Dream Center Opens at Norwalk High School

On Friday, February 3rd, the LA vs Hate Dream Center at Norwalk High School was opened with students, LA vs Hate team members, and staff from the LA County Commission on Human Relations present to celebrate this moment.

With funding provided by the American Rescue Plan, LA vs Hate has been working with the LA County Board Offices and LA Dept. of Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention to identify locations of Dream Centers in schools where students and their families are in need of safe and inclusive spaces. Dream Centers were started in 2016 by teachers who saw how anti-immigrant rhetoric was negatively impacting immigrant students. Today, these Dream Centers operate as welcoming spaces to not just immigrant students, but LGBTQ+, BIPOC, English Language Learners, students enrolled in special education and all students who are looking for a safe place to make friends, improve their educational experience and learn about ways to engage with their community. LA vs Hate partner agencies Asian Youth Center and Helpline Youth Counseling are operating the eight new Dream Centers, with additional partner agencies planned to provide peer to peer counseling; peer mediation; restorative practices; or legal clinics, depending on the school’s needs.

The opening of the Norwalk High School Dream Center marks the eighth Dream Center accessible to students in LA County with the other seven located at Fedde Middle School, Hawaiian Gardens; Piute Middle School, Lancaster; La Puente High School, Artesia High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Inglewood High School, and Morningside High School. We are thrilled to be able to provide this resource for schools in the County and to have seen such an amazing turnout for this grand opening with students receiving items from LA vs Hate, spending time in their new Dream Center, and community members and leaders coming together to show their support.