Making Sports Dreams Come True with Elizabeth Lindsey
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Many children and young adults face the immense challenge of living with life-altering conditions, which can range from life-threatening illnesses to severe physical or intellectual disabilities. These conditions may lead to a sense of isolation and a loss of hope, making it difficult for these individuals to envision a positive future.
To discuss the work being done to address these challenges, we invited Elizabeth Lindsey, co-founder of Dream On 3, an organization dedicated to bringing hope and encouragement to children and young adults with life-altering conditions through unique sports experiences. Dream On 3 aims to inspire these individuals by connecting them with their favorite athletes and teams, helping them to see that dreams can still come true despite their circumstances.
You’ll Hear:
(01:28) A description of Dream On 3’s signature programs.
(08:42) How they measure the success of child and youth experiences.
(13:50) Why storytelling has been imperative in connecting with the community and showcasing the impact of their work.
(16:37) How they conduct follow-up and maintain a relationship with dream recipients.
(21:36) The transformative dreamer experience of a young girl, whose dream of hunting with a professional hunter was realized.
Key Takeaways
Dream On 3 measures success by assessing how their programs impact the lives of recipients. They employ surveys directly to families of dream recipients to gather feedback on how these experiences have positively affected their lives. Tracking of participant journeys allows them to comprehensively document and understand the transformative effects of fulfilling dreams. Additionally, Dream On 3 evaluates community involvement and impact levels, capturing the broader ripple effects of their initiatives, including increased awareness, volunteer engagement, and community support.
By utilizing storytelling through mediums such as videos, photos, and personal narratives, Dream On 3 emotionally connects with donors, volunteers, and the community. These stories vividly illustrate the tangible impact of their work and inspire further support.
Beyond granting dreams, Dream On 3 nurtures lasting relationships through their alumni engagement initiatives. Recipients become part of a supportive community, staying connected through regular follow-ups and personalized gestures. This approach ensures that the impact of Dream On 3 extends far beyond the initial dream experience, fostering a sense of belonging and ongoing support for recipients and their families.
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Drew Reynolds: Elizabeth Lindsay, welcome to the show.
Elizabeth Lindsey: Thanks, Drew. Honored to be here.
Drew Reynolds: So can you tell us a little bit about Dream On 3 and the challenge or problem that you're set out to solve?
Elizabeth Lindsey: Yeah, absolutely. So Dream On 3, we are 5 and 21 years of age who are living with life altering conditions. So we, we serve those not only who are dealing.
Potentially with life threatening or even terminal conditions, but but truly those who have experienced or who are living in a with a life altering situation or or condition. And so our goal is to bring them hope and encouragement through the world of sports by providing them with with an opportunity to.
to experience it's typically a two to four day sports experience where they get to meet their favorite athlete or sports team and where they're they're seen and they're and they're loved by our staff team and certainly that the athlete or the sports team that they get to to be around and just feel feel them with with hope and encouragement that no matter what they've been through or what they're currently going through that they can still dream and and see that dreams do come true.
Drew Reynolds: Can you tell us a few stories, maybe, or maybe share a little bit of data information about the programs that you're offering?
Elizabeth Lindsey: Yeah, absolutely. So we started the organization about 12 years ago, and our signature program is our Dream Experience. And so that, that is in, in all the communities, which we're in, we're headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, but we have communities in, um, Denver, Colorado and Atlanta, Georgia.
We just announced earlier this year that we'll be setting up camp in Northern Texas in a few months. And so, and we are also in DC, but the dream experience is really where it all began. And that again is where we, we rally around one individual and their immediate family members. And that there is a ripple effect.
Typically we'll do a surprise send off, which might involve picking the individual up at their school or their church or a favorite restaurant. But Then you involve their, you know, family support team, their, their hospital team, extended family and friends, sometimes at the school send offs its entire student body.
So it, you know, you go from making an impact on on 1 person. And all of a sudden, you might be impacting about 1000 through that piece of it. And so. From the dream experience, I guess about a couple of years after starting the organization on that signature event, we expanded to offer our a couple other programs.
