Clif Bar Family Foundation Grant Submitted!

Today we have submitted our first ever Grant Application! It has taken a lot of focus to dedicate the time needed to accomplish this, and we'd like to thank those who have helped. Not only with the writing and brainstorming, as Shiree dove into, but also with those that have helped create what Dreem Reality is. Without the hard work and support of the many dedicated Dreemers, there would be nothing to request a grant for. Thank you Dreemers - we're sure you know who you are!

Now, we'd like to share our answers to the grant application questions. It's important to us that you all know what we are working for together! We hope that these answers appropriately represent what your perception and experience with Dreem Reality has been.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with us!

Clif Bar Family Foundational Grant

Mission: Cliff Bar Family Foundation supports innovative small and mid-sized groups working to strengthen our food system and our communities, enhance public health, and safegaurd our environment and natural resources.

www.clifbarfamilyfoundation.org

Requested Amount: $15,000

Request for: General Support (with a focus on developing DreemGardens)

Application Questions:

1. What is unique about your approach?

From the reactions of those we interact with, be them volunteers, event hosts, or others that have never heard of us before, we do feel as though we have a unique approach to accomplish our mission. By anticipating the rippling effect of change from a micro to macrocosm, we are proud to begin our work with ourselves as members of a educational collective, spreading it outward to our neighbors of all ages, surrounding community, and beyond.

The roots of our organization are set in our acronym for D.r.e.e.m. - discover, research, educate, evolve, manifest Reality! Reaching up from those roots, Dreem Reality is like the trunk of a sturdy growing tree that embodies the core value of bringing people together in a tight-nit community to create and learn together. The branches of this DreemTree represent the ever expanding projects to activate our mission and provide the fruit to share with others. Each of these projects are brought to life by the passion of our Dreemers, who we openly embrace as leaders, decision makers, creators, and DreemCouncil members.


Our projects branch from freely accessible online videos and documentaries (Youtube: DreemTV), to ongoing research projects (The EcoVillage Research Project), to education about growing and making food with adults and children (DreemGardens, DreemKitchen, and DreemSprouts). Presently, DreemGardens is our most unique and fruitful project with a mission to "empower individuals and community toward sustainable food systems by building a collective of volunteers, gardeners, and local businesses to share education and resources".


Through DreemGardens and the other branches of the DreemTree, we seek to bring people together as a community; and through our connection with nature we are reclaiming our place in this Earth's ecosystem. We are eager to share the unique "hows" and "whys" as this application continues!

2. What is the purpose of this project? In a few sentences, state what the project is designed to accomplish. 

The ultimate purpose of Dreem Reality lies in the deep-rooted passion we all share to make our society and environment a co-existing organism. The highest focus within this idea is education. We feel that our society has come to a place far removed from the natural world and we aim to rekindle this fundamental relationship step by step. One such step is through the joy and fulfillment of creating a garden and reaping its fruits, via DreemGardens.

Our intention for this project is to assist home gardeners to establish their garden, in an effort to educate ourselves, our volunteers, and the hosts - all of whom are considered "Dreemers". By using principles of permaculture and self observation, we seek to address all elements of a project with time and care. We plan to provide a pre-consultation of specialists to evaluate the most sustainable options (native plants, seasonal, light requirements) as well as potential educational opportunities. Next, we will activate a work party of volunteers to provide many hands to make light work. All the while learning together on focused topics such as irrigation, composting, food forests, etc. Each work party has the potential to become a free workshop for our on-site Dreemers as well as viewers of the follow up video posted online.


Furthermore, we realize the utmost importance to reach out to children as the seeds of change for the future. DreemSprouts is a focused off-shoot of DreemGardens that is specifically aimed at at youth education in the garden. With a growing team of specialists in this arena, we plan to create curriculums, activities, and workshops with this mission.

As garden after garden is established, and education continues to spread throughout our local community, we intend to take our purpose beyond our county lines. Reaching out to lower income communities and eventually to establish an educational headquarters to provide more learning opportunities! 

3. What is the project designed to accomplish? Please list specific goals of the project.

To be more direct about the goals of the organization, specifically DreemGardens, we'd like to share a story that has been an inspiration to drive on. Natalie, a first time gardener, is a perfect example, and can be seen on our "What is DreemGardens?" video on Youtube. She had never set foot in a garden before her first work party and since has become one of our most enthusiastic Dreemers! It has been a great goal of ours to motivate people to take matters into their own hands, creating the change and growing a community of like minded Dreemers along the way.


