St. Vincent's Services

Spanning Three Centuries of Care for Children and Families

Mission Statement Executive Summary The American Dream Program Foster Family & Adoptive Services Youth Residential Services Developmentally Disabled Services Behavioral Health Services Positive Caring Planned Giving Board of Directors Annual Reports Affiliations
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Education - The Gateway to the American Dream

At St. Vincent's Services our goals and objectives reflect our commitment to education for our young people as the route to independence in adulthood. Since 1998, when the initiative was formalized, our signature American Dream Program (ADP) has helped many of our young people graduate from college and other post-secondary schools and become self-supporting. Some have even earned graduate degrees. To date, more than 70 SVS youth have benefited from the program, which is unique and completely supported by private voluntary funds. The American Dream Program provides tuition assistance, tutoring, and counseling, as well as room and board, health insurance, and incidental expenses through graduation-most often past the age of 21 when all government aid ceases.

American Dream Program participants graduate from post-secondary institutions at a significantly higher rate (53%) than the national average for young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds (39.6%) and compare favorably with the national average (58%) for young people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Our American Dream graduates are alumni of our nation's most prestigious schools, including Harvard, Polytechnic University, Amherst, Hamilton College, SUNY Albany, Pace University, Pratt Institute and the New School, among others. Many ADP alumni have gone on to become doctors, attorneys, accountants, scientists and other professionals; others have attended the Culinary Institute of America Program, New York City Technology College, the Long Island Career Institute for Court Reporting and other schools while sustaining full- and part-time employment. All ADP graduates have been equipped with marketable skills that will enable them to compete in today's competitive global economy and secure meaningful employment.

SVS has a long-term plan to indemnify the American Dream Program by creating a $4 million dollar trust to ensure that our current and future participants will be able to complete their education. So far we have raised more than $1.5 million for this initiative. In the short term we continue to solicit yearly support from foundations, corporations and individuals. In addition, each member of our Board of Directors is personally committed to the American Dream Program.

For additional information, please contact Mary Louise Morgan at (718) 422-2255 or MaryL.Morgan@svs.org.