Today, DREAMS operates in a renovated 12,800-square-foot former bus maintenance garage in the heart of the City’s impoverished North Side, serving 400 students annually via classes at their Center and at outreach sites throughout the community. (This is, in itself, a best practice— offering programming in areas of the community where participants live, thereby eliminating barriers of transportation.) In fall 2016 alone, the program held 42 weekly multidisciplinary arts classes for youth ages 8-18 at their inner-city Center, all facilitated by professional teaching artists and free of charge to students who qualify for the school system’s free and reduced school lunch program.

The program’s success is, in part, built on its responsiveness to the needs of the Wilmington community. When founder and Executive Director Tracy Wilkes launched DREAMS, the first thing she did was to conduct a needs assessment. She wanted to make sure that city recreation center facilitators, public housing sites, low-income youth and families, and others would actually be interested in such a program—and to discover what they would like such a program to include. Conducting the needs assessment as part of DREAMS’ programmatic design was a best-practice approach that allowed the program to open its doors with a strong sense of what its constituents wanted and needed, and set the tone for a program that was truly interested in serving its community.

The second best-practice approach that DREAMS employed was starting the program on a small and manageable level. By beginning with four students and 40 teaching artists, and then expanding the program bit by bit, DREAMS was able to determine what worked well and what did not on a smaller stage, and make course corrections as the situation demanded.

Founder Tracy Wilkes’ background is in clinical social work, and she brought a child-centered approach to the program that continues to this day, two years after her retirement from the Executive Director position. DREAMS conducts an extensive in-person intake interview with each new student, ensuring that programmatic staff is able to pair them with the classes and teaching artists that are the best fit for their wants and needs. The program’s core philosophy is “creating a culture of confidence,” and the question to which staff return to over and over is simple: “Is it best for the kids?” This query drives every decision that DREAMS makes, from hiring teaching artists to building a solid board of directors. Having a clear, easily-articulated, student-based focus enables DREAMS to avoid mission drift and stay true to the program’s goals.

Parental involvement is an important component of DREAMS’ programming, facilitated through family arts nights where parents and grandparents have the opportunities to create alongside their children, cultural field trips to art exhibits and theater/dance performances, and focus groups where DREAMS staff gathers feedback from parents and families to guide the program’s direction. By involving parents in the program, DREAMS is able to build a sense of connection and investment, and empower families to truly make DREAMS their own. This builds on the “youth-led, adult-supported” approach that lies at the heart of the program, so that program participants’ interests in large part drive the curriculum.

Community partnerships have also been instrumental to DREAMS’ success—no pun intended. Since its inception, DREAMS has partnered with public housing sites and City of Wilmington community recreation centers to provide onsite programming for those children who are unable to come to the DREAMS center. During 2015-16, they provided programming at ten outreach sites, including the Open House Youth Shelter and GLOW Academy, a new 6^th-12^th grade girls’ charter school predominantly serving economically disadvantaged youth.

The partnership with the City of Wilmington has expanded to included public art projects, funding through the Community Development Block Grant program, and—since 2012— the existence of the DREAMS Center itself. As the program expanded, it outgrew its available space. DREAMS found itself having to turn students away because it simply did not have enough room to meet the demand for its services. The City of Wilmington agreed to rent the aforementioned 12,800-square-foot former bus maintenance garage to DREAMS for $1 per year, provided that DREAMS covered the cost of the renovation. With funding assistance from the City, DREAMS was able to raise the funds to renovate the entire space: In 2012, the new programmatic and office space opened, and in 2015, DREAMS completed the renovation of the Garage, a multipurpose community gathering and performance space that will provide DREAMS with an alternate income stream—as well as respond to the community’s needs for the existence of such a space.

In 2017, DREAMS partnered with UNC Wilmington professor Janna Robertson to create the ‘Forest of DREAMS’ mural on a retaining wall bordering the DREAMS property—a project that incorporated hundreds of volunteers, community groups, and area residents, and served to beautify the North Side, promoting a strong sense of community involvement and ownership. DREAMS’ partnerships also extend to museums and performance venues that provide free tickets to events for children and families, as well as local youth-serving organizations. Through the United Way of the Cape Fear Area, DREAMS expanded and formalized their partnership with three other nonprofits: Communities in Schools, Brigade Boys and Girls Club, and Kids Making It, a microenterprise woodworking program. The four organizations share resources, including transportation, refer students to each other, facilitate shared programming, and collaborate on funding opportunities, maximizing resources while avoiding duplication of services.

The program provides youth entrepreneurship opportunities, in which students learn how to value, market and sell their artwork. (In 2015-16, DREAMers collectively earned more than $2,000.) Students perform and exhibit work at events throughout the year, giving them an opportunity to demonstrate what they’ve learned and feel a sense of accomplishment. DREAMS has recently expanded their existing community garden and offered two weekly gardening classes during 2015-16, educating students about the importance of good nutrition and the ‘garden-to-table.’ They provide healthy snacks to students and incorporate garden produce whenever possible.

DREAMS’ programmatic longevity (ages 8-18) enables teaching artists and staff to develop enduring relationships with the youth and families they serve—another best practices approach. The program’s Teen Council is a key element of retaining older youth, fostering a sense of investment in the program and creating a teens-only discussion space.

More than just an arts program, DREAMS works to identify students’ physical, emotional, behavioral and financial needs and address them in partnership with other organizations, fulfilling their goal of serving the ‘whole child.’ The program constantly strives to balance artistic excellence with positive youth development, incorporating the Search Institute’s 40 Assets Model as well as NC Arts Education Essential Standards into curriculum design as well as evaluation. In 2015, the program established a new fellowship program with the support of the United Parcel Service (UPS), giving students the opportunity to earn $5,000 college scholarships by completing 250 hours of service to DREAMS. Through the fellowship, students gain career readiness skills while simultaneously mentoring younger students and engaging in service learning.

Colin, Emily. Arts Education for At-Risk Youth in North Carolina Overview, Survey Analysis, Case Studies, and Recommendations. 2018, Arts Education for At-Risk Youth in North Carolina Overview, Survey Analysis, Case Studies, and Recommendations.