DREAMS Center for Arts Education is in the business of building creative and committed citizens, one child at a time, through involvement in the creative arts. DREAMS' success and longevity have created a situation in which the demand for the program far outstrips our available space. The solution: A new home for DREAMS!

A NEW PLACE TO DREAM.

Every day, we receive phone calls from parents and other referral sources who want to enroll their young people. Unfortunately, we have to turn many away, simply because we have run out of room! Our current rented space consists of approximately 2,000 square feet. In addition to being incredibly cramped, the building—inside and outside—is in desperate need or repair.

We believe that our young dreamers deserve a better place to dream. Luckily the City of Wilmington agrees, and has stepped up to the plate with the offer of a wonderful old building for $1 a year! DREAMS' new home has great potential, but needs a complete upfit. It is a beautiful 1930s-era stone garage, located on the North Side at 10th and Fanning Street.

RENOVATION...AND REVITALIZATION.

Renovating this 12,000 sq. ft. space will allow DREAMS to impact the lives of many more children in need, doubling enrollment from 75 students to 150 per week. The new space will also ensure the high quality of the creative experience for DREAMS' students by providing a state-of-the-art visual and performing arts center—a dance studio with a real wooden floor, well-equipped art studios and an up-to-date computer lab for our music production, photography and graphic design students.

TRANSFORMING A COMMUNITY—ONE CHILD AT A TIME.

DREAMS Center for Arts Education will rejuvenate and beautify an impoverished area that has long been ignored and neglected. It will become the arts and cultural hub of the community, creating a vibrant neighborhood full of hope.

EDUCATE

• Encourage creative thinking and build character and self-esteem in young people through involvement in the arts.
  
  
• Expand DREAMS' services to more young people thereby improving education outcomes. DREAMS graduates have a 100% high school graduation rate, as compared to New Hanover County's average of 63.6%.
  
  
• Provide access to quality art instruction for economically disadvantaged young people ages 8-17.

BUILD COMMUNITY

• Raise responsible citizens by creating confident, well-rounded, motivated young people.
  
  
• Reduce crime and incarceration costs by addressing issues of mental health, poverty, violence, school dropout and deliquency, and by providing a creative outlet for at risk youth.
  
  
• Provide positive contributions to the quality of life of the North Side of downtown Wilmington by creating an opportunity for redevelopment of an under-utilized building in an impoverished neighborhood.

CONTRIBUTE ECONOMICALLY

• Strengthen the local workforce by ensuring that more young people stay in school and become competent, confident employees.
  
  
• Free up tax money: Nationally, the average cost of incarcerating a youth for one year is $41,000. DREAMS serves over 500 at-risk youth annually at an individual cost of less than $600.
  
  
• Drive the redevelopment of the North Side of downtown Wilmington, increasing home values and decreasing costs associated with juvenile deliquency and crime.