Disability Resources Educational Advocacy Motivation

Programs: Program #1: scholastic awards: higher education assistance program (heap) -- heap scholarships are awarded each year to students with physical and/or learning disabilities. The students must be pursuing a higher education degree at a state college or university. Recipients are selected based performance and application criteria. The scholarships are based on the student's financial need and intended to "fill the gap" where a student lacks funding for a semester. The scholarships are awarded for either a two or four year program but the performance of each recipient is reviewed annually and the scholarship can be terminated by the scholarship committee. Note: all revenue and program expenses are reported in this return. Some of those revenues and expenses have also been reported by tulsa community foundation (tcf) fin #73-1554474. The dream institute has an agency agreement with tcf. Tcf reports all the program revenue and expenses that are received and or paid to or from tcf accounts. See tcf's form 990, dream program. Scholarship funds can be used for tuition, fees, books and tutoring. Nine students were awarded scholarships for the fiscal year ended june 30, 2014. The scholarship committee believes that all the students made progress towards graduation (two graduated in may 2014).

program #2: academic assistance program (tutoring): the fourteen students awarded the heap scholarships are also eligible for tutoring services. The dream institute works with local learning assistance centers and university disability service centers to locate qualified tutors. The tutor is contacted directly to select a proper match between tutor and student and to determine the appropriate compensation. Two tutors (usually math and/or foreign language) were compensated during the fiscal year ended june 30, 2014.

program #3: academic and professional mentorship program -- the dream institute has twenty five mentors available for the students. Each student can have one or more mentors. The mentors include but are not limited to 1. Guidance counselors, 2. Favorite teachers, 3. Upper classmates, 4. Academic counselors, 5. Professors in the student's field of study, 6. Professors outside the student's field of study, 7. Friend of the family, and 8. Alumni of the dream institute. The mentors periodically check in with the students and track their progress. They monitor grades and brainstorm with the students about academic and professional obstacles. They refer the students to academic assistance programs (tutoring) when necessary.