--> From the CEO – Dream Foundation Annual Report 2017
Our Dream Plaza at the Hotel Californian.

        
From the CEO and Board of Directors

“What if the things we cherish most in life were the same things we carry with us toward death? Those moments that make us feel awake. Loved. Human. What if we could live our lives—fully—all the way to the end?” — BJ Miller 

As the number of Dreams that we serve continues to grow each year, we remain deeply grateful to everyone who makes everything that we do possible.

While the impact of what we do must always be measured and quantified in terms of numbers, behind each number on this report stands the stories of individual Dream recipients and their families whom you helped in the most profound ways.

You helped them express the culmination of their life’s work, like poet Elizabeth, who wanted to see her verses in print.

You helped them spend time away from their diagnosis and with the people they loved, like Kelly, who wanted a chair big enough to hold her and her daughter so they could read together.

For many of the veterans whom we served, you helped them achieve closure, like Vietnam veteran Ronald who visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.

Or, in the case of Adele, who just wanted to have her hair and nails done before dining out with the people who mattered most to her, you helped people meet death on their terms.

We hope that you feel as we do – that even as we are proud that every year the numbers of people directly served and indirectly touched by all of our programs grows – that it is these individual stories that remind us why what we do is so important.

This year, as every year, we continued to have corporate partners who are as committed to helping us serve our mission as we are.

The introduction of our New York Advisory Council, has strengthened our ability to operate at a national level and has created opportunities to connect with Dream Foundation on both coasts.

We saw a growing number of individual supporters help us in many creative ways, such as dedicating their birthdays to fundraise from friends for us. Many of them are connected to Dream recipients whom we have served and now want to pay it forward.

Finally, we wanted to share some news that is so good it can’t wait. We have been gifted The Dream Plaza, a private plaza at the historic Hotel Californian in downtown Santa Barbara where around 1,100 of the stones can be purchased and engraved. Proceeds will help us give life to final Dreams for years to come.

All of this means that we are in a stronger position than ever to move forward, and we are grateful to continue the journey with you.