DASHAWN

Dashawn was a quiet kid when he first started coming to Teen Night back in 2018. He was always respectful but kept to himself during group time, only opening up on the basketball court as most of our boys do. He came with us to see the Braves play that summer, and it was the first time that his personality really started to shine. After that trip, he came to Teen Night more regularly and started to form a relationship with one of our longtime student mentors, Ricky. He and the staff slowly started learning more of Dashawn’s story and how, despite hardship and virtually no family support, he had continued to persevere. One of the most trying hurdles he had to get over was the process of getting his drivers permit and his license; but those are six months that our staff will never forget. Riding back and forth to the DMV really gave us time to learn his story, and the friendship that blossomed in that season led to Dashawn becoming not only a more integral part of the Dream Streets family but also some of the staff’s families as well.

In 2020, when Covid hit and MNPS went virtual, it also happened to be Dashawn’s

senior year. Reluctantly (as school was not his favorite thing) Dashawn attended our Dream Streets Virtual School and very quickly won over the hearts of everyone there. While it wasn’t easy and involved lots of early morning wake up calls, Dashawn persevered through online classes and graduated in May 2021. Since then, our staff

has walked through some wonderful times and hard times with Dashawn. He’s now in

a workforce development program with one of our amazing partners, 4:13 Strong, getting invaluable training and learning important life skills that will propel him

towards success in the future.

The last few years have been a road filled with ups and downs for Dashawn, but it’s been one of the greatest honors to get to play a small role in Dashawn’s life and be part of his chosen family.