Dreams for Kids

 Last night was another insanely powerful Dream Leaders workshop at the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education (ICRE).  The students enrolled in our Dream Leaders program at ICRE have a lot on their plate.  Not only do they have disabilities that create constant obstacles for them, but they now have the pending Illinois budget cuts looming over their heads, a decision that could potentially shut down the facility that provides them with housing, food, life-skills training, and most importantly, community.  Despite all these personal struggles, the sentiment in our workshop last night was not one of self-pity, but rather one of great pride.  Through the Dream Leaders program, the students at ICRE have planned a series of fundraisers to send wheelchairs to children overseas.  Last night, for the first time, they got to see pictures of kids in far away countries whose lives were greatly altered by the gift of mobility.  Each student in our workshop received a picture of a child similar to the ones they will be helping.  As the pictures sat on their wheelchair trays you could watch their faces literally transform one by one.  In that moment, it was no longer about their obstacles, it was about what they had to give.
 
“Think about how much we raised at our first bake sale, and that was only selling to people here at ICRE,” Carrie, one of the Dream Leaders announced. “Imagine what we can do, if we actually passed out flyers and got more people to come this time!”
 
“I could get my mama to come,” offered Shamique.
 
“And I could invite the people I work with over at the other ICRE facility,” Ashley realized.
 
“And I have an internship downtown, so maybe I could sell some of the bake goods there,” said Bobby.
 
And suddenly their world so often filled with limitations, was filled with possibilities, filled with giving, filled with hope.