Hear from the Orange County DREAM Team:

This is Vanessa Castillo, with the Orange County DREAM Team.  For
the last couple of months, we have built a coalition of DREAM
activistis within Orange County.  The coalition is built of community
colleges, universities, community organizations, parents, and labor
unions as well.  We have gathered letters of support for DREAM from
every person we have encountered.  Thanks to a great community
organization based in Anaheim, CA named Los Amigos, we were able to
schedule a meeting with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.  This meeting
will be held on Saturday, May 9th at 10am.  There will be 5 students
and 5 community leaders attending the meeting with Congresswoman
Sanchez.  She has never been a cosponsor of DREAM.  As a coalition, we
are also collecting postcards, and petition signatures.  We are
approaching school boards, council members, the mayor, community
leaders, chancellors, community college districts etc for letters of
support.  Orange County, CA has pretty much always been a very
conservative county, however, with the help from all of us that want
change, change is happening!

It seems like the Orange County DREAM Team has their hands full. The UCLA Alliance of DREAMs had a great series of actions last week. The New York State Youth Leadership Council has a Leadership Conference on May 9 and is planning the a Mock Graduation on June 23. Students in several states are making quilts and pillows for Congress. DreamACTivists around the country have their hands full with workshops, teach-ins, and more lobbying.

The effort for DREAM Act of 2009 calls for greater networking and coordination.

What Can You Do as an Organizer or Student Group?

• Share your upcoming events and efforts with us.
• Join the United We DREAM national conference call at 3PM EST / 12 PM PST tomorrow, May 06, 2009. To RSVP, email olubunmi@nilc.org

See our Act Now page for more information on ways to get involved and help out.