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Encyclopedia Dubuque

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DUBUQUE DREAM CENTER

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DUBUQUE DREAM CENTER. The Dream Center was founded on July 23, 2013 by Robert Kimble, John Reeves of South Carolina, and Jay Schiesl to help strengthen the community in the downtown area of Dubuque. (1) Robert Kimble, Executive Director of the Dream Center, was a resident of Dubuque since 1989. Graduated in 1999 from EMMAUS BIBLE COLLEGE with a degree in Biblical Studies, he joined AmeriCorps Vista and served as Youth Coordinator in East Dubuque, Illinois from 2000-2002. He was then hired at the Dubuque Community Y as the Teen Outreach Coordinator from 2001-2004 and had responsibilities as Youth, Sports and Family Director at the Dubuque Community Y from 2004-2013. Kimble also served as the girl's high school and varsity basketball coach at DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL from 2005-2013. In 2015 he was the men's basketball coach at Emmaus Bible College. (2)

Located in the former ST. MARY'S CASINO at 1600 White Street, the Center initially served 35 boys. In 2015 with an expanded program, the Center served boys and girls and had a waiting list of 100 students. Established as a ministry of the RADIUS CHURCH DUBUQUE, the program was a social service and not a religious project according to the executive director. (3)

The students involved in the Center were referred by school officials. Following a model of "in-your-life-mentoring," volunteers formed relationships with students and their families. Activities included taking the students on outings, meeting them at school, and visiting their homes. Both the Center and the participating school gathered and analyzed test scores, grade reports, attendance and behavioral information to document student progress. (4)

In 2015 with Fulton Elementary and Jefferson Middle School its only partners, the Center had an aim within two years of partnering with six Dubuque schools to serve two hundred at-risk youth in kindergarten through eighth grade. It was also hoped that activities, leadership, and volunteer opportunities could be offered to high school students with support for their families with counseling, job-training and parenting services. In 2015 it cost between $1,500 and $2,000 per child to provide meals and programming. (5)

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Financial support came from several sources. Donations made up 90% of the Center's budget. In November 2015, a $10,000 donation was received from The 100+Men Who Care: Tri-State Chapter. The Center was also partially supported by a Dubuque Community Schools Leadership Enrichment After-School 21st Century grant to support after school and summer tutoring programs. The District also donated twenty-eight desks for the Academic Center. The Dream Center was a member of My Brother's Keeper, a national program aimed at empowering at-risk youth and closing racial achievement gaps. (6)

A generous but anonymous donor in 2015 gave the Center two new school buses painted royal blue with the Dream Center logo. (7)

In 2019 the Dream Center urged the city council to make it a priority during the annual goal-setting session. Since its founding in 2013 the Center grew from serving twenty to thirty students to an enrollment of 180. This created wear on the facility which was not handicapped accessible. The basketball floor located on the top floor suffered from heat and humidity. To arouse community interest, the Center's staff sent out an email asking people to attend the council's August 5th meeting to promote the Center for the following year and ask for money from the city on a five-year period. In 2017 the Center received $10,700 from the city's purchase-of-services program. The same program supplied $10,200. The Center and the city partner annually on a summer camp at FOUR MOUNDS. While inviting council members to the Center and communicating with the council on its achievements, the 2019 appeal from the Center was its first approach to the council prior to goal-setting. The Center's work to alleviate POVERTY was seen as addressing one of the council's present goals. (8)

In July, 2020 city council members approved a $276,000 investment in the nonprofit dedicated to help the city's underprivileged and working poor at a time of nation recognition of racial inequality and injustice and a PANDEMIC. The money was in addition to $40,000 budget annually for the for the next two years to help finance the Center's activities and operations as the facility's staff works to become eligible for child-care assistance payments. (9)

Dream Center officials announced on June 25, 2022 that state officials of the Iowa Department of Human Services were expected to approve the designation of the Dubuque Dream Center as a state-accredited child care center. Still needed was an elevator and accessible bathrooms. Since opening in 2013 the Center continually added services and capacity. In 2022 it offered after-school and summer programming for school-aged children and teens. While the state designation would not change the programming in the Center, it would bring in an additional $500,000 to $600,000 annually to cover student fees and costs of operation. In 2021 the Center purchased a neighboring building for demolition and converted the space for outdoor programming. That space was part of what was needed to allow it to become a licensed child care center. In January, 2022 the center received a $750,000 state grant toward its plan to become a licensed child care center. While serving an estimated 200 area youth, the Center maintained a waiting list of more than 100 children. (10)

In September, 2022 the DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT sold FULTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL to the Dream Center which planned renovations to make the building a second operational site. While the site was assessed at $890,000, the Dream Center bid $500,000. To this was added a $200,000 mission grant from the DUBUQUE RACING ASSOCIATION which helped acquire a $3 million state grant to fund the acquisition and renovation costs. In a Telegraph Herald editorial, the paper noted that the Center participants worked on academics with volunteers, many of them teachers before practicing an activity including basketball, piano or choir; getting a hot meal; and receiving a ride home. (11)


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Source:

1. Dream Center. Online: http://www.dubuquedreamcenter.com/the-dream.html

2. Ibid.

3. Barton, Thomas J. "A Dream Come True," Telegraph Herald, November 22, 2015, p. 6A

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Descorbeth, Shirley."Dubuque Dream Center Gets Generous Anonymous Donation," Nov. 30, 2015, KWWL.com Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/30634074/2015/11/30/dubuque-dream-center-gets-generous-anonymous-donation

8. Fisher, Benjamin, "Dream Center Asks Supporters to Boost Its Bid for Aid From City," Telegraph Herald, July 24, 2019, p. 1A

9. Barton, Thomas J.,"Dream Center's $276,000 Boost Coming True," Telegraph Herald, July 11, 2020, p. 1A

10. Nieland, Grace, "Dream Center Nears Key Designation," Telegraph Herald, June 26, 2022, p. 1A

11. "Dream Center, Fulton Great Fit," Telegraph Herald (editorial), September 25, 2022, p. 4A