2025 Annual Report

Dream

On.

Bringing hope with
the power of a Dream

From Us

to You

Each final Dream begins with hope—

hope that’s fulfilled by the compassionate generosity of Dream Foundation’s incredible community.

Your support, whether you’re a corporate partner, in-kind donor, donor, volunteer, or staff member, brought joy, comfort, and closure to those facing the end of life in 2025. Thank you for keeping hope within reach.

Thanks to you, Dream Foundation served 510 Dreams through our Dream program in 2025. You touched the lives of 1,316 family members and 1,428 care team members who walk alongside them.

You helped Dream Foundation serve 59 emergency Dreams to recipients with a life expectancy of fewer than eight weeks. In those urgent moments, you helped Dream Foundation act swiftly to make Dreams come true when time was running out.

The year 2025 also marked a milestone: the 10-year anniversary of Dream Foundation’s Dreams for Veterans program. In addition to other donors, we’re deeply grateful to the Tech. Sgt. Jack Kushner Ret’d Foundation for doubling its support in honor of this important anniversary.

In 2025 alone, Dreams for Veterans served Dreams to 38 veterans, impacting 98 family members and 106 care team members. Their service to our nation inspires our service to them—and your support ensured that they could Dream on.

Ninety-eight Dream families included children in the household. Through our Dream Toy Program sponsored by Audrey Hillman Fisher Foundation, volunteers gave 268 hours to deliver toys to 190 children, bringing moments of happiness to brighten even the hardest days.

We also extend profound gratitude to those of you who continued to help with transportation. In 2025, Turo provided transportation for 75 Dreams, and our airline partners provided flights for 91 Dreams.

And we thank all of you who helped with accommodations and experiences that made Dreams unforgettable. In 2025, 285 in-kind supporters helped fulfill 266 Dreams.

We’re also grateful to the volunteers who help power our mission. In 2025, volunteers selflessly provided an extraordinary 11,896 hours of service.

The year 2025 also saw Dream Foundation welcome new leaders to help guide us into the future. Nathan Rogers, Scott St. Germain, and Chris Lettieri joined our Board of Directors. Michael Flowers joined the Veterans Advisory Council and later the Board of Directors, while Mike Edmondson, Thamara Jean-Louis, and Howard Crawford joined the Veterans Advisory Council in support of our Dreams for Veterans program. Their dedication, expertise, and experience strengthen our governance and expand our vision.

Each Dream fulfilled in 2025 represents the unwavering belief that hope endures, and that the last chapter of our lives matters.

Together—with you, our partners, in-kind supporters, donors, volunteers, and dedicated staff—we’re proving that even in life’s most fragile moments, it is possible to Dream on.

With appreciation,

Kisa Heyer
CEO, Dream Foundation

Sheryl Zimmerman
PhD Chair, Dream Foundation

Kisa Heyer
CEO, Dream Foundation

Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD,
Chair, Dream Foundation

Elishaba’s Dream

No stranger to painful battles and courageous endeavors, 48-year-old Elishaba chose to forego additional treatment so she could “spend time with and love my children” and “live and breathe life with joy!” Elishaba dreamed of giving her daughter, Esther, with whom she shares a special bond, a sweet sixteen she would never forget, a mother-daughter trip to Hawaii.

The Year, in moments.

Speaker addresses attendees at a formal awards luncheon as guests listen from round banquet tables.

Dreams for Veterans 10th Anniversary Celebration

Held at the historic Army & Navy Club in Washington, DC, Dreams for Veterans celebrated a decade of fulfilling the final Dreams of our nation’s veterans – honoring their service with comfort, dignity, and gratitude. Nearly two thousand Dreams have been fulfilled since the program’s inception, each one reflecting the courage and humanity that define our veterans and their families. The intimate gathering included the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem by Aurora Dainer, keynote address by Michael D. Parrish, PhD, former Chief Acquisition Officer and Principal Executive Director U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Four Chaplains Awards presentation to Ada Marion, Palliative Care Social Worker at VA Southeast Louisiana Health Care and advocate of the program since 2015 and Debbie Blomgren, in memory of her husband Chad A. Blomgren, U.S. Army veteran, Board Member, Dream Foundation; Veterans Advisory Council founding member and tireless champion for veterans.

Attendees enjoy the Empower Luncheon while listening to a speaker during the event.

14th Annual Flower Empower Luncheon

Nearly 230 guests celebrated the devoted donors, volunteers, and flower professionals who have kept the Flower Empower program thriving for more than 20 years. Andrew Firestone emceed a dynamic afternoon that included a raffle, silent and live auctions, fine fare and libations, as well as a special awards ceremony honoring Volunteers of the Year: Alison Brainard Sydney and Margaret Prothero; Youth Volunteers of the Year: boys team charity and boys team charity North; Grower of the Year: Maximum Flowers; and Program Sponsors: Robin & Roger Himovitz and The Thornton Foundation. Special guest Chris Emmons, Flower Empower volunteer and recipient shared her experience with the program and its importance to her, her family, and the community before surprising guests with a special visit from her 92-year-old husband, Bob. The event would not have been possible without the support of event sponsors, in-kind event sponsors, and the event committee.

Diagnosed with brain cancer at 39, Robert’s enthusiasm for life endured. He was determined to make meaningful memories in the days he had left, focusing on the fulfillment of a life-long Dream. “Meeting Dwayne Johnson would be nothing short of a Dream come true. It would provide a moment of indescribable joy and emotional fulfillment during an unimaginably difficult time. I can’t express what it would mean to meet the person who has been a source of hope, humor, and strength throughout my life – especially now, when I need those things most.”

77-year-old U.S. Army veteran, John was given less than three months to live when he reached out for help in fulfilling his final Dream, “simple but very meaningful to me,” a fishing trip, something he and his wife, Audrey enjoyed for thirty-five years together. “Being able to do this one more time would be incredible.”

Jo-Ann, 76, was a strong, intelligent, and resourceful woman who raised three children alone. She and her daughter, Brittany, always shared a powerful, hilarious, and loving bond, reinforced by life’s many hardships including the deaths of Jo-Ann’s other two children. When Brittany was little, Jo-Ann would take her to Sycamore Springs, some of the best times and most treasured memories she recalled. Jo-Ann dreamed of returning to that happy place with Brittany.

Dream On.