Dream Foundation (www.dreamfoundation.org)
Our Mission
Dream Foundation, founded in Santa Barbara in 1994 by Thomas Rollerson to honor the memory of Timothy Scott Palmer, is the first
and largest national wish-granting organization for adults with
life-limiting illness.
The mission of Dream Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for individuals and their families during the end of life’s journey.
Dream Foundation helps adults find peace and closure with the realization of a final wish.
The work of Dream Foundation is made possible in part by a grant from Odyssey HealthCare Foundation.
How It All Began
In April of 1994, Thomas Rollerson's partner, Timothy Scott Palmer, was diagnosed with a catastrophic illness. When Timm expressed a final wish, Thomas phoned a wish-granting agency for children and discovered that no organization existed to honor the final wishes of adults. Thomas found a way to grant Timm's final wish, and shortly after Timm passed away, Thomas created Dream Foundation to honor Timm's spirit with the support of his community and friends.
Key Points
- Dream Foundation is the first national wish-granting organization for adults age 18 years and over.
- Dream Foundation has granted thousands of dreams to adults who are emotionally, financially and physically devastated by terminal illness.
- Dream Foundation serves all fifty states from one small office based in Santa Barbara, and a satellite office in Los Angeles.
- Dream Foundation relies on donated airline miles to reunite families and make dreams requiring travel come true. We are always in need of mileage.
- Dream Foundation works with volunteers, hospices and healthcare organizations nationwide who are grateful that there is now somewhere to turn for help for their dying patients.
- The majority of dreams granted involve children whose parents are desperately trying to create one final positive memory for their family to hold onto after they are gone.
- All dream recipients have been diagnosed with a terminal illness & have a life expectancy of less than one year.
- What we provide at this time in the lives of dying adults is more significant than the medical treatments and drugs that are failing to keep them alive - we provide them with peace and resolution.
- A dream can be as simple as seeing a dear friend one last time, keeping a promise to young children for a special family trip, or returning to a place of meaningful childhood memories.
- Dream families are financially devastated as a result of the illness they are battling, and would not be able to afford a final dream without our help.
- Dream Foundation operates on a very small cash budget and relies heavily on non-cash contributions (75% of our dreams benefit in some way through in-kind donations). This includes frequent flyer miles, hotel rooms, meals, etc.
- Dream Foundation does not receive federal or state funding, we rely solely on corporate, foundation and individual contributions.
- 86% of the Dream Foundation's annual budget is used for Program Expenses, 4% for Administrative Expenses, and 10% on Fundraising.
- Our goal is to insure that no adult whose life will end prematurely due to a terminal illness should ever pass from this earth without realizing one final wish from the heart.
- We cannot provide a cure for our dreamers, but we can dramatically impact the quality of their fragile lives with the joy experienced from a dream come true.
