 Posted 6/12/2008 3:23:48 AM
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The ‘I have a dream’ foundation was formed to provide educational opportunities to kids from low income and high violence zones. Most of these kids end up dropping from school primarily due to lack of opportunities and unfavorable circumstances. The foundation adopts such kids and enables them to pursue their educational dreams.
The foundation was started accidentally by Eugene Lang, while addressing the parents and children of his inner city elementary school. As he faced the children at this high dropout rate school, he was inspired to tell them that he had a dream for each of them, and he spontaneously, committed to this class that any student who graduated from high school and qualified for college would be personally assisted by him to be assured the financial resources to pursue his or her college education.
This impulsive action resulted in a revolution that has lasted so many years and still continues to influence lives. The foundation was started in Dallas by Bill and late Elaine Farrell with the help of Eugene Lang. The first class of almost 1,000 sixth grade ‘Dallas Dreamers’ was adopted in May 1987, making Dallas the first city outside of New York to start an ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation program. The adoption of a second class of 1,000 ‘Dreamers’ was in 1988. In November 1990, Education Secretary Lauro Cavazos helped kick-off the adoption of eight new fourth grade classes into the Dallas program with Arthur Andersen, IBM, Bank of America (formerly Nations Bank) and Alcatel (formerly Rockwell International) as corporate sponsors. This tradition of adopting classes and ensuring proper education and development of the adopted dreamers continues today. Presently the organization is guided by the board members of IHAD-Dallas which has many dignitaries including David Disiere of the Deep South Surplus of Texas, Helen M. Dorsey, Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Inc. James W. Loose Galloway-James Inc. and others.
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