 +0000

Bob Hallowell is a long-time Spectrum Board member as well as a mentor in Spectrum’s Mentoring Program for 6 years As Bob once said to me, “What a wonderful thing to have friends in life and it’s so great I can count David as one of mine.”

Two nice Spectrum holiday stories

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:04:30 +0000

On the Sunday before Christmas, my wife (who is a volunteer mentor at Spectrum) took her mentee, a 15-year-old Somali Bantu girl who has been here with her family for five years, to T.J. Maxx to spend a gift card she had given her. Accompanying them were her mentee’s two younger sisters, who also have mentors through Spectrum and also had T.J. Maxx gift cards to spend. They were in the store for almost an hour, made their purchases, and then walked in the close-to-zero-degrees night to the car. The oldest girl wasn’t dressed warmly enough, with only a thick sweatshirt on, and as they walked across the parking lot a woman came up to my wife and said, “I noticed you in the store with your daughters, and I just bought myself a new coat in there, would your oldest daughter like to have my other coat, it’s really in good condition, I don’t need two, and it is a nice warm coat for the winter.” My wife looked at her mentee, who smiled broadly and gladly accepted the coat from this kind and generous stranger.

And then two days before Christmas, I was with my family on Long Island when my cell phone rang. It was one of the owners of the Healthy Living market, Eli Lesser-Goldsmith. “A friend of mine just sent me a package of Omaha Steaks as a holiday present,” he said, “and I already have plenty of food, can you think of a family I could give these to who could really use them? I will even drive the steaks to their house myself if you give me the address.” I told him I’d get right back to him, and I dialed the cell phone of Amanda Churchill, who runs our youth development program and works with one family I know which has several youth connected to Spectrum. Amanda took it from there and connected with the family and with Eli, and that family had Omaha steaks in their refrigerator that night. Eli and his sister and mother have been so generous to Spectrum for so long, and this gift epitomized what is truly the spirit of compassion for others during the holidays.

So thank you Eli and thank you to that woman in the T.J. Maxx parking lot for helping out others in need.

Happy New Year,

Mark

Happy Thanksgiving from Spectrum

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:18:09 +0000

Click on the image to play the video

Graduation

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:26:18 +0000

We had six Spectrum youth graduate from various schools this week, I couldn’t make it to all of the ceremonies but here are shots from some.

I am proud of all these kids, all have transcended tremendous odds to get to this point. I am particularly proud of one girl who came to this country five years ago from a refugee camp in Kenya, did not know one word of English when she arrived, and graduated last week not only on the Honor Roll but with the President’s Award for Educational Effort. She exemplifies what a person can do with hard work, tenacity and persistence.

Spectrum youth recognized as an Outstanding Young Vermonter

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:49:33 +0000

This is a terrific success story. Erin has been with Spectrum ’s services for over 2 years. She completed Driver’s Ed with us, participated on the Youth Advisory Committee and is in the process of becoming part of our Adult Living Program. She is currently working with our Youth Development Program (YDP) and is preparing to head off to Utica College this fall, working on Financial Aid, etc.

All of us at Spectrum are proud of Erin for being awarded the annual Ernest A. Pomerleau Scholarship and receiving the Outstanding Young Vermonter Award! Please read article for full story.

Prom photos are now online

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:39:51 +0000

Check out the photos from last weekend’s Project Prom. There are portraits courtesy of Glenn Moody Photography and candid dance floor shots by Brent Harrewyn Photography.

Click here to get started: http://www.glennmoodyphotography.com/prom/index.html

Project Prom photos courtesy of Brent Harrewyn Photography

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:44:44 +0000

This weekend Spectrum held our first annual Project Prom at Higher Ground. This was great evening. (Photo credits: Brent Harrewyn Photography)

Nice note from our friends at Healthy Living

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:54:24 +0000

The owners of Healthy Living in S. Burlington have been bringing meals into our drop-in center for the past two months, it has been a great experience. They had an ending event for us at their store two Friday nights ago, raised $300 for us, and here is a nice note I received from Nina Lesser-Goldsmith afterwards:

Hi Mark,

You are so welcome and thank YOU for coming to the event! I agree, the weather was our eneny on Friday, but we did raise over $300 so I consider that a success. After all the silent auction items are picked up I will bring you all the money from the event to go towards your food program. Please do stop in and see us any time. And please keep me in the loop with what is going on with your food program at Spectrum, as I said the other day, I would love to continue working with you guys to purchase smarter and strech your food budget further, while still feeding kids healthy meals.

Thanks for the amazing work you and your staff do around the clock…Spetrum is an amazing organization and we are honored to have worked with you for the last two months!

Best,

Nina

A kind and generous man

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:54:29 +0000

Ken Randall is a contractor we use for most of our renovation projects, and when the Co-Op was washed out by a defective sprinkler head a few weeks ago, we called him in to do the repairs. The boys were out of the house for two weeks, and when Ken was done and they returned, he pulled a $100 bill out of his wallet and said to one of our staff, “These boys have been through a lot, please take them out for a nice meal.” We are lucky to have an association with people like Ken, who helps us in so many ways.

Comcast Cares Day featured in the Burlington Free Press B-Scene

mredmond@spectrumvt.org — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:15:24 +0000

Here are a few photos from the Burlingon Free Press: B-Scene (Ben Sarle, photo credit) To see the all 18 photos, click here. Comcast Cares Day was a complete sucess. A big thank you to all the Comcast employees that volunteered to help fix up our buildings, clean and shampoo the carpets, replace the fence at our Youth Co-op on Murray Street.