Live A Dream

If I were to be selected as a winner for the Elevate Prize it would be such an honor. The work I do is centered around helping senior citizens live out their final Bucket List Dreams. Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic, we found that many seniors are isolated and depressed. Finding out their passions and discovering that one thing that they never had the chance to do is everything that we are about. The dreams we do run much deeper than the Dream Day and have the ability to ripple and impact the lives of everyone involved. 

With the funding from this prize I plan to grow my non-profit to reach a national level, impacting the lives of seniors globally by starting different chapters across the United States. I would love to increase our awareness and invite more people from the community to get involved with our cause. Whether is it to ride a horse, jump out of a plane, or even meet the members of KISS, we are here to help discover and make the dreams of seniors across the nation come to life! 

I have a passion for making seniors dreams come to life! The first dream I ever fulfilled was for Donna back in the fall of 2017. I quickly found that Donna moved into a senior living home unexpectedly, cutting her time to fulfill her dream of riding in a hot balloon short. After finding a wheelchair accessible basket and working around various appointments, we finally got Donna in the sky! I found myself on the ground circling the balloon to see where they would land and remember thinking we did it; Donna’s dream was a success! Once she landed I rushed over to congratulate her and was shocked to find her crying. She told me that she was finally at peace. In that moment I realized that Live A Dream was a lot bigger than Donna. I didn't know what the job would entail, but I knew that dreams like Donna’s had to be repeated. Unfortunately, a few weeks later Donna passed away.

I have since graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in Business Marketing and helped create Live A Dream as its own 501©3. My goal is to grow Live A Dream into a national organization.

Live a Dream is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the lives of seniors across the midwest. Our mission is to learn their stories, embrace their passions, and create experiences they can cherish forever. In this way, we hope to give back a little piece of what they have given, and continue to give.

The CDC reported that almost 1 in 4 adults over the age of 65 are considered to be socially isolated which can have a negative impact on their overall health including an increased risk of dementia, heart disease, hospitalization, and even premature death (CDC, 2021). After the COVID-19 pandemic, we have found that our mission is more important than ever. 

Each year we work to impact the lives of hundreds of seniors through a process of dream granting. This involves dreams on a small scale like going swimming again or ones with more logistics such as going sky diving or throwing the first pitch at a baseball game. We also work to create group dreams, virtual opportunities, and community partnerships to join our cause.

Reference

CDC. (April 29, 2021). Loneliness and social isolation linked to serious health conditions. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publ...

Our work is unique because there are not many people out there doing what we do. Once we know of a dream it takes a lot of advocation to get to the finish line. Everyone knows about Make-A-Wish, an organization in place granting wishes to terminally ill children, and most companies have opportunities in place when a wish comes through for a child. But not many people think to give the same opportunities to our oldest generation. The impact of a dream to a senior not only helps out that individual, but it gives hope back to their care giver, family and friends, and even community members. 

We have scaled our efforts in a way that is sustainable, creative, and has the ability give the most impact. Working closely with an established long term care company allows for resources to be allocated in a way that "buckets" our dreams. Each facility we partner with is set up with the tools necessary to identify dreams and execute on them. If the dream seems too outlandish, they then have the tools necessary to elevate the dream to a higher level where we can work with them to bring the dream to life.

Live A Dream has an impact on humanity because it gives voice, purpose, and hope to our oldest generation. A generation that has likely given back their entire lives and left no time to do that one activity that they always dreamt of doing. 

The steps we have taken to achieve our planned impact include building trusting relationship in each community, providing a robust submission process that organizes dreams effectively, and by working to execute dreams to the best of our ability in a timely and innovative manner. 

Seniors come with many stories and diverse backgrounds that deserve to be heard. Our organization is effective because the more dreams we accomplish, the more ripple we see. One a dream has the ability to spark five more and then five more after that. Our strategy has allowed us to grow with the added dream requests each year while also expanding our programs.

We would also not be successful without our amazing internship program. Our internship has the student or graduate choose a project that most aligns with their goals for the future. This allows for not only a unique internship opportunity, but also a passionate individual working to make a change.