Reaching for their Dreams

By Danielle Taylor

August 22, 2007 - When disadvantaged children fall behind in school, educators know it's often the result of an unstable situation at home. It's an especially vicious cycle for kids whose parents are in prison. Not only do they suffer academically, they're also likely to continue a pattern of intergenerational incarceration. But a Maryland-based non-profit is committed to giving at-risk students a shot at life beyond the bars.

The U.S. Dream Academy , based near Baltimore, Md., knows that “the children we don’t educate too often are the adults we incarcerate,” according to its website, and recognizes that the crime rate of children of prisoners is much higher than that of their peers because of an often fractured and volatile home life.

However, good mentors, a quiet place to read and do homework, and people who believe in them is often all these kids need to beat the odds. Eighty percent of prisoners never finished high school, so for many kids, a high school diploma serves as their ticket toward a different life.

When minister and gospel singer Wintley Phipps visited a prison to sing to the inmates, he was shocked to find his wife’s pregnant niece behind bars. He wondered about the future of his niece's child, and of the children of the other incarcerated parents who start out with many more obstacles than their peers. Sixty to 70 percent of children of prisoners end up behind bars themselves, and Phipps realized that unless at-risk kids were exposed to a different future, they would continue the cycle. In 1998 he founded the Dream Academy to introduce children to a different set of options.

Unlike many afterschool programs, the Dream Academy provides tutoring as well as mentoring services, and gets kids in touch with responsible adults who hang out with them, help them with homework, take them to places they wouldn’t otherwise see, and give them a different perspective on life to show them there’s more out there to dream and strive for.

“A lot of these kids have never been outside their own ZIP Code, let alone their city or state,” said Gary Ogden, director of programs. “We expand their horizons by showing them other options.” The program also gives kids access to computers and the Internet, a resource many don’t have at home.

A father of two who was incarcerated 17 years ago for bringing drugs into the community, but has since been released, is grateful for the program. He's now raising his children while their mother is in jail. He's also raising his sister's two children, and the whole brood comes to the Dream Academy every day. The father says he couldn’t do what he’s doing without the program, which provides the entire family with the support network they need.

“The kids really enjoy it,” said Executive Vice President Diane Booker. “We’ve gotten letters. One girl says she really realizes she can go to college.”

The program has proven successful in the lives of untold kids who have gone on to graduate from high school and college, get good jobs and become responsible citizens. Since 2001, approximately 2000 third through eighth grade kids have walked through its doors.

As their motto goes, “A child with a dream is a child with a chance.” And that’s the reality.

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