Organization: I Have A Dream Foundation - Colorado
Mission: We remove barriers to academic success for under served youth by providing social & emotional support, and academic support, and parent engagement to increase graduation rates and post-secondary pursuits.
Activities: Colorado "I Have a Dream" Foundation (CIHAD) was founded in 1988 to address the deepand persistent inequities in our state's educational system that left children living in marginalized communities with the fewest resources to achieve their dreams. Almost all published research over the past three decades has pointed to the link between childhood poverty and low educational achievement; what researchers have disagreed on is how to address this challenge. We contend that when children from marginalized communities have equal access to the same high-quality education and related social support afforded their more affluent peers, they too can succeed. CIHAD's whole child, whole family model offers youth and their families year-round, wrap-around supports.These supports include extended learning programs (after-school/summer), small groupand one-on-one mental health and social-emotional supports and interventions, andsupport services (e.g., food pantry, mental health supports, resource connections for basic needs, workforce readiness classes) for families when requested. During the 2019-20 school year, we worked with 208 students, grades 1-6, in our extended learning program, 122 students in our mental health and social-emotional support program, and over 300 families through our resource connections for basic needs. Additionally, we continue to provide support to our 143 students who are on a post-secondary path towards a sustainable career.
NTEE category: Education
Secondary category: Youth Development