Seattle Foundation Grant

Despite the fact that over 80% of Dream Project participants (mentors and mentees) are the first in their families to attend college, are low-income, and/or from underrepresented or hidden populations, with the support of the Dream Project, they are now more likely to complete college than their more privileged peers.

In fall 2014, the Dream Project applied for and was awarded $39,000 from the Seattle Foundation’s Give Together for Higher Education grant. In this funding cycle, the Seattle Foundation was looking to give to organizations that provided wraparound support services to underserved populations in King County with a focus on supporting students on the path to completing a four year degree, two year degree or certificate program. For the Dream Project, this aligned perfectly with our work, as each year we partner over 850 passionate UW college students with low-income, first-generation students to support them as they all take important steps in their lives to secure their educational and economic futures. Not only does the Dream Project equip its mentors with extensive knowledge about college completion and dropout prevention to support the high school mentees, but it also practices cooperative advising among its undergraduates to ensure that they are emotionally and academically supported throughout their time at UW. All of these factors and more contribute to the fact that despite being statistically less likely to complete college, our mentees and mentors are now more likely to achieve their postsecondary goals than the rest of the students on their respective campuses.

On a personal note, the Dream Project has supported my own road to college completion and has supplemented my nonprofit management education by allowing me the opportunity to practice my grant writing. Not only have I gained an incredibly diverse and valuable set of skills, but also a family that has become my home-away-from-home, and I understand that when I graduate college, not only will the Dream Project be a part of my past, it will also be a part of my future.

Sincerely,
Megan Whitman