“The fish van still smelled.” Even decades later, Raven Escalante can recall the odor of the rented van that had spent its day delivering seafood, now taking her and her teammates to softball games across New York City. 

“That ride!” Raven laughs, shaking her head at the memory. “But we knew these rides were taking us to new places and new heights.”

That van represents something profound about DREAM. What began as Harlem RBI, with an old van and an office that was “just a long hallway,” has evolved into a network of seven schools serving 3,000 youth and alumni. For Raven and her best friend and cousin Jasmine Delgado, the journey from that fish van to today tells a story only DREAM could write.

The early years

In 1991, when Harlem RBI first started, the program was set up for a small group of boys. It didn’t take long for that to change. Jasmine and Raven, along with a group of neighborhood girls, demanded a league of their own just a year later. By the next season, they had their uniforms and gear on, ready to go. 

The door (and the gate to the field) was always open at Harlem RBI. Whether after school, summer time, or Saturday mornings, the two friends found themselves in that office, hanging out with friends. “It was our safe space,” Raven recalls. Later, as young teens, Raven and Jasmine traveled abroad for the first time, led journalism clubs, and competed in championship games.

Soon, Harlem RBI began offering formal after-school and summer programs for kids in elementary school. But leaders at Harlem RBI recognized that out-of-school hours weren’t enough. 

While students did well at Harlem RBI, they still struggled in persistently low-performing schools. Virtually all Harlem RBI kids would graduate from high school, but very few made it to college, with many returning  a semester or a year later. They were unprepared not just academically, but lacking comprehensive support systems — from navigating college applications and financial aid to securing internships and developing the emotional resilience — that college success demands. Families needed a full educational alternative.

This is why the decision to launch DREAM Charter School was made, and in 2008 we opened our doors. It was an ambitious but essential goal to serve our kids, our families and community in a more holistic and impactful manner. 

“In all my years with DREAM, I’m always heard. If I have an issue, it’s figured out quickly. It’s a village.”

Raven Escalante
Harlem RBI alumni & DREAM parent

 

Full circle choices

Fast forward three decades, and both women faced the same question that countless parents confront: where to send their children to school. For Raven, the choice was obvious. “It was a given for me. I already knew.” 

Jasmine’s son Xavier, didn’t start at DREAM until ninth grade. “I regret not sending my son in the beginning to RBI, to be honest,” she admits. “I should have known better.” Today, Jasmine’s two younger children are also enrolled at DREAM.

Xavier, who wasn’t even considering college when he arrived at DREAM, is now a freshman at Buffalo State University, pursuing a business degree. “It’s remarkable to see the intelligent, natural leader he’s become,” says Jasmine. “More than anything, he’s a positive example for his sisters, and that makes me so proud.”

Raven’s son, Ravik, has grown into a focused and determined young man. “He could be going through a lot, but he always pushes through. His mind is focused, he knows what he wants in life,” Raven says. Ravik is also starting his first year at college, at SUNY Geneseo.

Growth that keeps the heart

For both parents, watching their children thrive has reinforced why they chose DREAM. In addition to the rigorous academics that prepared the boys for collegiate-level education, “The resources are amazing. Both of our sons have traveled abroad, played sports, and have had incredible opportunities we didn’t have,” Raven observes. 

“”At other schools, when you reach out about your child, you’re often met with silence or runaround,” Raven explains. “In all my years with DREAM, I’m always heard. If I have an issue, it’s figured out quickly. It’s a village.”

Both Raven and Jasmine value that DREAM’s support doesn’t end at graduation. Through the Legends program, all graduates receive continued support and guidance for up to six years, from mock interviews and resume reviews to internship placements, career panels, mentorship programs, and professional development workshops. “Most schools cut you loose at graduation, but six years of continued support? That’s unheard of.” Raven notes.

What hasn’t changed, both women agree is, “The family feeling. The open doors. Being able to reach out and knowing someone will be on the other side.” It’s that same sense of community that made a group of neighborhood kids in the 1990s become a family. 

Last June, as Ravik and Xavier walked across the graduation stage, their mothers – who once learned to never give up on the softball diamond – watched DREAM transform those same values into college preparation and lifelong support networks.

“If you would have asked us this then, we would have had no idea that 30 years later this would have happened,” Jasmine muses. The fish van may be long gone, but the mission remains unchanged: taking young people exactly where they are and helping them reach exactly where they’re meant to be.