Ice Cream for a Dream has been on the move for another successful summer of exchanging ice cream for dreams.  It has been good fun hearing all the dreams from the individuals that come up to the truck.  We have continued our collaboration with Mega Education to visit all 10 Hartford Public Libraries and we have develop a new relationship with Blue Hills Civic Association combining a version of The Dream Chaser Program and Ice Cream for a Dream.  Youth involved in Summer Youth Employment have helped out a lot and had the experience of hearing and supporting other individual's dreams and they LOVE it!  Check out a few pictures from our most recent Ice Cream for a Dream events below.  On another note, the Ice Cream for a Dream truck is on its last leg and we are going to create a fundraiser to get a new one.  Stay tuned!

Since December 2015, Dreams Empower, Inc. with sponsorship from the BSL Educational Foundation has conducted a monthly Dream Chasers Workshop , Dream Chaser Speaker Series and Dream Consultations.  Each month, we met with 20 students making a final total of 120 students served.  Special thanks goes to Erin Grant and the rest of the East Hartford High team for the internal support and Kevin Booker, Avery Gaddis, Elbert Gray, Sasha Allen, Dayeshell Muhammad and Anthony Griffin for sharing you success tips with the students.  We look forward to returning next year for a bigger and better program.  We wrapped up the program with Ice Cream for a Dream.

The 2015-2016 Dream Chaser Program ended with a awesome trip to Boston.  We received a tour of Harvard University by John Van Allen a Hartford Youth Scholar alumni currently attending Harvard.  After the tour of Harvard, we met up with a friend and Hartford legend who moved to Boston, Luis Cotto for lunch at AARMP art gallery.  Hakim shared his journey to his dream as a photographer and the Dream Chasers viewed the gallery after eating burritos.  The day ended at the Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians baseball game.  What a day!  Thank-you to the Hartford Youth Scholars and Legacy Foundation for collaborating with us to make this year a success.  Also, we would not have been able to make the impact on the dreams of these young people without the support of the Asofsky Foundation, Thank-you Ethan for believing in our dream!

On Saturday,  April 24, 2016 the Dream Chasers from the Legacy Foundation and Hartford Youth Scholars visited the Wilderness School for a day of team building, ropes course and adventure.  The day began with a few ice breakers and then the groups were split up to do the "Flying Squirrel and Macy's Day Parade" Initiatives.  The kids were supportive and willing to take risk.  After lunch, we were over to the tandem ropes course where the participants some of the participants completed "Giant's Ladder" and a rope bridge.  The Dream Chasers challenged themselves, pushed beyond their fears and learned that sometimes an individual has to take risk and face their fears in order to achieve their dreams.  Check out some pictures below from our day.

Next up: Trip to Boston to visit Harvard and go to a Red Sox game.

On January 27, 2016 we took the Dream Chaser participants from The Legacy Foundation to visit the Yale Robotics Lab.  We learned about four different robots and some of the engineering, science and math that goes in to making the robots work.  The Dream Chaser asked many great questions and were able to interact with the robots.

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 the participants from the Hartford Youth Scholars side of The Dream Chaser Program visited ESPN.  The day started off with a motivational talk from retired NFL player, Lou Riddick followed by a tour of the ESPN campus.