Last year marked 20 years of the West Liberty Youth Dream Catchers. This occasion went uncelebrated due to the group being so busy that year.
Dream Catchers Board President Carol Moreno hopes to celebrate the occasion later this year, commemorating it and all the progress the group plans to make.
“We first started in 2004 with an idea,” Moreno said. “After visiting with teachers, principals, superintendents and community members, we created West Liberty Youth Dream Catchers.”
The group’s vision, Moreno said, is to make a different and help children in the community, especially those who are the first in their family to pursue college.
“The superintendent in 2004 told us that by the third grade, kids are already thinking about if they’re not going to college. So we started in the third grade, and we picked five children,” Moreno said. “We had volunteer mentors, and as we grew, we got a mentor coordinator.”
Over the past couple years, Moreno said the group began to feel overwhelmed with constantly hiring mentor coordinators. To combat this, the board hired Al Exito Iowa, a group focused on building the leadership potential of Latino youths, to provide programming for the group to fifth through eighth graders.
“There have been quite a few bumps in the road with our new programming, but it has potential,” Moreno said. “Currently, we are looking to see what’s next and how we can continue to provide mentorship and scholarships to our students.”
The group’s mentorship focuses around helping its students get good grades, as well as learn how to be good citizens and how to give back to the community. The group also follows national standards for its academic mentoring, as per its partnership with the Youth Agency in Iowa City.
“We’re still evolving and seeing how we’re going to continue to help our kids do good in school, and help expand their horizons,” Moreno said. “We’re excited about what we’re creating for 2025. We’re still in the creation phase, so we’re doing a lot of brainstorming and having a lot of wonderful ideas.”
Moreno thanked the group’s board for these efforts so far. The Dream Catchers board includes Superintendent Shaun Kruger, Father Guillermo Trevino, and other community leaders alongside involvement from parents and high school students.
On the scholarship side of things, Dream Catchers will be having its 16th annual golf tournament fundraiser May 17 at the Muscatine Municipal Golf Course. Admission is $90 per person, and includes 18 golf holes, a cart rental for two, lunch, and drink tickets. Raffle tickets will also be available at the event for purchase, with guests having the chance to win a $500 Apple gift card.
Moreno said the group is trying to host fewer fundraisers this year, but felt the golf tournament was still a crucial one for its goal of funding yearly scholarships and spreading the words about its efforts.
“Usually the Dream Catchers will be there helping, and the older ones will tell the golfers how the program has been making a difference in their life,” she said. “It’s very moving for me to hear them.”
Moreno said the group’s number of testimonials has continued to grow throughout the past two decades, with many of its students now having jobs and families of their own. “It’s very exciting to watch them living their dreams. It’s been a great experience, and we hope to help as many kids as we can.”
Residents can register for the golf tournament, purchase raffle tickets, or learn about volunteer opportunities and board member opportunities at the group’s website, westlibertydreamcatchers.org