Mission

The Mission of the "I Have a Dream" Foundation is to motivate and empower children from low-income communities to reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring and enrichment and tuition assistance for higher education.

The goal of our maing program is to drive a comprehensive program that will help a group of 25-30 "Dreamers" from the Pisgah View Public Housing Community to become productive citizens by providing a long-term educational support program with an assured opportunity for further education beyond high school.

National History

The "I Have a Dream" movement began in 1981. As New York City businessman Eugene Lang prepared to address a group of graduating sixth graders at East Harlem Elementary, he was told that 75% of the students sitting before him were expected to drop out before graduating from high school. On the spot, Lang was moved to make an astonishing offer: he would pay the college tuition of every student who graduated from high school. Having made that promise, Lang mobilized a variety of people and resources to support the children through their school careers. He called his effort "I Have a Dream" (IHAD), and the P.S. 121 kids became dubbed Lang's "Dreamers". The National IHAD Foundation, founded in 1986 after a staggering 93% of the Dreamers successfully graduated from high school, has carried Eugene Lang's vision across the United States.  To date, there have been over 180 IHAD Projects in 64 cities, serving over 14,000 children.

Local History

When Asheville project founders Ken and Ida Brown saw a 60 minutes piece on the "I Have a Dream" Foundation in 2004, they were inspired to start the first project in North Carolina.  In September of 2006 they officially launched their sponsorship of 20 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students living in Pisgah View Public Housing Community.  

Five years later, some of our original 20 have moved across the county and some across the country. Some Dreamers have naturally had to phase out and new ones have phased in, placing us at a total of 30 active Dreamers. 

In the last five years, we also scooped up a few younger brother and sisters of our Dreamers so we are currently serving four grade levels. As of the 2011-2012 school year, they are between the 5th and 8th grades. 

Local Services 

 In School

• Follow up with teachers, coaches, and school administrators
• Classroom tutoring
  
• Helping to provide a link between school, home, and community
  

Daily After School Programming 

• Reading, Math, Science, and Art with tutors from the community and local colleges
  
• Technology
  
• Character development
  
• Health and Recreation
  
• Individual and group tutoring
  
• Community service
  
• Team-building
  
• Field trips
• Test preparation
• Healthy Snack

Summer Program includes all of the above for 6 weeks as well as local field trips Monday through Wednesday, Statewide field trips on Thursday, and Biking on Friday.

We conclude the Summer with service projects, visits to Theme Parks, and sleepovers before it's time to kick it into gear for the school year!