By: Ashmar Mandou

Beginning today undocumented youth will have the opportunity to reach higher levels of education, due in large part to the Illinois DREAM Fund. Last Friday, the Illinois DREAM Fund revealed it will begin accepting applications for scholarships on Thursday, Nov. 1st.

“We look forward to assisting Illinois immigrant students pursue their dreams of a college education, especially those students who may not be able to otherwise obtain financial assistance to make their dreams a reality,” said Tanya Cabrera, chairman of the Illinois Dream Fund Commission.

The Illinois DREAM Fund is an independent, non-profit corporation that aims to develop ways undocumented youth can access financial funding to further their ‘growth and development,’ stated Cabrera. Students interested in applying to the Illinois DREAM Fun Scholarship must be incoming freshmen or current undergraduates that have a 2.5GPA or higher in their field of study.

“We encourage elected officials, business leaders, and community members to assist us by donating to the fund in order to help as many undocumented youth as possible in the State of Illinois,” said Rigo Padilla, board member of the Illinois DREAM Fund, in a statement.

Board members of the Illinois DREAM Fund were responsible for creating a nonprofit corporation that will raise private funds to offer scholarships for Illinois immigrant students. Currently, board members of corporation include, Chairman Tanya Cabrera, Clara Rubenstein, Clare Munana, Moises Zavala, Rigoberto Padilla-Perez, and Ron Perlman. To date, the Illinois DREAM Fund has raised close to $500,000, mostly due to private-donations. For more information on the scholarship, visit www.illinoisdreamfund.org.