Neglected neighborhoods and failing schools mar our nation’s capital. To address this tragedy, Bruce Adams has created a number of initiatives, including a baseball and literacy program in seven of the district’s poorest schools. By reviving urban playing fields and providing programs for young children of the blighted inner city, Bruce Adams has transformed young lives for the better. Bruce calls this outreach program, Fields of Dreams
Fields of Dreams has brought new life to neglected neighborhoods, reviving fields once reduced to weeds and trash-filled eyesores. Bruce works directly with the Washington DC Parks & Recreation Department to maintain the fields. But the real power of the program concerns its greatest resources: inner city youth. To date, Fields of Dreams has provided 1,000 disadvantaged student members (“Dreamers”) with the support of caring adults in safe and inspiring environments. Designed to combine academic, athletic, nutritional, as well as citizenship values, Fields of Dreams connects and reinforces these four elements while building the self-esteem of the children. At each of the designated elementary schools, the program serves twenty boys and girls with a DCPS teacher and a baseball coach working as a team, both in the classroom and on the field. The academic enrichment component focuses on the nine values that guided the life of baseball legend and pioneer, Jackie Robinson, about which his daughter, Sharon, discusses in her book: Jackie’s Nine. Fields of Dreams also provides each young Dreamer with first-rate equipment and a pro-style uniform.
Every summer, the program hosts a seven-week day camp. Combining three hours of baseball with two free meals and three hours of academic enrichment (to address the issue of summer learning loss), the camp helps instill positive attitudes by addressing a child’s nutritional as well as educational needs. With the support of the District’s Department of Parks & Recreation, teams of Dreamers from five schools currently attend the camp at Kimball ES/Jackie Robinson Field/RBI Field.
As a college student, Bruce Adams studied under the noted historian Eric Goldman, who specialized in the history of the turn-of-the-century Reform Movement. Goldman’s book, Rendezvous With Destiny, and course changed the course of Bruce’s life. He has since served in public office, devoted time to causes, and strived to bring to life his professor’s teachings. For the past thirty-five years, Bruce Adams has worked round-the-clock for positive change and the good of his community. He operates four non-profits: Fields of Dreams; The Bethesda Big Train; Lazarus Leadership Fellows; and A Greater Washington, promoting youth leadership, community building, and helping the disadvantaged help themselves. In all that he does, Bruce Adams keeps the flame of social conscience alive -- while passing the torch to a new generation.
To learn more about Bruce and his causes, and how you can make a difference, please visit:
www.greaterwash.org.
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