Dreams Foundation meets unmet expectation

Our Mission, as an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) Public Charity, is to meet the unmet dreams and aspirations of individuals, families, neighborhood churches, people-serving agencies and organizations, recognized charities, boys and girls clubs, and youth sports programs in communities; recognizing that upon meeting these needs there will be benefits in the lives of those served by these programs.

Dreams Foundation, Inc. (DFI) is approved to provide discretionary “Humanitarian Awards” to individuals, families, organizations and churches for special circumstances the Board recognizes as unique and challenging and that have special merit.

DFI established a “Client Services Agreement” with Home Depot enabling us to conduct “charitable-assist” activities at two local branches of Home Depot, and at the site of the South Reno United Methodist Church where DFI was able to buy the soil preparation materials, seeds and live starter plants for the church’s community fruit and vegetable garden. Once harvested, the produce was used in several northern Nevada communities to feed thousands of needy families over a four-month period.

DFI performed a planned “Community Work Project” to the Women & Children’s Center of the Sierra. This activity involved the cleaning and custom painting of over 5,200 square feet of storage shelving at this community services agency, also a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. An excerpt of a portion of their letter of thanks reads: “It’s difficult to say how many lives will be touched because of your kindness and generosity. I do have faith that there will be many ... and even more whom we’ll never know about. This is incredibly awesome and a definite credit to the work of the Dreams Foundation, Inc. Thank you!”

DFI supported a portion of the initial funding for a Veteran Dental Services Program. DFI is philosophically dedicated to support health and social services for our military veterans, and DFI donated funds to a community-based program that provides free and low-cost dental care to military veterans in northern Nevada. This isn’t a matter of filling cavities, though this is included, but goes as far as providing sometimes life-saving dental care to military veterans who otherwise have no dental care coverage. After a couple of preliminary meetings, the DFI Board was enthusiastic about helping the Adopt-a-Vet Dental Program, alongside the Nevada Dental Association, Susanne and Gloria Young Foundation, and the Vietnam Veterans of America/Reno and Carson City.

DFI supported the emerging Veteran Outreach Services Program to support health and social services for our military veterans headed by a Veterans Outreach Advocate for military veterans. The outreach program was conducted throughout northern Nevada, but principally in the city of Reno, and was targeted to meet the local transportation needs of 60 veterans living in the Carville Park Apartments in downtown area. The Adopt-a-Vet Dental & Outreach Programs operate under the auspices of 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations.

DFI empowers responsible volunteers to work with grocery stores and Costco Wholesale stores to provide food products for distribution to residents in homeless camps, and local “soup kitchens” as part of DFI’s commitment to Community Homeless and Feeding Programs. One such outreach with donated food happened in the Spring of 2014 with Costco providing the food for a downtown feeding outreach conducted by volunteers, along the banks of the Truckee River that runs through town. We believe feeding the hungry, adult and child at no cost to them is at the heart of human service, and critical to a Public Charity’s commitment to the communities it serves!

DFI is invested in Senior Citizen Feeding Programs by working with a number of senior centers providing visitation, social (as opposed to clinical) counseling, and in one case in particular, DFI financed a six-month program of “senior meal nights” at a local mobile home park wherein the vast majority of residents were seniors on fixed budgets, with many of the seniors enrolled in publicly-financed social service programs. The evening meals were scheduled on mild weather Wednesday evenings in the fall. We find that many seniors in these older mobile home parks are genuinely a “public” in need, and our meals were well received.

Other recent donation recipients include the Solace Tree and the GI Dogs program, which pairs veterans with pets who need homes.

For more on The Dreams Foundation, visit www.dreamsfoundationinc.com.