Our Progams | I Am A Dreamer

Our Programs

I Am A Dreamer Foundation believes in quality over quantity. In the long-term commitment over short-term fixes. That education can break the shackles of poverty. That every child deserves an opportunity to succeed and in giving second chances first. We believe that impact is measured in years and that we can do more good by helping a small number of kids over the long haul than many in the short term. We say our approach to making positive change measures an inch wide, but a mile deep.
So what is The Edge, really? The edge is the beginning or the beginning of the end. It’s a tightrope without a net. A tug of war stretched between good and bad. One misstep or missed opportunity can be all it takes to keep a child in the all-too-familiar world they are trying to escape. I Am A Dreamer Foundation exists to help navigate The Edge. We help them walk its treacherous path, giving them the support they need to make smart choices, stay in school and ultimately graduate and become the better citizens of this Country, of Africa and the World.

After School Enrichment Program

"Enriching Education through Exciting Experiences and Exploration"
This program provides academic and social support for all students under our program and addresses academics, life and leadership skills, violence prevention, nutrition, mentoring, recreation, socialization, service learning, and parent involvement. This program gives children an opportunity to discover and develop their talents, creativity, while keeping them positively engaged and off the streets.
The After School Program provides a warm, caring environment beyond school hours where children have the opportunity to play with school friends and get homework out of the way before the family sits down to dinner. ASEP offers exciting activities which stimulate children to be healthier and happier, including sports, art activities and computer exploration. After School Program utilize age-appropriate materials and equipment for students. From the media center to the playground, students spend out-of-school hours in safe and stimulating environments. Using a curriculum correlated with the Common Core and Essential Standards, ASEP Site Coordinators, and administrators work together to ensure their ASEP programs supplement the learning taking place during the school day.

Life Skills, Leadership and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education Programs

“Dream. Believe. Achieve.”
Programs developing leadership and life skills transform people from those in need into those who not only help themselves but also others around them. By enabling children to see the worth and strength in themselves, these programs empower children to discover and define their identities as complete, healthy individuals. These healthy attitudes also make these children the most effective agents of change in their families and communities – agents who can transform their toxic environments rather than just cope with them. Moreover, these programs offer young people the opportunity to learn important life skills from positive mentors while having fun. Life skill program is a comprehensive behavior change approach that concentrates on the development of life management skills such as communication, decision-making, thinking, managing emotions, assertiveness, and building self-esteem and confidence (mainly for children, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS).

Child Monitoring Program

Child monitoring is the process of following the growth rate, health behavior, performance at school, and other elements of a child in order to assess the adequacy and identify faltering early. In this program, the foundation seeks to address the multiple causal factors impacting on a child’s growth and development. It takes the periodic (monthly) visits of a child and classification of the child’s progress (at home and at school) and use it not only to make decisions regarding the child’s care at home or the need for medical attention, but also to stimulate activities in the community, or program to improve the child’s growth-enabling environment. Regular monitoring of child development provides a framework for linking children and families with a wide range of services and also serves as a means to determine which services are needed for individual children and families.

Nutritional Support Programs:

Kids Meal (Soup Kitchen) Program
Serves fresh food every day from 3-4pm Supper, educates young people about healthy foods, the importance of a good diet and daily exercise, and basic food prep skills.

Food Parcel Distribution
Our program provides food parcel distribution for impoverished families on a monthly basis.

Gardening
At I Am A Dreamer Foundation, we encourage food gardening to our beneficiaries. We encourage caregivers to start home gardens and skills to grow their own. The foundation provides training to the caregivers on food gardening and they are provided with seeds after each training.

Economic Empowerment and Livelihood program

I Am A Dreamer Foundation will train the OVCs’ caretakers in small–scale business management, entrepreneurship and savings to ensure that income-generating activities (IGAs) are viable and the proceedings are directed to supporting the OVCs. The organization will also provide group development and operation skills for those carrying out their IGA as a group. To enhance the sustainability of the IGAs, I Am A Dreamer Foundation will promote a saving culture and economic use of limited resources among OVCs and their caretakers. Most OVC caretakers face the challenge of a sustainable income due to their dependence on subsistence farming where outputs are very low. They are not initially involved in IGAs because of their lack of startup capital. Consequently, most parents die without leaving anything for OVCs to survive on.

Counseling and Psychosocial Support program

Because there is a lack of proper infrastructure in township areas, counseling and psychosocial support services are primarily located in urban-based communities. Consequently, township OVCs and caretakers do not have access to such services. Additionally, fear of community rejection has kept many people living with HIV/AIDS from seeking help. The psychological impacts of OVCs seeing their parents suffering and dying in pain often results in depression, guilt, anger, and fear. I Am A Dreamer Foundation will mobilize the caretakers and beneficiaries and bring external counselors to provide monthly counseling services so that beneficiaries are able to better cope up with their current situations.

From Boys To Men Mentoring Program

“It is easier to build strong boys than it is to repair broken men”. —Fredrick Douglas.
The Mission of From Boys to Men Mentoring Program (FBMM) is to reduce interpersonal violence, specifically male violence against women and girls, and support the development of emotionally fluent, civically-engaged boys. From Boys to Men Mentoring Program (FBMM) addresses the development of boys in the context of their relationships, socialization process, and cultural environments. Boys are bombarded by narrow, confusing, and often destructive messages about masculinity beginning at very early ages. We believe it is not the boys, but rather the culture in which they live and grow, that is in need of repair. While holding boys and men to a higher degree of individual accountability, we also put an appropriate level of focus on the environment—families, schools, community organizations, and peer culture—as the key agents of change in the lives of boys.

Girl Talk – Mentoring Program

“Breaking Down Walls. Building Up Futures”
Girl Talk empowers girls to become their best selves by reducing the likelihood of teen pregnancy and helping them to advance educationally. Our vision is that in every neighbourhood globally, there is a Girl’s Circle, where girls circle with trained mentors to learn the skills and knowledge needed for their journey toward womanhood. Where girls learn to care for – and ultimately, take responsibility for – their physical, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. Where girls discover their confidence, perceptiveness, assertiveness, strength, integrity and the natural wisdom of their bodies.

Community Nutrition and Development Centre

The centre has become responsive to many illnesses that emanated from the community as a result of malnutrition, the centre has introduced a nutrition programme that sees to it that the vulnerable and poor are fed nutritional food daily with an aim to audit skills that the beneficiaries possess, and the centre through its skills development programme enrolls the beneficiaries and places them into income generating programmes. The programme feeds a total of 300 beneficiaries on a daily basis, majority of these beneficiaries are on chronic medication and the meals assist them to consume their medication.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

Technology is rapidly shaping the future, and yet, many young people in underserved communities lack access to digital skills training. At I Am A Dreamer Foundation, we believe that no dream should be limited by digital illiteracy.

The DreamHub ICT Program is designed to equip young learners with foundational computer skills, digital literacy, and problem-solving abilities, ensuring that they are future-ready for both educational and employment opportunities in the digital world.

Our program provides a structured, hands-on curriculum covering:

Digital Literacy & Computer Basics – From turning on a computer to using the internet safely
Microsoft Office Proficiency – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more
Introduction to Coding & Robotics – Problem-solving through block-based and Python coding
Career Development in ICT – Exploring opportunities in tech and digital innovation

We are not just teaching skills; we are creating opportunities for young people to pursue higher education, access employment, and become innovators in their communities.