|
What Makes "I Have a Dream"® Unique Starting an "I Have a Dream"® Project |
|
Lang told the class about being present to
hear Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream"
speech at the 1963 March on Washington. He urged the students
to dream their own dreams, and promised to do all he |
 |
So he hired a full-time social worker as Project Coordinator and enlisted the support of a local community-based organisation to provide services and support to the children throughout the years that separated them from high school graduation, while at the same time maintaining close personal relationships with each of them.
In August 1985, after four years, all of Lang's Dreamers were still in school. He began responding to news media inquiries in the hope that others would be inspired to replicate what he had done. It worked. A front-page story in The New York Times and a segment on 60 Minutes led to widespread national attention and interest.
Thousands of inquiries began to pour in, and in early 1986 Lang
organised the national "I Have a Dream"® Foundation
to help launch a new generation of "I Have a Dream"®
Projects. Since then, the programme has grown beyond anything Lang
ever imagined.
Nearly 180 "I Have a Dream"® Projects in 27 states
and 64 cities of the USA, have served over 13,000 Dreamers, and
the programme continues to grow. At the same time, "I Have
a Dream"® has freely shared its experience with others
- individuals, corporations, church
and community groups and government agencies - in creating other
educational support programmes that help many more thousands of
disadvantaged children at the primary and secondary school levels.
And Lang's original 61 Dreamers? Of the 54 who still remain in
contact with "I Have a Dream"®, more than 90% have
their high school diplomas or GED certificates; and 60% went on
to higher education, mostly at public four-year universities or
community
colleges. The first Dreamers received baccalaureate degrees from
Bard and Barnard Colleges in June 1991; others subsequently graduated
from Swarthmore, RPI, Hunter, Arizona and other schools. At least
two-thirds of the P.S. 121 Dreamers have had two or more years of
higher education, almost all hold fulfilling jobs, and those who
have children vow their kids will go to university.
A Brief Timeline
1981Eugene Lang begins the first "I Have a Dream"® Project for students at P.S. 121 in Harlem.
1985
Bill and Elaine Farrell of Dallas, Texas, start the first "I
Have a Dream"® Project outside of New York.
1986
The national "I Have a Dream"® Foundation is created
to handle the growing number of requests for technical assistance
in starting local Projects.
1993
With the support of HUD Secretary Jack Kemp and the cooperation
of the New York City Housing Authority, Jeff Gural and Gloria Jarecki
begin the first "I Have a Dream"® Project based in
a public housing development.
1998
"I Have a Dream"® assists Congress and the U.S. Department
of Education in crafting the GEAR UP programme, a federal replication
of the "I Have a Dream"® model.
2001
"I Have a Dream"® celebrates its 20th Anniversary.
Eugene Lang and CBS/60 Minutes are honoured; Cokie Roberts serves
as Master of Ceremonies and U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige
serves as Conference Keynote Speaker.
2003 - NEW ZEALAND
Scott and Mary Gilmour start the first “I Have a Dream”®
project outside of the U.S. Scott learned about IHAD while living
in Portland, Oregon, for 15 years in the 80’s and 90’s,
and carried the dream when he returned home. The IHAD Charitable
Trust begins with a Year 4
class at Wesley Primary School, a Decile 1 school in Mt Roskill,
Auckland, New Zealand.