29 Years After Winning Olympic Gold, Kristi Yamaguchi is Still Paying it Forward With Always Dream Foundation

After Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games Albertville in 1992, her mother asked her a question that would alter the course of the rest of her life.
 
You've been so fortunate and lucky to have so much support. What are you going to do to give back?
 
"My family has always been very community-minded," Yamaguchi said. "And that stayed with me."
 
Yamaguchi joined Stars on Ice in 1992, and for her first few years, the beneficiary of the tour was the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It was her first experience working with a nonprofit, and she found it incredibly rewarding to simply bring a smile to a child's face.
 
"It was so impactful working with those families, and seeing some of the struggles out there," Yamaguchi said. "And I felt like I could do more, and wanted to do more. So that really inspired me to start the foundation and to focus on underserved kids."

So in 1996, Yamaguchi founded the Always Dream Foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
 
 
For the first 15 years of its existence, Always Dream helped smaller organizations under the radar in a variety of ways, but always focusing on disadvantaged kids. It donated mattresses to a homeless shelter, provided a thousand pairs of shoes to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and built an all-abilities playground in Yamaguchi's hometown of Fremont, California.
 
But the focus narrowed when Yamaguchi and husband Bret Hedican -- a hockey player whom she met at the Olympics -- had daughters of their own.
 
"They were about 4 and 6 years old, and we found that the best advice we were given as parents when our first daughter was born was, 'Read to her now,'" she said. "So we had a really strong reading routine at home, and we saw the benefits of that. But we know that other families out there don't have those resources. Sixty percent of low-income families have no books in the home that are age-appropriate. So we wanted to change that. We wanted every child to have the opportunity to develop that love of books and that love of reading early on."
 
So in 2011, Always Dream decided to focus solely on childhood literacy.
 
"Our mission is to provide low-income families the tools and resources for literacy success and family engagement support to further the success of literacy in the home," Yamaguchi said. "And we're really about trying to close that opportunity gap and the digital divide, and really empower the families at home to feel like they are making a difference in their child's education."
 
The foundation has a reading program that targets low-income kindergarten families, providing a one-to-one digital tablet with access to thousands of books that they're encouraged to access at home. There's also family engagement support to help primary caregivers understand the importance of being involved in their child's learning at home and give them the tools so that they can play an active role. Text messages are sent out to parents three times a week, and there are touch points for teachers and families throughout the school year to help them set a reading routine at home.
 
Always Dream serves low-income families in Arizona, California and Hawaii, partnering with 28 high-need schools.
 
While a 25th anniversary gala is scheduled for October of this year, plans have gotten more tentative due to the pandemic. However, none of Always Dream's at-home programs have had to change, and are in fact more relevant than ever.
 
"I'm just really proud. I feel fortunate to have had an incredible team of people around me," Yamaguchi said. "It's amazing, the generosity out there. If you just galvanize people, things happen."
 
These days, Yamaguchi skates several times a year, mostly with friends and family, and last performed three years ago.
 
"Once I get out there it's a lot of fun, but sometimes it's frustrating when you can't quite do things you used to do anymore," she said with a laugh. "But if it's with friends and family, it's always a good time."
 
However, she's now a skating mom. Her 15-year-old daughter Emma skates, though not competitively, and for the last nine years has been coached by Yamaguchi's former pairs partner Rudy Galindo.
 
Before Yamaguchi went on to become a U.S., World and Olympic champion in singles, she and Galindo won two U.S. pairs titles.
 
"He's probably the only coach that would tolerate me texting him in the middle of the lesson saying, 'Make her keep her back straighter! Tell her to go faster!'" Yamaguchi said, laughing. "I probably wouldn't get away with that with anyone else."
 
A Bay Area native, she's also been a role model to fellow Bay Area skaters, including 2014 Olympian Polina Edmunds, 2018 Olympian Karen Chen and two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu. She's assisted Liu and her coaching team with resources around the area, and has followed Chen's career and offered advice since Chen was 12, evolving into a mentor.
 
"I'm in awe of what they're doing these days," Yamaguchi said. "They've definitely progressed with the sport in taking it to the next level. So I'm in awe, but if there's any inspiration or words of advice, I'm always open to young athletes."
 
On Feb. 21, Yamaguchi celebrated the 29th anniversary of winning her Olympic gold medal, and says it's starting to feel more and more like a distant memory.
 
"I think the first 10, 15 years it was like, 'Gosh, it seems like yesterday,'" she said. "But now it's starting to be like, 'Wow, I almost can't remember what it feels like to be able to do that anymore.'"
 
She frequently jokes with 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano that at least her Olympics was broadcast in color -- Boitano's was as well -- and enjoys looking back at old videos to relive that time in her life.
 
But, while it may have been nearly three decades ago, it's never far from Yamaguchi's mind.
 
"It was an incredible, special memory that just changed my life," Yamaguchi said. "It afforded me so many opportunities afterwards that every day I feel like I'm grateful for that experience."

Learn more about Kristi Yamaguchi's work with the Always Dream Foundation by visiting their website at alwaysdream.org.

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