In addition to empowering more Dreemers like Natalie, we intend to accomplish the following, which the Clif Bar Family Foundation will be a resounding part of:

• Evolve the reach of our educational methods for each new garden host and the attending Dreemers (by pre-consulting, hiring specialists and leaders, improving work parties, and follow up education)
• Develop and deliver various curriculums, workshops, activities, seminars, lectures, etc. to share with classrooms, individuals, groups, and other organizations
• Establish the DreemCollective - a membership network that connects individuals with local businesses and organizations, supporting the local economy and strengthening the community
• Reach out into the youth, low-income, and disabled communities to provide hands-on learning experiences for these powerful populations
• Locate a space in which to begin a community garden that will allow for on-site workshops, harvest celebrations, and a year round DreemKitchen providing free food from the abundance of the garden
• Create a Tool and Resource Library to rent out tools, books, and seeds, throughout the DreemCollective, reducing consumption and building community resources

As our goals are neared and reached more continue to blossom! We are enthusiastic about this, especially as our family of Dreemers grows and they find a place to activate their passions within the organization and projects. 

4. How do the proposed activities bring about positive change?

We believe that our mission toward sustainability is synonymous with a mission for positive change that Clif Bar is seeking to support. To clarify, we'd like to provide our definition of sustainability as it has come to be a commonly used word in today's culture. Sustainability is the ability of a system to endure through the healthy cooperation of environmental, social, and economic elements. Positive change implies both progressive and lasting change, which we feel includes the necessity of a sustainable system.


Our overall mission for sustainability is enacted specifically through our branching projects, each having a particular approach to education and community building. As is broken down on our website's project page, DreemGardens contributes to sustainable positive change in each of the major elements. (www.DreemReality.org)


Environmentally

• Organic gardening decreases the wide spread use of pesticides and fertilizers that contaminate our earth and water supplies
• Buying and growing locally decreases the need to transport food over long distances, which contributes to global warming and petro-fuel dependency

Socially

• Gardening collectives and community gardens empower people to connect and create with each other, strengthening the shared human experience
• Educating the next generation to continue sustainable practices and community building

Economically

• Growing one's own garden is less expensive than buying at a grocery story -- especially when it comes to organic produce!
• By supporting farmers markets and CSAs we are keeping our money local and supporting the hardworking farmers of our region
• The DreemCollective supports local businesses

Finally, we believe that the above outcomes of our project's activities are made truly sustainable by the sharing of education. To reference a well known addage, it is more powerful to teach a man to fish than to give a man a fish - especially if that man will then go on to teach others as well.  

5. How will this project or program help sustain or further your organization's mission?

Once again, Dreem Reality's mission is "to educate ourselves and others on the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability through the creation and sharing of research, specialty projects, and hands-on experience. To develop an Education and Research Eco-Facility to explore, enact, and demonstrate sustainability in a community setting".


As we've discussed throughout this grant application, DreemGardens is a project that enacts research (in efforts to educate others effectively), various speciality projects (such as DreemKitchen and DreemSprouts), and good-n-dirty hands on experience (through work parties and events). Also, it is active in all elements of our definitition of sustianability as was seen in the privious section. Furthermore, in our efforts to learn as we create we are preparing for our long term goal of an Education and Research Eco-Facility (or headquarters) that will allow us to initiate all the lessons of community building, team work, leadership, food production, documentation, teaching, and more.


By now, the Clif Bar grant committee is probably aware that DreemGardens is our most grass-roots and hands-on project that directly fulfills our mission. As it continues to blossom as a branch to the DreemTree, its fruits will be nutritious and plentiful to those we can reach. Through our accomplished goals, present work, and future development it continues to educate within the organization's leadership, the active Dreemers, the surrounding community, and hopefully the world!  

6. Where will additional funding come from not only to support the project, but to sustain it?

As we are a non-profit, we offer services and education for free accepting donations when our hosts and supporters are so moved. Of course we are researching grants that support our goals. Fundraisers are another avenue of monetary accumulation as well as educational workshops with our certified staff. 