Um, another one is, is our daydream program and in our communities, that's where we are able to serve multiple individuals and family members at a local sporting event. So we provide, uh, the daydreams consist of maybe five to six. People up to one hundred and fifty people, but it's it's instead of a two to three day travel experience.
It's typically in a two to three hour local sporting event where we provide tickets and food and swag and just for the entire family to enjoy. And then from that, our junior dream team and our collegiate dream team, those are two additional programs that we offer that. involves student leaders. And so our junior dream team really came from from the sendoffs happening at the school level and seeing again that ripple effect and other students being impacted by seeing one of their peers receive a dream experience.
And so in 2015, the junior dream team came to life where we work, we go into local high schools and work with the administration and and identify about eight to ten student leaders to rally around one peer. at their school. And so we work with them and teach them of all the things that we do from fundraising to public speaking to planning to teach them about teamwork and empathy, compassion, you know, for this individual.
And then they go back to their, their peer groups and all of a sudden they've rallied the entire school. So the Junior Dream Team is really, is a really special program, I guess, especially to me because it's, It really brings, it unites these schools and you see everyone come together and everyone's included and it's just a really positive experience.
That program could take, it's always contingent on the individual's dream. If it's football, it's a bit of a sprint. If it's, you know, baseball, then we have a little bit more time obviously with, with the students to, to do these events and create awareness and ultimately plan this individual's dream. Then when COVID hit, we You know, we're, we're into travel, we're into sports, we're into helping individuals, sometimes with compromised immune systems.
We were like, Oh, my goodness, what, what do we do? I'm sure along with the rest of the world. And so we were very blessed to have some incredible donors that said, keep your, keep your team intact. We're going to continue to support. And we, we created some new programming through that. That time, our collegiate dream team came to life during that time.
And that's where we, we kind of, it stemmed from the junior dream team. We worked with college students on a virtual scale, and we didn't have to go through administration like we do. At the high school level and to to basically build the student leader teams, because the students were able to do that they would either work with their Greek groups or clubs or or friend groups and come up with 10 to sometimes 20 students that wanted to get involved and create the same thing that the junior dream team did like coming together.
But around 1 individual within their community to make their sports dream come true at their university. So it was pretty powerful, especially launching it during that time. You know, when everyone's a bit isolated, but we're still able to make an impact and help. These student leaders, but also still make dreams come true, but on on the campus with that particular university.
And then our dream box that was also birth during covet because we, we caught our referral partners and said, how can we serve you during this time? What are your needs? And they said, well, our kids are stuck in these, these hospital rooms and then I can't have visitors and they can't go down the hall. To the youth centers or team room, team rooms and and they need things.
And so we basically crafted this huge care package this dream on three designed care package with all of their favorite things. Sports themes because we're sports. all sports, um, but jerseys and balls and, but also to include some electronics and some arts and crafts and things, other things they can enjoy.
But, but that has stuck. So we're still doing DreamBoxes like crazy in all of our communities, but that program is really specific for those who are inpatient and our healthcare partners. So I know I talked a whole lot right there, so I will, I will be quiet and let. I'll let you ask questions. I know that was a lot
Roger Suclupe: that was great.
It was a lot of important information to know about the reasonings behind dream on three and and how it's made an impact on the lives of not only the Children that you're Providing support for but also the families and communities as well because you had mentioned the the junior program and how schools rally around this individual and then the collegiate level.
Same thing. So I'm curious to know if you can share with our listeners. a bit about how have y'all been able to utilize data that you have gathered from the impact that these experiences have had on, on, on the recipients, on the, on the individuals who are receiving this incredible experience data that can, can show why not only this is healthy and helpful, but, you know, long term, like why should it continue to happen?
How is it impacting individuals from a physical or mental health?
