Established in 2018 and granted by DREAM Iowa Inc., a 501c3 non-profit corporation, the DREAM Iowa Scholarship is intended “to provide monetary support for immigrant students pursuing higher education”, according to a press release from the organization.
The main requirements for the scholarship are that the student be either a high school senior or enrolled in college, and “demonstrate the spirit to overcome adversity and commitment to our immigrant community.”
According to the organization, their mission is “to stimulate and carry forward the gradual shift from generational poverty to generational wealth for immigrant Iowans.” The group asserts that immigrants are historically a “catalyst for social, economic, and cultural growth.” Indeed, American history supports that analysis factually, as migrants from around the world have time and time again established immigrant communities within the United States which have ultimately enriched their local communities both culturally, and economically.
While the group’s name evokes the Dream Act, or DACA, which is most commonly associated with hispanic immigrants, DREAM Iowa states that their services extend to immigrant families “from diverse ethnic backgrounds”. Which suggests that their services would be as available to migrants from, for example, Afghanistan, Finland, Thailand, Ukraine, or Zimbabwe, as they would be to immigrants from Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, or Venezuela.
“Immigrants are vital to Iowa’s future,” the group asserts. And empowered with “the tools and resources that increase knowledge, attitudes, and skills” immigrant families can take steps and make choices which result in “sustainable financial outcomes.”
“If immigrants succeed, our society prospers,” the group proclaimed, in a statement not far off the old truism that “a rising tide lifts all boats”. And their vision is therefore “centered around wealth development for immigrant Iowans.”
May 1st 2022 is the deadline to apply. Selection of scholarship recipients will take place during the fall semester of 2022. Disbursement of funds will occur in 2023. Go to dreamiowa.us/resources/ for more information.