7. How will success be defined and how will you quantify it?

Success is absolutely a continuous journey for Dreem Reality! We are happy to define some quantifiable goals in order to motivate our Dreemers and set sites for the next year. With the assistance of the Clif Bar Family Foundation we intend to:

• Creating at least 24 home gardens, with fully evaluated and established sustainable gardens
• Begin the DreemCollective - establishing a membership system and commitment from at least 10 cooperating local businesses and organizations
• Build a substantial Tool and Resource Library for members to take advantage of
• Complete a full scale educational presentation and or curriculum to share with classes and relevant groups
• Employee 5 Dreemers to continue to lead and evolve Dreem Reality and DreemGardens to its fullest potential

Though we are positive more goals will blossom, these are some big ones we'd like to accomplish! 

8. What other organizations do the same or similar work and/or compliment your work?

Similar organizations and a bit about them:

• The Homeless Garden Project - provides job training, transitional employment and support services to people who are homeless. HGP's vibrant education and volunteer program for the broad community blends formal, experiential and service-learning. The programs take place in our 3-acre organic farm and related enterprises.
• Food Shift - Food Shift is an Earth Island Institute sponsored project dedicated to building a more just and sustainable food system that curbs waste, empowers communities, respects the environment and nourishes all. Food Shift educates and empowers consumers, businesses and communities by increasing awareness about food waste and inspiring food related behavior change. By trimming our waste and diverting food loss, we can feed the hungry, create jobs, combat global warming, conserve natural resources, and cultivate more sustainable communities.
• Food not Lawns - Now international, Food not Lawns encourages people to turn their yards into gardens and their neighborhoods into communities.
• Food not Bombs is a similar organization to Food not Lawns with the shared vision of investing in home gardens rather than the high amount of money spent on military defense.
• Environmental Education for the Next Generation - provides education to kids in classrooms about gardening 

That's it! 

Let's put all of our intention into receiving this grant so that we can continue to blossom in leaps and bounds!

Developing a Universal Philosophy for D.r.e.e.m. Reality

We are always on the mission to conceptualize and communicate the mission, fueled by great passion, of D.r.e.e.m. Reality. Our scope of goals is ultimately to change the world of course but we have to be more focused to be truly effective.

In the process of trying to explain the multi-level purpose of D.r.e.e.m. Reality to our new Directors, I thought that an inverted triangle or better yet, a spiraling model, or concentric circles like a stone-in-a-pond would work well. Also, I think it would be an effective "marketing tool" to have our goal/philosophy on one solid graphic. BOOM, put it on pamphlets, the "about us" page, all that.

So here is the start of that project. First we need to verbalize the ideas...then comes the fun graphic!

We all must initially start with creating a Healthy Self, then that in turn will allow for a Healthy Community, furthermore a Healthy Globe (both environmentally and culturally), and Finally a Healthy Universe and Cosmos. This concept isn't completely new of course, but we think it is an especially effective path for D.r.e.e.m. Reality.

***

Universal Values of D.r.e.e.m. Reality:

• Health of Self - Nutrition, Physical Activity, Self Discovery, Self Love, Life Path Satisfaction, Spiritual Fulfillment

• Health of Community- Local Sustainability, Local Ecosystems, Community Identity, Strength, and Unity

• Health of Global Environment and People- Renewable Energy, Cultural Appreciation, Global Peace, Love of Allkind

• Health of Universe and Cosmos- Greater Awareness, Energetic Cooperation, Spiritual Regeneration

New Focus! More Evolution!

The journey of making Dreem Reality a reality has been an educational one. It's taken some "step-back" time to really try and figure out what the best thing to do with it is. And I'm pretty excited to announce that there is a rejuvenated effort going into it!

I've decided to make it my Career. At 25, without a "real" career in my back pocket, I can't help but flinch when people ask what I want to do with my life. But really, I am proud of the fact that I haven't just jumped into dedicating myself to a specific career without having the confirmation of my intuition to back it up. Now, I know this is what I want to dedicate myself to. And that I find ultimate fulfillment in what Dreem Reality has been created to achieve.

With that, we have refocused our efforts and refined the Statement of Purpose to be more direct and thus better able to bring in the needed support! So here is the new rendition (always in healthy evolution of course).

Statement of Purpose for Dreem Reality

A) To create a self-sustaining institution that continuously cooperates and promotes the research, education, production, and application of environmental, economic and social awareness, improvement and preservation.

B) To apply various research techniques, including but not limited to literature review, case study and survey conduction, observation, participation, and documentation.

C) To disseminate research results through various educational venues, including but not limited to literature publication, online media, lectures, workshops, and film production.

