Flower Empower Program Overview
Flower Empower is just one of Dream Foundation’s many programs that benefit the community and help Dream Foundation to fulfill our dream-granting mission.
Dream Foundation’s Flower Empower program is a Santa Barbara-based, volunteer-driven program that delivers floral bouquets, fresh-baked cookies, fine chocolates and cards that are hand made by school children and other groups and individuals to people in hospices, cancer centers and their homes. Volunteers prepare dozens of arrangements using donated flowers. Flower delivery referrals come from cancer centers, nurses, social workers, hospices, elder support organizations and the community at large.
Since its inception in 1994, the program has served thousands of community members by providing more than 100,000 bouquets, cookies (homemade by longtime Flower Empower Supporter, Robin Himovitz), artisanal chocolates (provided by Chocolats du CaliBressan) and cards.
In 2022, the Flower Empower program logged 4,901 volunteer hours and arranged 8,417 bouquets. The program also delivered 20,785 orchid plants and 1,125 orchid spikes throughout the community.
To refer a flower recipient, contact Dream Foundation by email (flowerempower@dreamfoundation.org) or phone (805.564.2131) with your name and phone number, the name and address of the person you’re referring, and why you believe they should receive flowers. Perhaps he or she has lost a loved one, is recovering from surgery, has received a devastating diagnosis, is having a first or last chemo treatment, is in the hospital or a rehabilitation facility. A flower recipient can be anyone within Santa Barbara County that is in need of cheer.
Photo Credit: Kelly Sweda Photography
Our Flower Empower Partners
Santa Barbara County is rich in agricultural history. It’s the largest high-quality cut-flower producing region in the state and country. Local growers are generous in providing donations of beautiful cut flowers and plants to the Flower Empower program.
In addition to bouquets, flower recipients enjoy fresh-baked cookies, homemade and donated by the Himovitz Family, and artisanal chocolates, donated by Chocolats du CaliBressan (Jill-Marie and Jean-Michel Carre.)
Flower Empower Network
We are also looking for florists across the country and volunteers in the Santa Barbara area who would like to donate their time and floral arrangements, and deliver them to Dream recipients and their families.
If you are interested in volunteering for Flower Empower in Santa Barbara, or joining the Flower Empower Network, please contact flowerempower@dreamfoundation.org.
Dream Foundation’s Flower Empower recipients’ joy is enough to justify our work, but the healing power of flowers is proven to have a positive effect on health and well-being. Several studies confirm the positive impact that flowers have on the emotional wellness of medical patients including:
- Patients who viewed plants had shorter hospitalizations than those patients without plants. (Therapeutic Influences of Plants in Hospital Rooms on Surgical Recovery, Kansas State University, February 2009)
- Flowers chase away anxieties, worries and the blues at home. (Home Ecology of Flowers Study, Harvard University, September 2006 )
- Seniors who received flowers re-engaged with members of their communities and enlarged their social contacts to include more neighbors, religious support and even medical personnel. (Flowers & Seniors Study, Human Development Lab at Rutgers University, 2001)