Dreamscape Foundation Engages in Community Outreach
Dreamscape Foundation Engages in Community Outreach
It’s reported that in January 2017, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness estimated that nearly 24% of the 369,081 people experiencing homelessness consisted of individuals with disabilities who, by federal definition, were experiencing chronic homelessness. Sixty-nine percent of those disabled individuals were residing in areas without appropriate shelter (e.g., sidewalks, doorways, parks, encampments, inside cars, buses, abandoned buildings or under bridges) rather than in emergency shelters.
Our community here in Southwest Florida is no exception. Fort Myers, Florida served as an illustration of the statistics stated above. Before Centennial Park was fenced in, it was a haven and a home for many who were homeless who took shelter under the pavilion. Now their options continue to narrow as the city imposes further restrictions that bar the homeless from taking shelter in other areas, such as the local library or Lions Park.
As of June 2021, the city has yet to come up with an appropriate solution to help reduce the homeless population and create appropriate avenues for housing and assistance. However, there are some citizens who are finding ways to help. Among them are PJ Barber and his wife.
It began with an eight-week program called Alpha that offered up a safe space for conversation about life, spirituality and faith over a warm meal. Located at The Warehouse near downtown Fort Myers, word of a free meal entered the community, drawing in the homeless population. As their needs became apparent, Barber and his wife decided to shift gears. After the Alpha program ended, they created a new weekly event called Community Meal, which is held every Tuesday at The Warehouse at 7pm.
“At the Community Meal, we strive to make sure that the most vulnerable in our community have access to basic needs, such as food, clothing, and personal hygiene items, but we make sure to create a lasting relationship with the people we serve,” Barber explained. “We create an open community where all are welcome and we host open discussions where people are encouraged to speak freely and honestly about their lives so we can encourage and support them. This has created some amazing transformations in people’s lives by just creating a feeling of belonging and support from others. The Community Meal isn’t a hand-out. It’s truly a community that lifts people up and encourages change.”
Dreamscape Foundation supports this mission by donating funds to help purchase food and other basic necessities.
How Homelessness Connects to Dreamscape Foundation’s Mission
Dreamscape Foundation often focuses on ways to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. However, the core of our mission is rooted in helping to improve the lives of individuals whose disabilities limit their ability to live their lives fully, and that includes access fundamental needs, such as food, shelter, clothing, and hygiene items.
Mental disabilities, emotional disabilities, and physical disabilities are prevalent among the homeless population. By providing financial support to this program, we are able to help supply food and essential items for those in attendance. We are bridging the “accessibility gap” on a most basic, human level, and – in doing so – helping to foster hope, community, and support among those in our community who desperately need it.
« PreviousNext »Dreamscape Foundation Collaborates with SAGE on an Annual Giving Event
Dreamscape Foundation Collaborates with SAGE on an Annual Giving Event
Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE) is both a fan-game showcase and a fundraising event to benefit Child’s Play, an organization that provides toys and games to children in hospitals, clinics, and domestic violence shelters. Your first thought may be, “But this doesn’t directly correlate with Dreamscape Foundation’s mission to bridge the accessibility gap for individuals with disabilities.” And it’s true.
However, there are times like Fund the Computer Room in 2014 when we see an opportunity to lend our expertise toward another cause. While SAGE excels at gaming and game development, they struggled to market the charitable side of their expo event. It’s a skill gap that we knew we could help fill. Over the years, Dreamscape Foundation has found a way to successfully market and fundraise digital charity events within the gaming community. When SAGE’s need came to our attention, we saw an opportunity to help out a new community; one that is connected to our affiliate channel (Hotline Sehwani), and that we would like to be a part of.
By marketing this event on SAGE’s behalf, we’re supporting charitable efforts that improve the lives of struggling children and families, and we would like you to help us do so. We sat down with two of the individuals helping to coordinate SAGE 2021 (Pedro and Rummy) to give our community insight into what this event is and why it’s raising funds for Child’s Play. Read on to learn more about this event, and consider tuning in for a good cause.
What is SAGE, exactly?
To understand SAGE, you must first understand the Sonic Fan Games HQ website. It’s an online community designed by Ryan Langley during a period dubbed “the Sonic drought.” Sonic developers weren’t releasing new installments and the latest upcoming title at the time (Sonic X-treme) had been cancelled. Sonic Fan Games HQ was created by fans who took it upon themselves to develop Sonic games as a hobby. Essentially, they kept the story going while honing and showcasing their developing talents with a community that appreciated them.
The website formed a tightly knit community.
“I came to appreciate the effort and love the people [invest in these projects] to express themselves and their love for video games,” Rummy said.
Next came SAGE, a now-20-year-old annual expo created by Ryan Bloom. In the beginning, it gave fan-game developers on Sonic Fan Games HQ a reason to set a hard deadline for their creations. Participants would showcase their projects on the website, share their progress, and then feature the final results at the EXPO each year.
Through the years, the event grew to take on a life of its own.
“With so many people waiting for it and wanting to be a part of the event, it’s incredibly hard not to be motivated,” Pedro said. “SAGE has grown a lot over the years, but the goal remains the same throughout these two decades: providing a free and welcoming place for developers, big or small, to share their works and get feedback, start careers, or even just have an amazing outlet for their hobby and get involved with the community.”
The event’s immense popularity inspired its hosts to tack on a charitable twist. They began using the event and its visibility to raise funds for Child’s Play, a non-profit that provides toys and games to children in hospitals as a means to help lift their spirits.
“At the time SAGE was starting to get a lot of attention online with tens of thousands of people showing up just to check out the games,” Pedro said. “Supporting a charity just felt like the next logical step. I think the decision of working with Child’s Play came from the video-game theme behind it, which goes well in line with SAGE and game development.”
“I see Child’s Play as a good partner thanks to their focus on giving children both a way to care for them medically and maturing their creative hearts,” Rummy added.
About the SAGE Event
SAGE starts on August 21 and continues until August 27. The event is entirely virtual. To participate, you can tune into the Sage Expo website during the event dates.
Over the course of the week, the event will feature a variety of Sonic-themed indie and fan projects as well as livestreams hosted by some of the most entertaining content creators around. You will also be able to download some of the games from the expo website, interact with the community at large and engage developers via the event’s Discord server.
How You Can Donate to Child’s Play During the Event
Recently, we introduced Dreamscape’s affiliate YouTube channel Hotline Sehwani. The channel has partnered with fellow YouTubers KOMII and JaydenXV for this event. All three channels will serve as virtual billboards for SAGE’s event and use their donation buttons as avenue’s to give to Child’s Play during the event.
To find this donation button, simply click on hyperlinks listed above and select the most recent video uploaded to these channels between August 20 and August 28. The donation button will be easy to spot! As always, we thank our community for its willingness not only to support our cause but to help support others when the need arises.
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