Las Vegas Non-Profit - "I Have a Dream" Foundation, Raising Money to Deliver an 81% Graduation Rate to the Community
Las Vegas, NV, July 29, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Fifteen years after sponsoring a group of young at-risk students at Walter Bracken Elementary School, the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation is delivering an 81% high school graduation rate to the Las Vegas community – a stark contrast to the 21% of at-risk students who graduate from high school locally (the Clark County School District ranks 50th in the nation for education), and 28% nationally.
With less than two years to go before the youngest of the program’s students (known as “Dreamers”) are due to graduate, “I Have a Dream”® is launching the “81” Campaign in order to secure the financial resources needed to sustain its 81% graduation rate and fulfill its long-term commitment to the Dreamers, which includes providing educational support through high school and beyond.
Lindsay Harper, Executive Director for the “I Have a Dream” Foundation’s Las Vegas Chapter, says that the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation’s model of providing long-term counseling, mentoring and educational enrichment is unique in that it supports a relatively small group of children but over a long period of time. “Ensuring a child’s academic success is a marathon, not a sprint. Especially if the child faces learning disabilities, economic hardship, and situational challenges at home—as all our Dreamers do. We walk side by side with the kids in our program from elementary school until they graduate from high school, because they need our support every step of the way.”
The youngest local Dreamers will be graduating high school in June 2012. In order to complete programming and continue to support the 33 Dreamers currently in college and vocational programs, the ”I Have a Dream”® Foundation must raise $300,000 or sunset the Foundation early.
Harper says that is why, after 15 years, the organization is making its first broad-based appeal to the community for support. “We have been very fortunate to have a small but committed group of funders and volunteers willing to make a long-term investment in these kids. But we are going to fall short of what we need to honor our promise to this class of Dreamers unless we can bring in some new partners to help get us across the finish line.”
By supporting the “81” Campaign, members of the community will enable the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation to continue providing its unique and proven programming to the 61 at-risk youth it has served since 1996, when it began following them on their journey through elementary, junior high, high school and higher education.
Julie Murray is one of the founders of the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation’s Las Vegas Chapter and still serves on its Board of Directors. She believes that making a donation to the “81” Campaign can have a direct and meaningful impact on the future of education.
“So much of what we hear about the state of education is negative and discouraging. I truly believe that the 'I Have a Dream' Foundation offers a solution to some of the educational problems our community and country are facing. In May our first Dreamer graduated from college! When I first met this young lady back in 1996, she was a third grader living at Bud Weeks Plaza. She had big dreams, but the odds were against her. Today she is a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from Hillsdale College in Michigan. Her dream is to come home, to Las Vegas, and make a positive difference in the lives of other disadvantaged children.”
For more information about the Dreamers and the “81” Campaign, visit www.ihaveadreamlasvegas.org
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With less than two years to go before the youngest of the program’s students (known as “Dreamers”) are due to graduate, “I Have a Dream”® is launching the “81” Campaign in order to secure the financial resources needed to sustain its 81% graduation rate and fulfill its long-term commitment to the Dreamers, which includes providing educational support through high school and beyond.
Lindsay Harper, Executive Director for the “I Have a Dream” Foundation’s Las Vegas Chapter, says that the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation’s model of providing long-term counseling, mentoring and educational enrichment is unique in that it supports a relatively small group of children but over a long period of time. “Ensuring a child’s academic success is a marathon, not a sprint. Especially if the child faces learning disabilities, economic hardship, and situational challenges at home—as all our Dreamers do. We walk side by side with the kids in our program from elementary school until they graduate from high school, because they need our support every step of the way.”
The youngest local Dreamers will be graduating high school in June 2012. In order to complete programming and continue to support the 33 Dreamers currently in college and vocational programs, the ”I Have a Dream”® Foundation must raise $300,000 or sunset the Foundation early.
Harper says that is why, after 15 years, the organization is making its first broad-based appeal to the community for support. “We have been very fortunate to have a small but committed group of funders and volunteers willing to make a long-term investment in these kids. But we are going to fall short of what we need to honor our promise to this class of Dreamers unless we can bring in some new partners to help get us across the finish line.”
By supporting the “81” Campaign, members of the community will enable the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation to continue providing its unique and proven programming to the 61 at-risk youth it has served since 1996, when it began following them on their journey through elementary, junior high, high school and higher education.
Julie Murray is one of the founders of the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation’s Las Vegas Chapter and still serves on its Board of Directors. She believes that making a donation to the “81” Campaign can have a direct and meaningful impact on the future of education.
“So much of what we hear about the state of education is negative and discouraging. I truly believe that the 'I Have a Dream' Foundation offers a solution to some of the educational problems our community and country are facing. In May our first Dreamer graduated from college! When I first met this young lady back in 1996, she was a third grader living at Bud Weeks Plaza. She had big dreams, but the odds were against her. Today she is a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from Hillsdale College in Michigan. Her dream is to come home, to Las Vegas, and make a positive difference in the lives of other disadvantaged children.”
For more information about the Dreamers and the “81” Campaign, visit www.ihaveadreamlasvegas.org
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Contact
Lindsay Harper
702-994-0747
www.ihaveadreamlasvegas.org
702-994-0747
www.ihaveadreamlasvegas.org
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