“The zip code you either are born in or you live in should not dictate how long you live. Period.”

Dion Dawson’s Chicago Dream saved his life. In 2020, during the pandemic, Dawson was broke, angry, and disillusioned by a system that had not advanced in providing food equity and accessibility since he was a transient, sometimes homeless kid at age five. That year, what Dawson created – with the assistance of his wife, mom, and friends – out of that trauma-filled frustration was Dion’s Chicago Dream, an organization and movement to feed as many folks in need as possible with fresh and healthy food.

Since that inception, Dawson has built a nonprofit system to combat food inequity and improve health outcomes of the population by centering the process of emergency food provisions on the experience of the recipients. The organization has provided more than three million pounds of purchased fruits and vegetables for those who need it, in what he calls the “opposite of the pantry model.” With an impact that has seen them purchase, pack and deliver every single pound and create almost 50 wage-paying jobs, the Dream Team is nowhere near done.

Learn more about Dion’s Chicago Dream at dionschicagodream.com