DREAMS FOR KIDS DC

All too often children with disabilities are isolated and don't have adequate opportunities to partake in physical activities that other children are able to experience daily. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by the quality and abundance of volunteer support we offer. Each of our clinics ensures a 1:1 ratio of volunteer to participant.

Participating in challenging activities with peers increases and reinforces a child's positive belief in their own abilities, building immeasurable confidence and self-esteem. [Data taken from the 2014 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium]. Currently, there are many communities for families with physical and developmentally disabled children; however, only one group (KEEN) provides a variety of recreational activities for these children. Other organizations segregate activities and support on the type of disability. There is a need to provide more and a larger variety of activities on a regular basis. Adaptive physical clinics help move children with disabilities off the sidelines to engage in sports, arts and other recreational activities. When adaptive programs are inclusive of all ages and all disabilities, as well as and non-disabled peers and siblings—it allows those with disabilities to grow beyond the segregated settings that have existed for so many years. This variety and inclusion gives children a chance to try different sports, adds to the skills developed, and increases the likelihood of finding activities for lifetime participation, which can lead to growth in social skills. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by the quality and abundance of volunteer support we offer. Each of our clinics ensures a 1:1 ratio of volunteer to participant. This amount of attention helps build confidence in the participant, and helps them 'come out of their shell'. These volunteer-participant relationships also continues outside of DFKDC. We have had many parents request to contact their volunteers to further the bond the volunteers/participants created at DFKDC clinics; thereby, creating a mentorship relationship much like Big Brothers & Big Sisters.

This also shows the impact of DFKDC on volunteers, and the importance of giving back and the impact young adults can make. DFKDC events accommodate a large number of participants [depending on the activity], giving 50 – 150 children the opportunity to attend. DFKDC also focuses on organizing highly visible clinics that garner a lot of interest and media attention--to enable us to promote and spread awareness for adaptive events in the area. DFKDC's clinics range from water-skiing to horseback riding to partnering with professional sports teams such as the Washington Capitals, Washington Redskins, and D.C. United.

We have over 1130 participants and 2000 volunteers in our database. Through our programs, we are able to fulfill our mission and accomplish our goals of creating empowerment.

Due to the pandemic, there was a lack of social engagement for youth because of a necessity to halt in-person programming for not only our nonprofit, but many other service providers in the area. We understand how important social engagement and positive adaptive experiences are for this demographic, especially during their transitional years. Through our programs, we also fulfill the need of mentors for youth with disabilities, which we were fortunate to do virtually in 2020 and through a hybrid model in 2021. We still have not returned to a 'normal DFKDC year' of programming – as we only provided outdoor in-person clinics in 2021, and our holiday program required all attendees to be COVID-19 vaccinated. We did have in person smaller group meetings for our curriculums; however, we had all attendees wear PPE for these as well. All of the afore-mentioned was operated through protocols created by our ad-hoc COVID-19 Board Committee with guidance from our parents committee. this year to ensure the safety of all families and volunteers.

Despite the pandemic, we were still able to launch a new program in 2021 - the DFKDC Equality Summit Leadership program. DFKDC wants to be on the forefront of change and equality empowerment. This is a commitment we make to our families through our mission and programming. With a diverse population that includes 36% African American, 8% Asian American, and 1% Middle Eastern—it is pivotal for DFKDC to advocate for their families and promote disability awareness. The annual Equality Summit will focus on one important topic that our society is facing each year and bring together thought leaders, speakers, and our own DFKDC participants to share their experiences, learn from each other, and most importantly – discuss how we can support change. DFKDC’s commitment is to select youth with disabilities (our participants) during each yearly summit and work with them to create the following year’s equality summit.