The Sweet Dream Project
The Sweet Dreams Project partners with hospitals to transform sterile rooms into personalized healing environments for children facing long hospital stays. Founded by Ayana Banks, a high school senior and former pediatric cancer patient, the project is grounded in a simple belief: healing isn't just about medicine, it's about how a space makes a child feel. Each room is shaped around what a child loves, from favorite colors to characters to hobbies, restoring a sense of identity, dignity, and comfort during some of the hardest moments a family will face.
About the Project
Sweet Dreams had the heart of a national movement but ran entirely through one person. Every intake, fundraising conversation, and installation depended on Ayana, which limited how many children the program could reach and put her at risk of burnout. ALBC partnered with her to build the operational and brand foundation the project needed to grow without losing what made it work. That meant designing a hospital integrated model where care teams identify eligible patients while families retain the choice and personalization that make each room meaningful, and introducing a two tier kit system that keeps the program scalable without sacrificing its heart.
The Outcome
The result is a clear path from founder led passion project to a program hospitals can trust and adopt. A phased growth model moves from deepened capacity at CHOP to a second hospital network and an eventual out of state pilot, supported by a brand direction built for credibility with institutions and donors alike. A hero campaign, "100 Rooms by 2026," gives the story a rallying point for individual donors, corporate partners, and press. With the strategy in place, Sweet Dreams can shift from constant outreach to inbound demand, freeing Ayana to lead as its creative voice rather than its only labor source.
