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General News: DreamCatchers Program Catches On
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| Photo of both together: Billy Hart, The Dreamer, and Barbara Prentice- the Orange AHRC direct support professional who became The DreamCatcher for him. |
May 13, 2010
From Orange County AHRC
A new Orange AHRC initiative aimed at encouraging children and adults who have developmental disabilities to become true members of the communities where they live will be celebrated on Thursday May 27 at a 6pm DreamCatchers Benefit Dinner at Pier 9 in New Windsor.
The inaugural event will honor the relationship forged by a DreamCatcher, AHRC employee Barbara Prentice of Walden, a Dreamer, Billy Hart of Montgomery II (an AHRC residence), and the community DreamMakers, the Orange County Antique Auto Club.
Mr. Hart, a resident of the Village of Montgomery since 1978, achieved a life-long dream of belonging to a car club thanks to the initiative taken by Ms. Prentice, and to the warm reception he has received from the many members of the OC Antique Auto Club since he joined.
“We believe in enhancing the lives of people we serve by working with them to discover their interests, dreams, and their talents,” says Orange AHRC Executive Director Christopher Fortune.
The concept is becoming widely adopted by all facets of Orange AHRC, a non-profit organization serving 2,000 people with developmental disabilities annually with a wide array of programs including education from preschool to high school, day habilitation, residential homes, vocational training and employment, recreation, family respite, as well as developmental screenings, evaluations and early intervention.
Dignitaries at the celebratory dinner will include Beth Mount, founder of the Everyday Heroes movement that AHRC’s DreamCatchers initiative is based upon, and Chester Finn, a self advocate whose national renown has led to him receiving an appointment by President Obama.
The key to success of the initiative is the support of the community, one person at a time.
“Right now people we serve in our residential homes are volunteering in a library, working in local stores, and pursuing membership in a hiking club.” said Mr. Fortune. “Interested adults in our day habilitation programs joined a TOPS weight watching group, are building a soap box derby car, and took a virtual tour of the Bethlehem Art Gallery with owner Robert Gould. Our Jean Black School students are doing a beautification project for the City of Middletown, studied art at the Wallkill River School, and cooked at the Young Chef’s Academy,” said Mr. Fortune. “The ideas are flowing and one person at a time we are enriching not only the lives of the people we serve, but also those of members of the community who get to know them,” he stated.
DreamCatchers Benefit Dinner reservations are welcome and can be made by calling Elke Spencer at 845-561-0670, extension 1137, or by emailing [email protected]. Tickets are $75 per person, $650 for a table of 10.
Hobby or collector clubs, church groups, choirs, businesses or other civic-minded people who would be interested in joining the network of community DreamMakers who offer opportunities to people with developmental disabilities are invited to call AHRC’s DreamCatcher coordinator Kathy Disher at 845-561-0670 extension 1166 or email [email protected].
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