Elizabeth Lindsey: No, that's, that's a, that's a great question. And one that, that even from the beginning that we've tried to, to, uh, really quantify, because when we're making these dreams a reality for, for these kids and young adults, it's like, how do we, how do we measure the success of their experience?
And so, and, and certainly, you know, that the impact and you're thinking, goodness, you know, When people ask how many dreams did you make come true this year and even with all of our communities combined it sometimes for some people it might seem like a low number and for others it seems high but it's it's truly I think the perception of the the one who's receiving the information but ways that that we do measure success and impact are We we start just, I guess, on a granular level with the the dream family and we send out surveys and we ask them, you know, how have we shown our core values and list those out?
Did the experience meet your expectations? What were some of the the best parts of the experience? Did we achieve our mission through, through what you experienced? And so we wrote out our, you know, we've written out our mission and, and so we do, uh, receive and, and kind of look at that, that data for, for success.
The, the impact we have found, especially through, through the daydreams, being able to, to impact more kids and families at one event and. Tremendously through our junior dream team and collegiate dream teams, because not only is it one person that is going to receive their dream and the family members.
So that could be anywhere between 4 and 6 just experience in that dream opportunity. But if you, if you go through the different layers of folks that. Not only helped volunteer or to include the students time or the student bodies that have come together at the send off or that have helped to raise money or participated in other awareness events throughout the year.
And even on a, you know, another dimension with our referral partners and their, their staff teams to are the ones that are on the front lines, working with our, our kids and young adults on a daily basis. You've made the referrals typically to us. And so. And then community members, the sponsors, like there's, there's just so many different layers of involvement and support.
And so we, we capture all of that data. So it, where it might start with one dreamer, it kind of goes into all of these different layers of people who have been impacted at, at various levels.
Roger Suclupe: Thanks for sharing that, Elizabeth. Also want to follow up with how does the organization embed its core values? of servanthood, waymaker, inspirational, mission focused stewardship.
So these are the values that y'all portray through your website. How do you embed that into the work that you're doing? But more importantly, how is it also, how does it come out in the data as well? Like the storytelling, like how does that impact funders or potential grants that y'all may aim for in order to continue the sustainability of the programs?
Elizabeth Lindsey: No, that's that is that is a great question on many different levels. So our core values starting even with our staff and volunteers taking a look at the people that who are behind the scenes, helping to to organize and plan these daydreams dream experiences. I mean, everything is we're looking through the lens of.
Of all of our core values and making sure that we've got the right people who, who possess those, those core values, helping us with all that we do. And so in return, as we're, we've got these, these people in place, helping us, you know, execute the, the programming, but also capture capture what's happening the, the storytelling, as you mentioned.
So. With most all of our events, we do have a photographer and a videographer that that capture what what all is happening. And so if you go to our website, you can, you can just see so many different dream recipients and their experiences. And even through the various programs, there's, there's a lot of pictures and video that.
That really do a much better job telling telling these stories, then then we can and so whenever we're talking with potential donors, and we're applying for grants or are looking at those to to be corporate sponsors. We we use that information. We share those videos. We share that content. We use the pictures to to do the.
the storytelling and it shares the impact. It shows the, the emotional, just the emotional impact of the recipient, the families, everyone that's involved, and just again that ripple effect of community and how people are impacted, how they participate, and then how these potential funders can also be involved.
They, a lot of times they like to involve their employees and their communities as, as a way, you know, of. Of being a part of of the greater work and being part of these core values and in the in the mission And so we've had a lot of success with that
Drew Reynolds: as a follow up to Talking about storytelling as a key part You mentioned having people who are helping you tell that story whether it's videographers or photographers or other You know the folks kind of accompanying the child or as or the youth as they go through their dream experience What have you learned?
Uh, about storytelling in your work that maybe you can share with other organizations who are doing similar things or trying to find ways to communicate. The success or the impact of the work that they're doing.
Elizabeth Lindsey: Yeah, you can't do it without it. Yeah, I mean, it's been it's been imperative to have our marketing, our videos, our images to to really share what what DreamOn3 is is about, what we're doing and how people are being affected by it.