D) To create, produce, and distribute relevant technologies and products, including but not limited to solar panels, alternative fuels, organic food and drink, mindful clothing and art.

E) To put research results into practice through applications, including but not limited to consultation and community building.


Once we feel comfortable that this is an appropriate rendition to send in for the purpose of Incorporation - we will! Also in the making is to update the Bylaws from the previous version, as well as to add on a few more important members to the Board of Directors.

Onward!

~Dani

To catch up! About Us...

HELLO!

This is the first official blog of Dreem Reality! How exciting! I wish we would have started the blog just a few weeks earlier to catch some of the fun things we have accomplished so far. But, I'm quite sure it's for a reason, and is absolutely perfect the way it is.

So, what is Dreem Reality? Honestly, we're still developing what it is, as every day we think of something NEW that the organization can encompass - what services it can offer, what lessons it can hope to teach, how it can inspire and motivate in another way. But for the sake of our sanity, yours, and of course posterity...here's what we have so far as an "about us":

Dreem Reality is a multi-purpose educational non-profit organization, with major focuses on self-development, goal-achievement, and motivation. Also a scholarship and special needs oriented charitable organization.

Through various methods we hope to provide people with the inspiration and tools to realize and actualize their Dreems. We'll do everything from providing a "Dreemer" moderated forum to network and explore your ideas in a loving and non-judgemental arena, to getting hands on with projects that will help you achieve your Dreem! All the while, we are achieving our OWN Dreems.

(How was that? Of course I know that dream is spelled with an "A" and not two "E"s, but we are changing the concept of what a dream is to dreem, which is in the logo: Dare Reason, Evolve Existence, Manifest Reality.)

Ok, so "What the heck is a 'Dreemer'?" you may be asking yourself or your inquiring neighbor reader. Well, do you have a Dreem? Are you on the path to making that Dreem a Reality? Well then you would be a Dreemer! Officially though, I suppose our Directors and Founders are presently two ladies: Dani and Phoenix. We're the two jumping in front of the cartoony world in our logo, and I am Dani.

A bit about me then...

I consider myself a long time Dreemer through my 24 years of life. Even though some of my Dreems have been a bit "out of the ordinary" to most people in society, I still went for them. That may sound a bit conceded, but to tell you the truth I am really proud of myself for pushing past those criticisms and doubts...and that has led me here! Even now people scoff at the idea of starting a non-profit with this focus, but again I've got to look past those scoffs and just go for it. That's the ONLY way to get what I want.

Anyway, what kind of Dreems have I accomplished?

I've done the college thing, which was always one of my goals (and yes was scoffed at by my more "alternative lifestyle" friends). I graduated from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, with a Bachelors in Psychology. I love Psychology, it's like learning how to think...healthily. Then later I applied for and got accepted to San Jose State University for my Masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology with a focus in Job Satisfaction and Motivation. But I decided to step out of that program (for now at least) do go for my other Dreems (more on those later).

Probably the series of Dreems I'm most excited about achieving was the acquiring and conversion of a 33 foot long school bus into a veggie powered motor home named LaFonda Olive. This was one that a LOT of people put down - either it was too expensive, too dangerous, too unrealistic, or too much work. But as cliche as it sounds, it didn't stop us (myself and my fiance at the time). We gathered together our closest friends, named ourselves Earth Tribe, and went out into the community to get support for our Dreem. Eventually we got together enough money and motivation to buy the bus from an auction, pull out and rebuild the insides, and convert it to run on Straight Vegetable Oil. Then we traveled around central and eastern US.

As things tend to do, that Dreem spurred the creation of the next Dreem - to create a business that sells alternative energy products. While full time in college my fiance and I began our business called The Organic Mechanic. We ran it together for 3 years until I moved on to other things and he has continued to grow it in the past 2 years of my absence! He's definitely a Dreemer. (Check out his website www.TheOrganicMechanic.org if you'd like)

Some other Dreems I'm proud of are:

• Getting my Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
• Going sky diving
  
• "Coming out" to friends, family, and the world about being a lesbian
• Continuously scratching my itch for traveling and adventure

Anyway, these are just some things about me...ONE of the Directors of Dreem Reality. I hope to get Phoenix to give a little intro of herself soon. Until then, HELLO! I think I'll probably post another blog or two about the progress we've made so far and what projects we're ALREADY working on!

Namaste!

~Dani