I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION OF MIAMI
I Have A Dream Foundation – Miami – Making a dreams come true for over 20 years!
The I Have a Dream program was launched in 1981, when founder Eugene Lang returned to his alma mater, PS. 121 in East Harlem, to address the graduating sixth-grade class. When he learned that three-quarters of the school’s students would probably drop out of school, Lang promised college tuition to every sixth grader who graduated from high school.
The results were truly amazing. 90% of those sixth graders graduated from high school and 60% went to college. This remarkable accomplishment led to the creation of the I Have a Dream Foundation, which consists of 200 affiliates across the United States, and one in New Zealand. Within those 200 affiliates, there are 65 current cohorts serving more than 18,000 Dreamers in 30 U.S. cities.
The Miami chapter was founded in 1995 by Stephanie and Jules Trump (no relation to Donald Trump). The foundation adopted the entire second-grade class (97 Dreamers) at the Charles R. Drew School in Liberty City. 95 Dreamers reached the twelfth grade, 83 of them graduated in 2005 on time and, 54 graduated college and several are currently enrolled in higher education. In a community where the average income is $11,000, 1 out of 4 children is arrested by the age of 16, teenage pregnancy is prevalent and the graduation rate of less than 25%, the “ I Have a Dream” Miami program has helped defy these odds. These Dreamers have proven that just because one is born into poverty, does not mean that one cannot succeed if only given the opportunity to.
In August of 2007, we started a new class of Dreamers at Hibiscus Elementary School; the class of 2020. We have promised all 97 children the same opportunities as the class of 2005.
I Have A Dream” Foundation is the only not for profit in America that works with lower-income children from Kindergarten with unbroken, year-round support through College.