Men With Dreams Inc.

Men With Dreams was started in September of 2013 by Preston Harris and Brandon McWilliams under the belief that every youth deserves an opportunity to reach their goals and dreams.

We believe that if we can help youth maintain a Never Be Average mentality they would have everything they need to reach their goals and dreams. Never Be Average means three simple things to us. Do Your Best, You Are Important and One Step Forward.

In each one of our programs has three different parts to it that reflect the concepts that we want our youth to take with them when they leave.

Do Your Best: Each program comes with a workout, to promote physical fitness but also get youth in the habit of giving 100% in every activity they participate in. These workouts also allow for us to burn off excess mental and physical energy so they can be focused on our dream building content.

You Are Important: We ask our youth two questions at the beginning of each and every club. What did you learn today? And what is your dream? This challenges the student to pay attention during their school day and retain some of that information. Asking about the dream forces the youth to verbalize their goals and dreams which helps make it real for the youth participating in the program.

One Step Forward: Each and every day no matter what we want the youth to get in the habit of taking a step forward in working on their dream. If they can focus on moving forward rather than sitting and being satisfied where they are today, eventually they will get to where they want to be.

We began pilot programs in April of 2014, we now have four programs up and running in Nebraska. Read and Rec - Elementary School Reading Program, Brick By Brick Mentoring - Juvenile Justice Program to motivate youth to get on the right track, Dream Building 101 - After-school middle school club challenging youth to invest in their dreams and All Around Athlete- High School Leadership and Healthy Lifestyles Club.

Men With Dreams mission is to create an environment of excellence, personal significance and achievement for our youth. To accomplish our mission we have created a suite of programs all designed to assist youth in reaching their goals and dreams.

Education: Read and Rec – Volunteer based reading program designed to help youth build confidence in their reading skills, at Clinton Elementary School. This program serves between 25 to 40 youth a week who are reading below grade level or what to spend more time practicing their reading skills.

Engagement: Brick By Brick Mentoring- Mentoring program for youth who are incarcerated, to help them shift their focus toward achieving their dreams, at the Juvenile Detention Center. This program serves 20 to 30 high school age boys and girls, and we are planning expanding to serve more students.

Empowerment: Dream Building 101- Future focused after-school club that challenges youth to begin identifying and pursuing their dreams, at Culler Middle School. This program serves 12 middle school boys who were identified as having potential but not maximizing it.

Excellence: All Around Athlete – High school leadership and healthy lifestyles club, showcasing the talents of our student athletes and providing guidance through their post secondary transition. This program will serve all high schools in Nebraska, currently we have Lincoln High School, Lincoln Northeast School, Malcolm High School, Lincoln North Star and Raymond Central.

Encouragement: New Summer Programs

Dreamers Academy – Business shadowing, get better workout, Powerback diet, positive role model presentation and my dream project. These activities will take place in our Dreamers Academy, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 2pm, starts June 2nd and ends July 2nd.

Head Start- Reading and writing intensive weeklong camp August 3rd thru 7th for ELL students (English language learners) and students reading below grade level. The camp will be from 10am to 2pm and lunch will be provided.