Lia Ramirez, of Orland Park, said she feels like she is a whole new person.
Two years ago, she said she was “very, very shy” and would never dream she could get up in front of a group of people and talk. She said she was even too scared to talk to instructors when she struggled with her studies.
The 20-year-old Sandburg High School graduate spent a year at Moraine Valley Community College, then spent a gap year in which she joined the Tinley Park-based iCan Dream Center.
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Now Ramirez is enrolled at Prairie State College and had the confidence to deliver a heartfelt speech during a ceremony Thursday as the iCan Center opened a classroom at the two-year college in Chicago Heights.
“Oh, my goodness, I’ve seen such a difference in me from then until now,” Ramirez said after the ceremony. “I was a little confused and a little lost. I would have never been able to speak in front of people.”
Thursday’s event was called a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Room 3230 in the campus’s main building. But there was no ribbon nor cutting. There was, however, a ceremonial exchange as Prairie State President Michael Anthony presented iCan founder Evisha Ford with a key to the campus.
“This is so special,” Anthony said. “We’re ecstatic for this work that iCan is doing on this campus and across this region.
The iCan Dream Center bills itself as a nonprofit therapeutic school and community-based organization serving neurodiverse children, young adults and families throughout Cook and Will counties.
The organization uses special education, behavioral health services, workforce development, transition programming, family support and community partnerships.
The idea is to empower individuals to discover their strengths, build independence and create meaningful futures beyond the classroom.
The center has been around since 2013. Over the years, it has built up a strong network of businesses that help and hire the iCan students.
Officials say this new partnership with Prairie State reflects a shared vision that every student deserves the opportunity to experience college life, develop independence, prepare for meaningful employment and envision a future filled with possibility.
“This is not about cutting ribbons, it’s about cutting assumptions,” Ford said. “The assumption that the neurodiverse should live and work and be educated in spaces that are separate.
“We want to give our students experiences that remind them that they have a purpose and can contribute to this world. And we want them to belong here.”
Ford jokingly called the classroom “iCan Dream Center East” and introduced Cherie Jones as the teacher in charge of the venture.
“This is a very thrilling moment for me,” Jones said. “But when I called, my heart dropped. I didn’t hear ‘here’s this great new opportunity,’ I heard ‘you’re going to be away from the center.’’’
She said she stepped back and took in what a gift the new job was.
“We’re opening up a space that our students can begin to dream what’s really next for them,” Jones said. “They now have exposure to other students and exposure to programs they have never seen. We’ve created something that is so beautiful and so peaceful.”
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Officials said the expansion was inspired by students whose potential has too often exceeded the support available to them.
Scott Gonzalez, 20, of Homewood, said the experience has been great so far.
“I get to experience what college life is,” he said. “What surprised me the most was that I can do a lot more at Prairie State College and I look forward to getting a new job after Prairie State.”
Shawn Shumate, 19, of Lynwood, said the experience has been “very blessing and compassionate for me.”
During her speech, Ramirez touched on the role that iCan Dream and Prairie State have played in her life.
“I was very shy,” she said. “I was very, very shy. But at the iCan dream center, I was able to connect more and throughout my whole experience was amazing.
“I have genuinely seen a difference within myself. I used to struggle to ask for help. I thought I would be scolded for asking for help. But I grew and realized its OK to ask for help.”
She said part of growing up is for people to step out of their shell and learn to know what they want out of life.
“This program has inspired me to finish my college degree,” said Ramirez, who is studying fine arts. “Yeah, sometimes I want to go home and have hot chips and play video games. But I need to work and be productive. I need to be an adult.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.