Dispatches: The Changing American Dream

In the year since Lake in the Hills Patch has launched, we've come to know your struggles and your victories. We've come to know your worries and your hopes.

We’ve tried to tell your story. And in nearly 900 Patches across 900 American towns, we've come to see a larger vision. We see America changing before our eyes.

American families, businesses and neighbors are coping with tremendous challenges. National debates have been ignited about unemployment, debt, religion and the role of government. Businesses big and small have attempted to navigate an uncertain future.

In Patch towns from coast to coast, college graduates are returning home unable to find jobs, senior citizens are struggling to pay the bills and businesses are cutting costs to stay alive. But we also see bold new volunteer efforts, inspiring stories of innovation and residents who've decided now is the time to engage more in their government.

At the core of these issues is a larger question: What has happened to the American Dream? Does it still exist? Is it still attainable? We at Patch want to explore that conversation on a daily basis.

We want to dig further into Lake in the Hills and tell these stories at the local level.

Nationally, Americans are debating the role of government and the education system, which is at the center of our dreams of a better life for our children.

Locally, schools are grappling with smaller budgets, decreasing enrollments and have been forced to lay off teachers, which has in turn increased classrooms sizes.

The launch of Dispatches signals the start of a conversation that will be built upon the compelling vignettes and snapshots we unearth across all of our Patch sites across the nation.

We hope you'll join in the conversation and talk to us about the dreams you have for your country, your town, yourself — and the challenges you face in achieving those dreams.  Because, after all, your dream is the American Dream. Your story is the American story.

We're just here to tell it.