Founded in 1999, Dream A Dream empowers vulnerable children by developing life skills while at the same time sensitizing the community through active volunteering leading to a non-discriminatory society where unique differences are appreciated.
Children at Dream A Dream are deemed vulnerable becuase they may be orphans, former street children and other children from Bangalore slum communities. They are children whose basic needs (such as food, shelter and basic eduction) are being met by Dream A Dream partner NGOs - but who run a high risk of falling back into cycles of poverty or life on the streets.
Through Dream A Dream's life skills programs, including team sports, creative arts, adventure camps and civic awareness, children learn the communication skills, confidence, teamwork, problem-solving and initiative that they need to succeed in overcoming discrimination and other barriers to success.
Dream A Dream is a professional NGO currently reaching out to 1,000 vulnerable children in Bangalore with the support of nearly 700 volunteers.
All Dream A Dream programs are run from a small office in Bangalore with programming and operational decsions amde by a highly experienced management team with oversight from the Board of Trustees. Dream A Dream also has a three-year strategic plan in place which outlines strategies for program scaling, volunteer management and financial sustainability until 2010.
Funding for Dream A Dream's programs comes from a variety of sources including individuals who support donation appeals and annual fundraising events (such as the Mumbai Marathon) as well as from funding institutions incluing Youth Reach and The Global Fund for Children and corpotae partners such as Nortel, Logica and Convergys.
Dream A Dream is accredited by the Credibility Alliance as complying with national accountability, transparency and reporting standards and is also one of only 100 NGOs in India that meet the credibility norms set-up by GiveIndia. Dream A Dream was alos the Regional Winner (small category) at the 2007 NGO Awards hosted by the Resource Alliance and The Nand and Khemka Foundation.
