Dreams Realized: Dil’s Story

A core and unique aspect of the Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning approach is the family success program, a collaboration with enrolled families to assist them in taking dreams that once felt out of reach and making them possible.

This program aims to build safe, strong, financially stable homes for CHS children and their families by providing comprehensive family support services in addition to what children receive in the classroom.

It provides an opportunity for families to partner with our Family Success Teams, including a dedicated Family Success Advocate assigned to each family. Through meetings, home visits, and ongoing connection, they work together to support families in advancing other important areas of their lives and reach their goals by connecting them to resources and supports.

Dil’s Story

Dil Dhungyel, a CHS Hershey father, and Brenda Drawbaugh, a CHS Hershey Family Success Advocate, created a prime example of teamwork that led to the fulfillment of a dream.

Dhungyel’s father is originally from Bhutan, before his family fled to India and eventually to Nepal, where they lived for 17 years with “limited educational and economic opportunities,” he said.

Dhungyel immigrated to the United States into Texas through a refugee program in August 2008 – right in the middle of the Great Recession.

His family later moved to Palmyra, Pennsylvania, in 2020, navigating more economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He started seeing construction and advertisements for CHS in 2023 and was intrigued.

“It was a golden opportunity for us,” he said.

Dreams Realized

Dhungyel applied and his daughter was accepted, beginning their first experience with child care outside of their home when CHS Hershey opened in October 2023. For his daughter, it provided a structured, high-quality early childhood education environment. For him, it offered time, flexibility, and support in his own professional and educational pursuits.

“This early learning Center not only provides education, but also assists families,” he said. “Parents can work, uplift financially, and there is less stress, less conflict in the family.”

Dhungyel dreamt of going back to school and earning his MBA, which he recently accomplished from the University of Scranton with a concentration in healthcare, all while continuing to work.

“I was able to achieve [my MBA] without stress because my child was in CHS,” he said. “Otherwise, I would have ended with Cs and Bs.”

His daughter, Meghan, recently celebrated a milestone accomplishment of her own moving on to kindergarten. Dhungyel said he has seen marked improvement in multiple areas since she started at CHS in 2023.

“She was a little bit shy when she first came here,” he said. “Now she is exposed to friends, has structured learning, and engages in STEM, art, and practical skills.

“The development of academic ability, social skills, cognitive skills are very essential. Children under five must be cared for; it’s like the foundation of a building. If that’s weak, the building cannot sustain.”

Dhungyel’s younger daughter, Aarohi, started her first year at CHS Hershey this school year as a preschooler.

Extraordinary Impact at CHS

“I cannot express how greatly CHS helps families, even if we don’t always realize the impacts happening,” Dhungyel said. “Because of this school, we are economically here. Ten years from now, people will talk about it all the time.”

He expressed that CHS doesn’t only positively help families economically but that impact results in uplifting the entire surrounding community.

“This institute has created an everlasting contribution,” Dhungyel said. “It can uplift families on one side but frame the new generation and create a good citizen for this country on the other.”

That is the type of extraordinary impact CHS strives to make by nurturing, educating, and empowering children and families to lead fulfilling and productive lives. And follow their dreams.

Dreams Realized series: As the 2025-26 CHS school-year theme “One Team, One Dream” was launched in August, stories will be shared throughout the year showcasing members of the CHS community following—and realizing—their dreams.