And so, I mean, I would say you can't You just can't do it without it. You got to have these pieces in place so that people can have that emotional connectivity to. To what your, your work is. I mean, we can talk about it all day long. But if I was to show you a video and you could see the emotion that individual is feeling going through their, you know, hearing that their dream starts right now, and they're getting ready to get in a limo and, uh, Onto a plane to head head across the country, and it just just the power of being able to to physically see that visual and react to the emotion is one of the most powerful things that that dream on three can can share, I think, with the community and and get people to get people involved, but also just the reality to of what these kids are going through being able to.
to hear their story through a video and in a bit of a bit of a documentary really a lot of times we like to share what the individual has gone through and and then when they receive their experience how has it impacted them afterwards and and specifically from the mental health perspective that that hope and encouragement that they receive through the dream or even the daydream or or the daydream box it A lot of times we'll, we'll give them a different perspective or brighten their day or give even put them on a different trajectory for next steps, whether it be to pursue their education to the next level or to even with these junior dream teams and collegiate dream teams, they find that they've got a heart for for service.
And it, it really changes, you know, their, their thought process, but, but being able to, to share what these students and what these dreamers and families go through with other people in the community is, has been just a tremendous part of, of our mission work.
Roger Suclupe: Elizabeth, I'm curious to know a little bit more about follow up so and how perhaps utilizing data or utilizing stories can impact any type of follow up or that may come up, you know, recognizing that it is an experience.
So it's there's an inception of when this is happening and then the actual experience and then the experience ends. Right. And so you spoke to how COVID impacted the way y'all delivered the experiences and how it also embedded this concept of the junior dreamers and then the collegiate dreamers, and that was really neat to see that how it all came together.
But then how does, how do y'all look at follow up and then how does data impact what follow up would look like?
Elizabeth Lindsey: Yeah, so, so follow up, uh, and I don't want to maybe get too, too granular because I very easily can, but following up on so many different levels, whether it's first and foremost, that the family, the, the sponsors, the individuals that have donated, whether it be hotels, transportation, sports partners, athletes, their, their time and, and their services to, to our, I mean, it's the, Our follow up.
I mean, we have a whole process with in all of our programming that we we track. We do a lot of tracking and a lot of collecting of of data with who all from from the first point of. Of contact with our referral partners to to our sports partners to the hospitality industry who's helped us add the details and have helped make these dreams possible to the sponsors and the community members that the schools to to make sure that one they're properly thanked but but to that we have the information and there's just a lot of information that that we gather that we can keep when we, you know, if we go back to that.
City again, or if we do another daydream experience, what groups have we served and what groups have we not in a while? So, and Roger, I'm going to backtrack a little bit to to your question. So, so I think I've answered a part of it, but maybe not all of it. What was the 2nd part?
Roger Suclupe: Well, no, you did. I was.
Looking at follow up from a wide gamut and like you mentioned, there's a lot of logistics involved with this. So from point of contact all the way to when the experiences is over, there's just a lot of moving pieces. And I guess part of my interest or sort of my curiosity is not only from the perspective of like you mentioned, people who are donating their time, whether it's the athlete, whether it's the hotel, whether it's all those individuals.
Yeah. But then also the families or the kiddos who are experiencing the experience, what does follow up look for them? Because, you know, that is an important part of the work that's being done in general in this type of human service landscape.
Elizabeth Lindsey: Right. Absolutely. And so one thing that we do, and that we're, we're proud of is after, after these kiddos, our dream recipients receive their, their dream, they become dream alumni, and we're not just a one and done, like you've had your dream and we're not Can I ever see or talk to you again?
The each stream experience has a dream leader, somebody that, that travels, typically their travel experiences, but accompanies the, the dream, the dream recipient and family from A to Z. They help navigate them through the sendoff, through the logistics of flying, to getting checked in at the hotel and all the meals and additional activities in conjunction with the The main piece, which is that sports component.
