our mission
Empowering Youth & Families
Our Dreamers and Families
Providing individualized and holistic support to our Dreamers and their families to promote thriving.
Mission
The “I Have A Dream” Foundation - Milwaukee (IHDF) Mission is to empower students from historically marginalized communities to thrive at school, at home, and in the community by providing individualized social, emotional, academic, and family support from first grade to first job, along with guaranteed post-secondary tuition assistance.
Vision
Our dream is a world where every child has equal access to the educational and career opportunities that will ignite their innate potential.
Values
Integrity. Adaptability. Community. Partnership. Well-being.
Stretching Further
With sponsorship from Barry Mandel of the Mandel Group, in the 2022-23 school-year “I Have A Dream” Foundation-Milwaukee (IHDF-MKE) launched a new cohort in partnership with the Milwaukee Academy of Science (MAS) school, with intensive and intentional focus on supporting “Dreamers” (youth served by “I Have A Dream” Foundation) through IHDF’s 6 service pillars:
Mentoring & Support Networks
Family Partnership & Engagement
Academic and Enrichment Support
Social Emotional Learning & Life Skills
Postsecondary Preparation and Support
Civic Leadership and Engagement
We also support their families, through intergenerational wrap-around efforts to help bridge equity and resource gaps, and promote stability, well-being, and thriving.
Two-Generational Strategy for Success
Our two-generational (2Gen) approach is designed to provide both youth and their families with the necessary encouragement, support, access, and resources to succeed academically, socially, and economically. By integrating long-term wrap-around support, we strive to bridge equity and resource gaps, promoting stability and well-being that extends from 1st grade through to post-secondary education and the transition into the workforce.
Our History
“An impulsive move on the part of one visionary man sparked a national movement to positively impact the lives of children in low-income communities from coast to coast…”
Our National Roots
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IHDF-MKE is an affiliate of a national program started in 1981 by businessman Eugene M. Lang, who returned to P.S. 121, the elementary school he had attended in East Harlem 50 years earlier, to address a graduating class of sixth graders. On the way to the podium, the school principal told Lang that three-quarters of the school’s students would probably never finish high school, prompting Lang to make an impromptu change to his speech: he promised college tuition to every sixth grader who stayed in high school and graduated.
Recognizing his Dreamers needed support, he hired staff and enlisted the support of a local community-based organization to provide services and support to the children through high school graduation. Of the 54 original Dreamers who remain in contact with the organization, more than 90% have earned their high school diplomas or GED certificates; and 60% have pursued higher education. Since then, over 200 “I Have A Dream” programs have operated in 28 states, Washington, D.C., and New Zealand, together serving 18,000 Dreamers.
While inspired by this original model and aligned with our national affiliate, IHDF-MKE operates as a separate 501c3 nonprofit entirely devoted to our Milwaukee cohort.