Michele Peterson, Class of 2016
This past year DreamCatchers NH partnered with the Moore Center’s Rising Stars group to form the first DreamCatchers NH adult group, which members have called DreamCatchers 2.0. In addition to planning activities, having fun and making friends, members of this group set a goal to present a workshop on friendships and relationships at the 4th Annual Advocate NH Conference. They completed their goal and the workshop was received with rave reviews!!
DreamCatchers New Hampshire, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was incorporated in 2011, but its history dates back to 1995 with Goffstown middle school students, Erin and David, who were struggling with their disabilities. They were feeling lonely and looking to connect and make friends with others who faced similar challenges. When they couldn’t find anything, their moms, Sandy Whipple, Leadership class of 1990, and Donna DiBello created a group called Dream Catchers. They held meetings and activities at Mountain View Middle School and by year two, they had twenty members. The model was such a success that in 2011, Michele Petersen, a volunteer and mom of group member Nick Petersen, took on the mission of replicating this model around the state of New Hampshire. The organization now has five chapter sites that serve 11 – 20 year olds.
Visit www.DreamCatchersNH.org for more information.