So there is a lot of relationship building for our dream leaders and photographer and videographers who basically become an extension, a little extended family, or an extension of the dreamer, the dreamers family during that, that two to. To 4 day experience, and so at the end of it, it's it's not a goodbye.
It's a see you later. And we're going to we're going to stay in touch and and do so on a regular basis, whether it's monthly, whether it's phone calls, text, but the dreamers become alumni and so every year, whether it's through an annual alumni event, or it's a gift that is customized that we send out with a personalized card, letting them know.
Hey. You know, we're thinking of you and we're so grateful. You're part of the dream on three family. Like it's, we mean what, what we say when, when we say you're, you, you know, welcome to the dream on three family,
Drew Reynolds: as we get closer to the ends of our interview, I wanted to take a moment actually just to invite you, if you're willing or able to tell one story of a dreamer that had a transformative dreamer experience that you could share with our audience.
Elizabeth Lindsey: Absolutely. That is hard. That is hard. We've done it. We've done a lot of dreams and they're also incredibly special in their, in their own way. And, and every dream is completely different from, from the next, even if, you know, they might have the same sports hero or favorite team there. These dreams are really unique and customized for that individual.
One that really comes to mind, comes to mind quite often is one that we did early on for a young lady. Her name is Angel. And she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in which they were able, the medical staff was able to get the majority of the, The brain tumor, but there was still 5 percent left in her, in her brain stem, even to this day.
And she has to have checkups, but she's doing really well. But her dream was to go deer hunting with a professional hunter. And so we worked with Adam LaRoche and, and buck commander and took her to, to Kansas where Adam and his family invited. Angel and her family, not only to hunt, but to stay at their property and to stay at their, their lodge, which was very close to, to their house.
And so Angel, I mean, you can't, you can't put this kind of dream together. I mean, you can't promise that, you know, a recipient. Hey, you're going to go. You're going to go hunt a deer and it's going to, you're going to get one. I mean, you just, it's, it's nearly impossible to, to, to say that, but what we were able to confirm was we're going to get you out hunting and with a professional.
And Adam was a professional and, and he put her in a blind with her dad and, you know, And she, she killed with her bow a 13 point buck. One eye had to be blindfolded just because of the brain tumor. And so it was just incredible. It was incredible to see her with one eye covered to, For her to go hunting and to do that shoot a when she didn't even shoot.
She she with the bow and arrow even more than that was the the family time that they were able to receive from Adam and his family and how Adam and angels father connected, even to the point where Adams family invited angel and their family to church that Sunday and angel was able to share her testimony when Adams hometown and even to this day, they still keep in touch.
So all of those things were just incredible and we were kind of standing on the sidelines like what is going on this is so much bigger than us. Willie Robertson, Adam flew him in so that was a surprise visit because Willie was part of may still be a part of Buck Commander and that that group but it was just like one thing after another and for us it was just blowing our minds like this is so much bigger than us.
And not only the dream itself and an angel, the recipient, but all the things that that were taking place were, were miraculous really.
Roger Suclupe: Wow. The fact that you're right, you couldn't guarantee, Hey, there's going to be some deer or some bucks around there. Maybe. And they may be far away, but that it was with a bow and arrow.
Oh, that's pretty tough. Oh, wow. So Elizabeth, thank you for sharing that. This has been a wonderful interview, a great conversation and discussion. I'm more hopeful that our, that our listeners are gaining some valuable information about the organization. This is the interview that I also enjoy a lot is a lot is when we gravitate towards pop culture and I get to ask a question related to that.
So because, yeah, yeah. So I'm back. Right. So because this is sports related theme, Interview, I'm going to, my question is going to be sports related. So Elizabeth, if you can share with us and I'll start us off, but my question is, if you can share with us a childhood memory of a sports event or something that happened in the sports world that you just connected with, and whenever you may hear or see something that's similar to that, it brings you back to that particular memory.
