Meet Dream Smith

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dream Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dream, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
My generosity started from me watching my grandmother be an example of what being of service meant. As a child I would watch my grandmother feed those less fortunate from the community. She would also volunteer her time to clean the church we attended and assist with the brown bag giveaways. These bags would contain groceries donated as well as hygiene products. While servicing the community, she would always encourage me to help. She had a thing she’d say ” Always be a blessing when you can to others!”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Hi there, my name is Dream Smith and I am the Founder and Executive Director of Book Nation of Dreamers Inc. We are a local 501c3 Non Profit based out of Savannah Georgia. Our mission is to decrease illiteracy throughout Savannah’s under -resourced and often under developed communities, while increasing literacy rates amongst all children and families. There are multiple ways our organization accomplish these goals. Because teamwork is quite valuable, partnering with other Non-profits and building a strong team has been key to accomplishing our mission. We are known in the community for an event called the” Pull Up Book Drive”. This is an event that we host a few times throughout the year, where we go to different communities to distribute books to children and families. At these events, we have guest readers from all professions and walks of life volunteer their time to read to children. This is very important, because it builds community and displays the importance of a village coming together to encourage our children. Coordinating with local woodsman, civil servants, volunteers, and artist to build the free little book houses that are placed in these communities is another way we make books accessible. We also host several fundraising events to raise money during the year that assist with supplies for our back to school events, holiday giveaways, holiday gift bags to surrounding shelters, and now our First Juneteenth Youth Power Festival held this past June at Daffin Park. Which was such a success! Though the organization was founded in May of 2020, I am grateful and excited for everything we’ve been able to accomplish thus far. We look forward to our upcoming events which includes Book and Treats that is held in October , our 3rd year anniversary of the non-profit being established fundraiser in November, Holiday giveaway/gift bags in December, Oh and I can’t forget our most recent project working with Patt Gunn a local historian, griot, and activist at the Susie King Taylor Center of Jubilee building a public media center and workshop space for the community. We also have our “Just Read It” branded merchandise on sale located on our website and a few one of a kind free libraries that we will auction off.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities or area of knowledge I found most profound with starting the Non Profit is first you have to have a vision. When I started the Non Profit almost 3 years ago, I had no intention of being a Non Profit. In fact it was just an idea that turned into a vision, then ultimately a plan of execution to help my community. I knew pre pandemic, our children were failing tremendously when it came to reading and writing. Which again is the foundation to learning. Some of the schools in my community from elementary, middle and high school were all low performing schools. So I knew once the pandemic hit, these children were going to get further behind. I thought to myself, how could I be of service to my community by making books accessible while educating and encouraging our children on the importance of being literate. Second it was important to build a team to help execute and bring the vision to life. I’ve learned earlier on the importance of a team. Often times people have great ideas, however is harder to execute and really be beneficial when its a one man show. So building a strong supportive team, displaying the same values and importance of understanding the mission was key. Third, is staying passionate about the vision in making a difference, I’ve learned through this journey that some may support, some maybe interested and then their our those who have other things they find most important that may differ from what is most important to you. No matter what, you must remain true to yourself as well as your vision.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
There were several books that I read in my teens and early twenties that were extremely influential to me such as, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(Maya Angelou), The Isis Papers: The keys to the Colors( Dr Frances Cress Welsing, and The destruction of Black Civilization(Chancellor Williams). I learned valuable lessons within each book. I Know Why The Caged Birds Sings taught me the importance of endurance, strength, and the will to be better than your circumstances and traumas. Both The Isis Papers and The Destruction of Black Civilization allowed me to understand how and why things were systematically and intentionally constructed toward our communities and how it has had a long term affect on our communities as well .

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Juneteenth Youth Power Festival( Kaitlin Sells Photography) Book Nation Live event ( III Olive Green Photograph)

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