When Settlement Housing Fund acquired two housing projects on Gates Avenue in Brooklyn, we noticed a large number of out-of-school, out-of-work young adults in the surrounding area.  We worked with the local community to create a program called DREAMS (Dedicated, Responsible, Educated, Accountable, Motivated and Self-Sufficient) that would encourage these young people to resume their education and gain the skills they would need to obtain employment.  The program also provides wrap-around social, psychological, and childcare services to help participants overcome obstacles of poverty that may have originally derailed them. 

The program opened in 2007 with 19 participants in attendance, and in 2008 received support from the U.S. Department of Labor to include a YouthBuild component, giving participants additional on-site, paid skills training in the construction field.   Since DREAMS began, it has successfully enrolled over 300 young adults, of whom 66 received their GEDs, 16 entered colleges, and 39 obtained job placements.  The program was also recognized by the Department of Labor with a second YouthBuild grant last year.  Since we began Youthbuild, 101 of our DREAMS students have enrolled in the program, 51 of them have been OSHA authorized, and 69 apartments have been renovated by the team. 

This year, another 30 students graduated DREAMS/Youthbuild, which we relocated to our permanent affordable housing development in Crown Heights. This space includes two new classrooms, a testing and assessment area, a resource library, lunchroom, student college access and resource center, and confidential office space for individualized counseling.

Current funding for this program has been provided by the Brooklyn Community Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Ditashiah Kohn, Director

www.dreamsyouthbuildged.com

DREAMS/YouthBuild
1604 St. John's Place, Suite 1C

Brooklyn, NY  11233
718.455.4308