Cabarete Community Comes Together to Celebrate the Debut of the DREAM Project at Charlie’s Foundation
La Ciénaga, Cabarete, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – This afternoon, educators, community leaders and families gathered at Charlie’s Foundation to welcome the DREAM Project to its new expanded space at the debut of DREAM at Charlie (DREAM en Charlie). Charlie’s Foundation and DREAM have decided to merge to better serve communities in and around Cabarete. At DREAM en Charlie, DREAM will continue Charlie’s Foundation’s English as a Second Language, Physical Literacy, Career Readiness and Summer Camp programs and will add its Literacy, Montessori Academy and Youth Leadership programs at the site.
The DREAM Project is honored to be the organization with which Charlie’s Foundation has chosen to merge and looks forward to furthering its mission to provide language and life skills training to local youth to promote lifelong success in the community workforce.
Students’ long-term success and well-being to help transform their communities
Charlie’s Foundation founder, Charles Le Pierrès, welcomed everyone to the event, expressing his gratitude to the community and hope for this next chapter, “I am grateful to be surrounded by my friends who will pursue my dreams at Charlie's Foundation with the underprivileged children in the Ciénaga.” DREAM founder, Michel Zaleski, shared this sentiment: “This is a great opportunity for DREAM and Charlie’s to serve the La Ciénaga community at a beautiful, welcoming site with impactful programs.” Attendees enjoyed artistic presentations from Charlie’s Foundation’s dancers and DREAM Project’s Bachata Academy to commemorate this momentous occasion.
The DREAM Project and Charlie’s Foundation are dedicated to filling gaps in the national education system and expanding opportunities for children and youth in the Dominican Republic, connecting them with the wider world and improving their future career prospects. In line with Charlie’s Foundation’s belief in the power of sport to motivate, challenge and inspire, DREAM looks forward to carrying on and expanding Charlie’s Foundation’s methodology to facilitate students’ long-term success and well-being to help transform their communities. The skills students learn on the tennis court, such as discipline and a commitment to improvement, translate to the classroom, and sports instruction helps to reinforce the language lessons in a fun and engaging environment, encouraging youth to use conversational English.
The DREAM Project is grateful to Charles Le Pierrès and the Charlie’s Foundation team for trusting us to keep the Foundation’s legacy alive and sustain its culturally relevant, community-based programs!