| Program: | Milestone Adventures, East Montpelier, VT | | Contact(s): | Paul Erlbaum, Co-director: (802) 223-5782 | | Purpose: | To help people break through racial and ethnic stereotypes | | Background In 1987, two white men from Vermont visited Harlem in New York City. Interested in the amount of African American history and culture they observed, they began to make annual trips to New York, soon gathering other friends to join them. In 1993, the two Vermonters created Milestone Adventures, a nonprofit organization that organizes activities for white residents in Vermont to interact with African Americans in New York and New Jersey. Program Operations
Over 250 volunteers work on the Milestone Adventures Program. Throughout the year, Milestone sponsors several trips and local public forums that bring whites and blacks together to hear different cultural experiences. It also operates a program that works with children to study the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the past five years, Milestone has produced four large gospel concerts featuring a 100-member choir from an inner-city church. Each concert enabled choir members and New Englanders to meet and begin developing friendships. Funding for the program is generated by selling tickets to the concerts and charging a fee for the trips. Outcomes and Significant Accomplishments Roughly 100 people who live in Vermont and participate in the Milestone Adventures Program have traveled to Harlem, and 50 have gone to Newark. Each Milestone gospel concert has brought 150-200 Newark choir members, friends and family members to northern New England. More than 4,000 people have attended those events. There has also been extensive media coverage for their activities. |
