The Children We Serve

What Makes "I Have a Dream"® Unique

Starting an "I Have a Dream"® Project

History

Results of the "I Have a Dream"® Programme

Project locations

What Makes “I Have a Dream”® Unique

"I Have a Dream"® Projects work long-term and year-round with the same group of Dreamers, from primary school through university, offering them a coordinated array of supports and services that reach into every area of a child's life. It is above all the personal connections between Dreamers and their Sponsors, Project Coordinators and
mentors that are critical to the success of "I Have a Dream"® Projects.

The IHAD programme is flexible, and is intended be tailored to suit the particular needs of the communities where its Projects operate. The IHAD programme balances supports with challenges, encouraging Dreamers to set high expectations for themselves, but also permitting them to make mistakes and still remain in the programme. "Once a Dreamer, always a Dreamer" is the rule.

An "I Have a Dream"® Project brings the energy and resources of many people and organisations to bear on the challenge of helping 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 programme management. Community-based organizations, schools, universities, 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.

It is the wealth of services and resources "I Have a Dream"® Projects provide, in combination with the one-on-one relationships between Dreamers and key adults in the programme, that make IHAD uniquely successful. Its successes have made "I Have a Dream"® the model for hundreds of educational support initiatives, both public and private. New York's Liberty Partnership Program is a state-funded programme based on the "I Have a Dream"® model.

A current US federal programme, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), is also modeled after "I Have a Dream."® IHAD's impact has, therefore, benefited the lives of many more thousands of children than the 13,000-plus Dreamers who have directly participated in its own programmes.