The New American Dream Foundation

Tnadf is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2016 by The bacelar-palmares family. It serves as The philanthropic branch of The tribuna newspaper, a trilingual publication founded by The family in 1999. The tnadf's mission is to celebrate, support, and inspire immigrants of all generations by providing opportunities that enhance access to education, health, and civic engagement. The New American Dream Foundation, Inc (tnadf) has since 2016 presented The American Dream awards to 25 students of The year, 5 persons of The year, 5 veterans of The year, and 5 non-profit organizations. That represents a total of $77,000 in scholarships and financial incentives that were only possible to be achieved with The continuous commitment and suppot of our sponsors/donors. The American Dream awards gala is The main fundraiser for The tnadf. It also raises funds to benefit nuvance health (danbury hospital). For The past seven years, tnadf has worked with local venues to keep food cost for The gala down to allow more funds to be donated to help subsidize part of The cost of mission health day- a day of wellness provided by a partnership between danbury hospital and western ct state university to offer free health care treatment to The local under and uninsured population. Even though mission health day was canceled in 2021 due to The covid-19 pandemic, tnadf decided to increase The annual donation to $15,000 to support The following programs: donation of $7,500 to The continued education of nuvance's staff, to support The staff's attendance at conferences (in person or virtually) and other educational opportunities related to covid-19. Donation of $7.500 to assist The hospital's employee morale efforts, and self-esteem letting them know that The community cares about their dedication and effots during this challenging time, providing funds to bring ice cream trucks to campus, pizza parties, and more to The staff who continue to treat covid-19 patients. In 2023, tnadf donated $15,000 to nuvance health's mission health day. So far, The amount raised and donated for The danbury hospital/nuvance health program totals $114,800. Tnadf has donated $11,250 to western Connecticut regional adult and continuing education (werace), a regional program that provides free state mandated adult education services to adults 17 years of age and older to strenghten werace's capacity to serve more members of our community, by providing financial support to ofset The costs of their esl instruction and citizenship classes. Between scholarships, financial incentives, werace's and The danbury hospital/nuvance health funds, tnadf has given $203,050.00 since The events inception. Considering The impact, The covid-19 pandemic has had on families in The danbury area, in april of 2020, The New American Dream Foundation (tnada) postponed its annual scholarship gala. Tnadf placed all its efforts on supporting The community's immediate needs as we fight The virus through The creation of its tnadf covid-19 hot meal program. Since The start of The pandemic in 2020, The program has served children, families, and seniors in danbury with nearly 40,000 meals purchased at a cost from The amber room colonnade, The official venue for its annual gala. As The Foundation shifted The focus of The meal program to support older adults and special needs adults living in The danbury area, it continued providing 650 monthly meals which are delivered to eight (8) local senior facilities. Tnadf raised over $179000 through small online contributions from individuals and grants from local and global corporations and organizations such as robydobb family charitable Foundation Inc., union savings bank, savings bank of danbury, linde, The united way of western ct, tufts health plan Foundation, ct health Foundation, gregory brian butler and themis klarides, general motors company, Inc., fairfield county bank, amoung many others. In danbury, 10.9 percent of older adults are food insecure, a university of Connecticut report has found. According to The united way, in parts of The city, food insecurity amoung older adults is as high as 30 percent and it believes these figures likely increased due to The coronavirus pandemic. Tnadf's hot meal program has bridged a gap between homebound seniors served by meals-on-wheels and those who can prepare their meals and find relief in receiving groceries. On december 31, 2020, state funding was cut for The local senor center's congregate meals program to focus on homebound seniors. Unfortunately, with The state cuts, 52 seniors in danbury and bethel were left without support. Tnadf supported The danbury senior center and The bethel senior center with emergency meals due to The above-mentioned state cuts. As The coronavirus pandemic continued to impact Connecticut, many older residents around The state are still feeling scared, confused, and isolated. Tnadf hot meal program provides hope, a warm meal, and a safe human contact to The seniors in our community, also serving as a wellness check or those most vulnerable. Through this program, community members can volunteer and give back to The descendants of The previous immigrants, on whose shoulders every New community stands. To be able to continue assisting 650 seniors living in tax-credit communities in danbury, tnadf applied and was granted its first congressional federal grant of $50,000 from The us administration for community living, department of health and human services. The grant partially helped toward purchasing The meals from september 2022 through august 2023. With that funding source ending, tnadf applied and was awarded a reimbursable grant from The city of danury from The cares act funding in The amount of $46,440 to begin in september of 2023 and end in august of 2024. At a cost to The Foundation of $6.00 per meal, $3,870 per month and $46,440 per year, The cares act funding in The form of reimbursable dollars helps defray The cost of purchasing The monthly senior meals delivered monthly to 650 doors throughout danbury at The following residential sites: kimberly place, danbury towers, palance view, bishop curtis, putnam towers, glen apartments, crosby manor, and danbury commons. The New American Dream center annual report for 2023 can be requested from The Foundation.