On Thursday, September 27, Dr. Emma Violand-Sanchez, founder and current Chairman of the Board of the Dream Project, received the William T. Newman, Jr. Spirit of Community Award from the Arlington Community Foundation in Arlington, Virginia.
The Arlington Community Foundation uses the power of philanthropy and its role as community convener and catalyst to improve the quality of life in Arlington and beyond. The Spirit of Community award was established to recognize individuals and organizations with a tireless and unselfish commitment to improving the quality of life in Arlington.
During her remarks, Dr. Violand-Sanchez thanked the Arlington Community Foundation for all that they do to support non-profit organizations and individual Arlingtonians – lifting up all of its citizens and making the community stronger.
Now that she has retired from her role as an Arlington Public Schools educator for forty years and then as the School Board Chair, Dr. Violand-Sanchez is able to dedicate her time to the Dream Project, which she founded in 2010 along with parents of Arlington Dreamers and concerned community members. She noted that in June of 2018, the Dream Project awarded 95 renewable scholarships and that 90% of Dream Project students remain in college, even with the tremendous challenges that they face in today’s hostile anti-immigrant environment.
Dr. Violand-Sanchez closed her remarks by stating that we must “continue to shine light on our work so that more people can see what our Dreamers are striving for, what they aspire to achieve, how they hope to contribute to this great nation and what inspiring young men and women they are.” She continued, “We must resist the desire to “hate back” at those who hate us: The righteousness of our cause will be proven by our deeds, by our values and by our character. Our Dreamers don’t have time to hate – they are too busy building productive and creative lives, caring for their families and contributing to their community.”
Join Dr. Violand-Sanchez, the Dream Project and the Arlington Community Foundation as they continue to lift our nation’s immigrant youth as they fight to pursue their dreams of a higher education.
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Learn more about the Dream Project at dreamproject-va.org. Click here to make a donation today.
