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Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe it’s 2016 already. Last year just flew by, along with the years before it. I must admit, however, that I am most excited for 2016 and would love to share with you our goals and expectations for this year.

2016 Goals & Expectations #1 – Tax Exemption Status

2016 Goals & Expectations 1 (2)

January 2015 we held our first Jeffrey’s Dream board meeting and mailed off our completed Form 1023, application for tax exemption under 501(c)3, to the IRS. To our surprise, we heard back from the Determination Specialist assigned to our application in just 5 months. It was May 2015 when she told us that we would be receiving a letter requesting more information, in order to help her make a decision about approving our application. We never received that letter. So after many phone calls and voicemail messages over many months, I finally heard back from the IRS. A new Determination Specialist was assigned to our application. The original Determination Specialist had been reassigned to auditing. It was just a few days ago that I was able to speak with our new Determination Specialist and he told me we would receive an update on the status of our application in only a couple weeks.

We’ve waited as patiently as we could through the past year and I feel confident that we will be receiving our approval letter soon, confirming our tax exemption status, and making us a 501(c)3 organization.

2016 Goals & Expectations #2 – Jeffrey’s Coffee Shop

2016 Goals & Expectations 1 & 2

 The main activity of Jeffrey’s Dream will be Jeffrey’s Coffee Shop, which will host The Dream Program. The Dream Program is our job-training program. It is a paid, apprenticeship-type opportunity for at-risk youth and homeless/unstably-housed individuals. We will be partnering with other local nonprofit organizations which run transitional housing facilities and case management for their residents. The Dream Program will be unique and individualized to each participant, in order to compliment the case management they will already be receiving. Jeffrey’s Dream’s dedicated volunteer mentors will also help each participant create a life plan, encouraging them to get their hopes up and dream big, then help guide them to plan how they will achieve those goals.

The Dream Program will be a stepping stone for individuals to gain self-sufficiency, and the knowledge and skills to be successful in whatever path they choose to pursue.  If we can be that one chance that someone needed to get back on their feet, that means the world to us!

2016 Goals & Expectations #3 – Communication

2016 Goals & Expectations 1 2 & 3

My goal as the Founder and Executive Director of Jeffrey’s Dream is to increase communications between Jeffrey’s Dream organization and YOU!

I’m so passionate about what we’ve done, what we’re doing and everything we are going to do, I want you to be excited about Jeffrey’s Dream too! So moving forward, you can expect to see monthly eNewsletters and blog posts, as well as regular posts on our social media sites. If you have not yet signed up for our eNewsletter, I encourage you to do so! I would also like to encourage you to offer feedback or ask questions at any time you desire. You can contact me at [email protected] and I will email you back quickly.

Thank you so much for taking time to read our first blog post of the new year! Feel free to share with friends, family and colleagues 🙂

Michaela Byers, Founder/Executive Director
Jeffrey’s Dream