I'll start us off. So I'm going to give you like a boilerplate of where to go if you want. I'm a Duke fan. Yes. Uh, very proud Duke fan here. And even though I went to Chapel Hill for my graduate degree, way of Appalachian state university undergrad. So I'll just throw that out. So anyway, as a Duke fan, I will never forget the day.
I will never forget where I was when Duke played Kentucky in 1992 and Christian Laitner hit his miraculous shot that was football thrown by Grant Hill almost 90 feet. Maybe it was 80 something, but he made that shot to beat Kentucky. I was, I knew where it was. I was with a bunch of friends and they all left because they said Kentucky has it.
And I was the only one who stayed in that room and watch the game. And so that's just my memory. I'll keep it with me forever. And of course. That's everybody's memory, right? So, so great. Love it.
Elizabeth Lindsey: Love it. Oh my goodness. I don't, I don't know that I, I mean, my mind goes to Michael Jordan. I don't, I don't know that I have a specific, it just, just the memory or, or thing that he did, but one of my very best friends was obsessed with Michael Jordan.
And so, because she was, uh, Watched, you know, some games and just him flying in the air and him doing, doing his thing and probably didn't appreciate it at the time, but certainly do now. And just, I mean, he was, you know, I don't know if he's the greatest basketball player, probably, probably that that's ever come through people.
Some people might argue that I don't know, but that that's what comes to mind.
Roger Suclupe: You can't go wrong with Michael Jordan, and I remember the Air Jordans when they came out, so it was a big hit. I had to do a lot of stuff to try to get those Jordans, but Drew, what's your sports childhood related memory?
Drew Reynolds: Oh, you know me.
I'm always going to go with some Notre Dame football story, which would probably make enemies for me on this podcast, but I got to see a game in 2005, and I believe I was a student then at Notre Dame, and we were playing USC. And it was a game, it was Brady Quinn quarterback, Notre Dame. And then it was Reggie Bush was, you know, the USC running back and nerding was not supposed to win this game going in, but there was a lot of exciting, like maybe we can knock off a big team, big home game under the lights at night.
And remember going crazy when Notre Dame scored a touchdown with less than a minute left to go ahead to beat USC and then watch in tragedy as USC comes down the field and on the last play of the game when we had so many opportunities to stop them and keep them out of the end zone, they scored not, you know, it's, it's, you think like, well, I still have actually a lot of fond memories of that game because it was so fun and it was such a like, yeah.
Emotional game to watch, and even though the result did not up the way that it did, but I feel like to me, I always come back to that game when I think of like the best sports game I've ever seen.
Elizabeth Lindsey: That's awesome. That's fun guys.
Drew Reynolds: Well, Elizabeth, thank you so much for spending time with us today to talk a little bit about Dreamon 3.
If there's people who want to get in touch with you or learn more about your organization, how can they do that?
Elizabeth Lindsey: Yeah, definitely check out the website dream on three, the number three dot org always available by email. But for folks really, yeah, just to check out what we're doing and how we're serving the communities and in what communities we're in would would welcome anybody to do that.
And also just happy to have any conversations, especially with other nonprofits who are, you know, Who are doing great things. We, we love to, to collaborate and be one team in these communities and, and, and work together to serve more, but thank you guys. Thank, thank you both, Drew and Roger for having me on the podcast and just for, for what you do, appreciate you guys,
Roger Suclupe: but thanks for joining us.
Thank you.
Our Guest
Elizabeth Lindsey is the co-founder and driving force behind Dream On 3, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling sports dreams for children and young adults with life-altering conditions. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Elizabeth's vision has expanded the organization's reach to multiple cities, including Denver, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.
Under Elizabeth's leadership, Dream On 3 offers various programs such as the Dream Experience, Daydream Program, Junior Dream Team, Collegiate Dream Team, and Dream Box initiative. These programs provide personalized sports experiences that bring hope and joy to dream recipients and their families. Her dedication to service and her innovative approach have transformed countless lives, making sports dreams come true for young athletes.
