Festival of Children Foundation:

In past years, The Possible Dream has brought unprecedented results for many of the recipient charities that received partial or full funding of the dreams they presented to us. Read on...

Canyon Acres Children and Family Services
The Possible Dream has changed the lives of many children mired in the foster care and group home system. Through the use of newly-available technology, as well as cutting-edge clinical methods, Canyon Acres was able to locate hundreds of long-lost family members for these special children. The funding from the Possible Dream made a new future possible for kids who previously had lost all hope.

Canyon Acres was able to provide services to over 50 children, and in the process located over 600 family members. Canyon Acres brought children to meet family members all across the United States, with reunions occurring on a regular basis. Family members who oftentimes were unaware of the desperate plight of the youth welcomed them back into the families they had been hoping for.

“The Possible Dream certainly made dreams come true for children served by Canyon Acres' Creating Family Connections Program. Lives were changed in an instant when children learned they actually had family members out there who care about them. The stories of children finally getting what they have wanted and deserved for so long, have touched us all and inspired us to continue our work in caring for Orange County's abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children.”

Clete Menke
President

CASA of Orange County
With more than 2,500 children in Orange County’s foster care system and over 170 children on CASA’s waiting list, their Possible Dream was to provide more children with caring mentor-advocate volunteers to give them a voice.

Thanks to the support of the Possible Dream, CASA was able to exceed their goal of serving 780 abused and neglected children, and provide dedicated community volunteers for 818 highly at-risk children and teens. Funding from The Possible Dream directly supported 30 of these additional children. For these children, a CASA volunteer is often the only consistent adult in their life and with the current state and county budget cuts, the need for the individualized attention and advocacy of a mentor-advocate continues to grow.

“The Possible Dream program has not only provided the financial support we needed to expand our service to more hurting children in the foster care system, but it has also helped CASA share our dream with the entire community.”

Erin Mischak
Director of Development

Girls Incorporated of Orange County
Girls Inc. in partnership with Human Options created Girls emPOWERed. It is the dream of both organizations to give girls a brighter future by helping them to become self sufficient, achieve educational and life goals, and live safely. To accomplish these goals, this collaborative project offered self-sufficiency/life skills training and anti-violence programming.

With the grant awarded by The Possible Dream, an additional one hundred girls in the Human Options shelter/transitional housing category, ages 5 to 18 were able to attend the Girls empowered program. Program sites included our Girls Inc. Center in Costa Mesa, the campus of Orange Coast College, five Newport Mesa elementary schools, Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, Beckman High School in Irvine and El Viento in Huntington Beach.

“Knowing that we have been able to touch the lives of girls who otherwise would not have been a part of Girls Inc. has been extremely meaningful for us. Empowering these girls to make healthy & safe choices, enriching their lives with positive experiences, and giving them the skills they need to become self sufficient young women has helped this dream become POSSIBLE!”

Kimberly Harnish
Elementary Programs Coordinator

Children’s Bureau - Believe in Sobriety (BIS) Kids
Children’s Bureau’s Possible Dream consisted of providing substance abuse prevention services to children as addiction affects the lives of more children than any other disease in America today. The Possible Dream grant enabled has enabled Children’s Bureau to offer the Believe in Sobriety (BIS) Kids program at each of their four Family Resource Centers.

The BIS Kids program provides a safe and supportive environment where children can explore feelings they are otherwise unable to express. The children who attended the 2-day Workshop learned that addiction is a disease and that there is help available to people that are addicted—if they ask for help. The children who participated in BIS Kids learned a variety of problem solving, coping and self care strategies. As of November 18, 2009 72 children and 154 families have participated in the two-day BIS Kids program.

“Without The Possible Dream Program we would not have been able to provide the BIS Kids Program, free of charge, to at-risk families at our Family Resource Centers in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Lake Forest.”

Michele Essex, M.A.
Program Manager

Kids Konnected Orange County
Kids Konnected facilitates support groups so families know they are not alone in their journey through the parent’s cancer reducing the negative psychological effects that children experience when they witness the illness and in many cases death of a parent.

Thanks to the financial support of the Possible Dream, Kids Konnected experienced an overall 10% increase in attendance of all support groups in all locations in Orange reaching 65 unduplicated families representing 144 children and teens. Kids Konnected has now been able to expand support group locations to Brea, Orange, Santa Ana, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano collaborating with the Boys and Girls Club.

After 6 months of regular attendance in a support group, children reported a 25% to 30% decrease in feelings of sadness, discouragement, low self-esteem, nervousness, fear and stress.

“During these tough economic times, the Possible Dreams grant enabled Kids Konnected to continue providing “cost free” counseling to a greater number of children and teens trying to cope with their parents cancer. Our dream of reaching more families could not have been obtained without the support of the Season of Caring presents The Possible Dream.”

Dave Peters II
Executive Director

United Cerebral Palsy of Orange County
The Possible Dream grant has allowed us to equip our center with additional specialized therapy equipment and providing more therapy assessments and tools to address the complex requirements of the special needs children and families who visit the United Cerebral Palsy Life Without Limits Therapy center.

The Life Without Limits Therapy center provided 2,186.75 hours of services to 134 children ages birth to three years during 2008-2009.

“Support from the Possible Dream Foundation has helped our organization immensely and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner on an initiative that provides critically needed support as well as invaluable exposure to the Orange County Community better educating the community about children with Developmental Disabilities and fostering acceptance.”

Chris Varesi
Manager of Prospect Research

Youth Employment Service (YES)
Youth Employment Service (YES) of the Harbor Area had a dream to provide advanced and expanded employment skills training to older youth (ages 18-22) and younger youth (ages 14-17) who already had some job experience. With the funds received from Possible Dream, YES was able to add new and vital sections to existing curriculum, develop a video that perfectly explores both good and not so good interview techniques, and create a more thought provoking and interactive process within which young people could learn the skills needed to be successful in their job search, all of which benefited 350 local youths.

“What was most meaningful to me was the level of community involvement in making the Possible Dream happen. People have so many personal needs and the fact that so many individuals donated their own funds to make our dream a reality was truly gratifying and inspiring.”

Kathy Du Vernet, M.S.
Executive Director

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