News & Events

We are saddened by the passing of Harold (Buzzy) Friedman, a longtime member of the “I Have A Dream” Foundation family whose commitment to young people in New York spanned more than three decades.

In 1993, Harold became the Sponsor of approximately 80 third graders from the Ravenswood Houses in Long Island City, Queens. What followed was not simply financial support. Harold became deeply involved in the lives and education of the young people he proudly called his Dreamers.

He worked with local school leaders and the New York City Board of Education to create new academic opportunities for the Ravenswood class, brought additional teachers into their classrooms and remained alongside Dream Scholars and their families as they moved from elementary school through high school and into college, careers and adulthood.

When Ravenswood celebrated their 2004 high school graduation, Dream Scholar Saul Arvelo reflected on Harold’s decade of commitment and expressed the class’s hope that one day they could repay him by presenting him with copies of their college degrees.

Harold described what kept him committed so simply: “The combination of trust and long-term perspective built the good will and energy to achieve our goals.”

That belief remains at the heart of the work we do today.

We extend our condolences to Harold’s wife, Linda, his children Lianne, Jeffrey and Peter, his grandchildren and step-grandchildren and everyone whose life he touched. We are grateful for the decades he spent showing what a long-term commitment to young people can make possible.