"I Have a Dream Foundation" Los Angeles Chapter Names Katy Garretson
as Executive Director - Click here for Press Release
The 14th Annual Dreamer Brunch wasa huge success!
Click here for Press Release
Thank you for your interest in our efforts to help children become productive citizens and obtain their dream of a higher education. "I Have a Dream" Los Angeles adopts an entire class of elementary students in a low performing school in an economically disadvantaged area and provides a long term program of academic enhancement, mentoring, and cultural enrichment. Our program is effective because it occurs early and is extremely comprehensive and virtually continuous from the day we adopt them until they graduate from high school.
This past year we celebrated the graduation of our class in Pasadena in which 80% of the 51 Dreamers with whom we remained in contact with graduated from high school. We expect another 18% to graduate, increasing this success to 98%. In addition, 35 Dreamers (69%) are currently attending either four-year public/private universities or community colleges. Congratulations to all of our Pasadena Dreamers!
This website is a great resource to learn about our projects, our Dreamers and how we make a difference in the lives of hundreds of underprivileged youth in Los Angeles. As you learn about our mission, program model, and "meet" some of our Dreamers, we hope that you will get involved with "I Have a Dream" as a mentor or volunteer or make a financial contribution to ensure the program’s long term success.
The "I Have a Dream" Foundation began in 1981 when New York businessman Eugene Lang was invited to address a group of graduating sixth graders at the East Harlem elementary school he attended as a child. Before he took the podium, he was told that 75% of the children sitting before him would drop out of school before high school graduation. That figure so alarmed him that he offered to pay the college tuition of every student who graduated. This led to the formation of the Foundation, which has expanded across the country to serve over 15,000 Dreamers.
"I Have a Dream" Foundation—Los Angeles, founded by the Whittier Family Foundations, has provided over 22 years of service to nearly 1,000 children in Los Angeles County. Classes are chosen from Title 1 schools, where the majority of students meet the federal guidelines for poverty, perform below expectations academically, and typically experience stress and violence in their communities.
Current classes of Dreamers include 47 fourth grade and 91 fifth grade students in Inglewood, 149 tenth grade students in Boyle Heights, and 60 students in Pasadena, most of whom are in college.
In 2012 another class of Dreamers, our 18th project, will be adopted in Los Angeles. We are completing the funding, $1.6 million, and we are well on the way to achieving our goal thanks to the support of many generous donors.
For more information on how you can help invest in our children today so that together we can build a better tomorrow, please contact our Operations Manager, Kim Robinson at kim@ihadla.org, or (213) 572-0175.