The Class selected Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color (DACC) for its annual award to help them add a teen component to their program.
"Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color was founded with the sole purpose of creating community. To address the growing need for connection between the very few children of color that live in Hanover and the Upper Valley, we decided to start simply, with playdates. Each week, we develop a theme and related activities and invite families to the Shabazz Center on campus. The children participate in the activity alongside our volunteers and exec board, followed by a shared meal. Some of the kids’ favorite playdates are our annual Trick-or-Treat playdate where we go door-to-door on Dartmouth’s campus and our collaborative playdate with our chapter of National Society of Black Engineers, in which the children had the opportunity to learn and play with 3D printers. We are grateful to be able to provide the experience that we do for our children, but we wish to expand the good we can do.
Currently, we structure our programming around weekly playdates with rotating and new themes to allow the kids to connect with each other and Dartmouth students. Every week we determine an activity and theme we believe will gauge the children’s interest. The kids in our group vary from less than a year old to newly turned 12 year olds. This gap is large and while we make a great effort to provide activities that enthuse multiple age groups, the kids that are on the older side tend to be left out from boredom. It is important to us that we can still provide a space for kids to come and connect with Dartmouth students even past their early childhood. The relationships that form serve to help them well into their lives, and we wish to continue to foster them.
Our teen programming would consist of biweekly hangout sessions during the week, of events catered towards teens of color between the ages of 13-18 yrs old. The events would center outings in Hanover to explore our shared community and connect with each other. It mainly focuses on mentorship as the kids enter ages of more maturity and responsibility. The connections that are fostered in DACC Teens are important for the teens as they get to know themselves and their identities. Where an adopted parent, or even a biological parent of another race may not be able to relate, students of color at Dartmouth can begin to build this bridge. A sample outing would consist of a movie outing to Nugget Theater in Hanover, followed by a debriefing over ice cream at Hanover Scoops, where mentors and mentees can discuss the film and its relatedness. An outing of this size would cost around $700 for movie tickets, concessions, and ice cream for a cohort of 15 mentors and 15 teens, well above our average of around $100 a playdate. Our current funding affords us just enough to afford our regularly scheduled playdates, and the occasional supplies we need. We want DACC Teens to be an outlet for teens of the Upper Valley that may feel isolated in other settings, as well as helping them possibly learn more about themselves and their cultures.
As our cohort for DACC Kids actively expands we need additional resources for general upkeep as well as the materials needed for the playdates. On a playdate basis we spend money on snacks, plates, cups, table covers, and pizza aside from the materials required for the theme. Our running supply of toys, games, hair care supplies, and arts and craft materials are in need of replenishing as well. The grant’s funding will allow our DACC Teens program to take off but also support our existing DACC Kids."