NATIONAL MODEL:
"I Have a Dream" Projects work long-term and year-round with the same group of Dreamers, from elementary school through college, offering them an array of support and services that reach into every area of a child's life. It is, above all, the personal, caring and sustained relationship between Dreamers and their Sponsors, Project Coordinators and Mentors that are critical to the success of "I Have a Dream" Projects. The "I Have a Dream" program is flexible, and is intended to be tailored to suit the particular needs of the communities where its Projects operate. The "I Have a Dream" Program balances support with challenge encouraging Dreamers to set high expectations for themselves, but also permitting them to make mistakes and still remain in the program. "Once a Dreamer, always a Dreamer" is the rule.
Bringing vast and varied community resources together, the "I Have a Dream" Project partners with many people and organizations to help Dreamers stay in and succeed at school. "I Have a Dream" Sponsors provide leadership, personal commitment, and funding. Project Coordinators provide expertise and full-time, hands-on program management. Community-based organizations, housing authorities, schools, colleges, corporations, religious and civic groups provide volunteers, meeting space, funding, and a variety of services and resources. Volunteers serve as tutors, mentors and in a hundred other roles, providing Dreamers with the support of additional caring adults.
With over 180 Projects in 64 cities across 27 states (75 of which are currently active), "I Have a Dream" has now served over 13,500 students during its more than two decades of operation. Many Dreamers who go to college are the first members of their families to do so.
|
