Extend the Dream Foundation

The Extend The Dream Foundation (EDF) was founded as a non-profit organization in Iowa in 1997. In 1999, EDF redefined its target to serve persons with disabilities and the aging. EDF's mission is to assist these persons establish their own microenterprises and expand their employment opportunities. EDF also helps educate the public about "disability" through demonstration projects and media.

EDF sponsors a series of "Uptown Bill's" projects in memory of its namesake, Bill Sackter. Bill, a mentally-challenged man, who had been forced to spend nearly a half century as an "inmate" in an institution, ended up as one of the most-well loved and respected members of the community in Iowa City, where he spent the last eight years of his life. Two award winning movies were made about his life: "Bill" (1981) and "Bill on His Own" (1983).

EDF Uptown Bill's Projects include:

1. Uptown Bill's Small Mall - a mini mall of four small businesses managed and operated by persons with disabilities, including a famed soda fountain and the "best little bookstore in Iowa."
Location: 401 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City

2. Uptown Bill's E-Commerce Center - an EDF-owned building that houses an upscale antique store, a training center for teaching persons with disabilities how to buy and sell on the Internet, and a store for framing pictures and selling art.
Location: 2203 F Street, Iowa City

3. Mick's Workshop - a building, located across the street from the E-Commerce Center, housing a furniture refinishing and small home repair shop and a small business to serve persons with disabilities and elderly persons living in their home or an apartment with accommodations and home maintenance.
Location: 2218 F Street, Iowa City

4. Sackter House Media Productions - a publishing, communication and media company with a mission to tell stories about persons with disabilities, whose stories would otherwise go untold, through print or other forms of media.
Location: 401 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City

5. The Sackter House - a private client-owned house housing project, whose three owners are associated with Uptown Bill's Projects.

EDF, now with a local film production company, has finished the major 90 minute documentary on the life of Bill Sackter, "A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story."