What is the American Dream?

"It's being happy and successful with my family. It's meeting basic, day-to-day needs with ease," said Tiffany Brown. "And it's fulfilling your dreams."

Not long ago the single mother of two elementary school age boys, could have said the American Dream was pie in the sky.

She lost her job when difficulties with her 9-year-old autistic son forced her to miss too much work.

Then she lost her car.

And her house.

"I lost everything. It all trickled down," Brown said.

Yet she never gave up hope - or the belief that the America Dream is reachable.

Today, she is more hopeful than ever. She "works" - volunteers actually - 30 hours a week at the Center for People in Need in exchange for a $368 monthly public assistance check. In return, she gets job training, work experience and an education - which helped her discover a passion and a career in human services work.

Despite the worst economy since the Great Depression, 83 percent of Americans say they still believe in the American Dream - albeit a bit different from the one we had even a few years ago, survey after national survey have found.

"Over the past 12 months, the American Dream has been shifted and altered … but it hasn't been deleted," MetLife states in the summary of its 2009 Study of the American Dream, taken in January.

Although there is no singular definition for the "American Dream," the notion long has been equated with financial success and the material possessions you have to show for it - home, car, luxurious vacations, new-fangled "toys" …

But the world has changed.

Today, instead of dreaming of economic opportunity, the majority of Americans define the dream as economic security: livable wages, quality health insurance and secure retirement - and family well-being.

"The American Dream is still alive, but barely," said James Kintzle of Lincoln. "It's harder to obtain and grasp, but with perseverance and grit, it's still out there."

Carla Holloway agreed: "It's still achievable - you just have to work harder right now, harder than you did even one year ago."

And even if they achieve the dream these days, Americans feel there is no guarantee they can hang on to it.

"Being able to sustain the dream is becoming as important as achieving it in the first place," MetLife concluded in its study.

More than half of all Americans (56 percent) are worried about losing their jobs this year, according to surveys by MetLife and Change to Win, a national organization of labor unions and union workers.

If they lose their jobs, 59 percent of Americans say they are at risk of bankruptcy, according to the MetLife survey. Even among affluent Americans (those earning $100,000 or more a year), the fear factor for job loss and bankruptcy tops the 50 percent mark, the January survey found.

Fifty-two percent of Americans fear they will lose their health insurance this year, Change to Win found in its survey taken last month.

For years, Sandra and Lester Johnson had a modest but satisfying taste of the American Dream. Then Lester was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and in March 2007 his employer, Quebecor, closed its doors.

"Our health insurance ran out, but he still had cancer," said Sandra, 58.

Two years later, they are still without health care. The cancer has spread to Lester's intestines, chest and vertebrae. Sandra worries his options are running out. To make ends meet, they use community resources for low-income families, such as the Neighborhood Food Distribution program.

Yet ask her about the American Dream, and Sandra smiles. She still has faith - that her adult children will hold onto their jobs, that help may come for Lester and that one day there will be world peace.

"I just take it one day at a time," she said.

Dream re-tooled

Not long ago, the American Dream was bolstered by a "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. Not so anymore, the MetLife survey found.

Nearly 47 percent of those surveyed said they have all the possessions they need - up from 34 percent in November 2006. Among people age 63 and older, two-thirds say they have everything they need.

Four out of 10 Americans say they wished "they had spent less and saved more over the years." That was particularly true among adults ages 18-44, with nearly half regretting major purchases made over the past few years, the MetLife survey found.

Instead of things, Americans are putting more value on relationships. Forty-four percent of Americans - and 50 percent of GenXers (born between 1965 and 1978) - say the current economic situation has caused them to "re-evaluate their priorities in life and place greater importance on things like personal life and family rather than finances," MetLife found.

A growing number of young adults say marriage is definitely part of their American Dream.

People also are putting more stock in personal integrity. Last year, Barna Group, a Christian organization, found that people ranked "a high degree of integrity" just as important as good physical health as the primary element in achieving the American Dream.

"So much in our world is changing, yet people's dreams for their life hinge on the same, unchanging desires: health, relationships, character, faith and comfort," George Barna said in a news release announcing the survey.

"As our life context changes, so do the ways in which people pursue and realize these dreams, but their desires remain anchored to the same fundamental values that seem to weather the changing times," he said.

Six months ago, Jeannie Lewis would have told you there is no way she could ever achieve financial security and opportunity for herself and her three daughters, ages 7 to 19.

The single mother and high school dropout found she had few opportunities. As a condition of her public assistance, she was sent to the Center for People in Need to "work" for her welfare check.

Angry about the requirements, she quit. But then she went back - and found help, hope and confidence. Today she is receiving valuable job training, so she can become an administrative assistant. Her goal is to earn her GED in July and then enroll in college courses.

"My dream is being able to have a job and support my family and not struggle on a day-to-day basis," Lewis said.

Will kids have it better?

Once upon a time, most Americans believed their kids would have a better life than they had. It became an integral part of the American Dream.

Today, that optimism has shrunk markedly from 49 percent in 2006 to 20 percent in 2007, according to the Change to Win survey.

In 2008, 83 percent of those surveyed said it will be harder for the next generation to achieve the American Dream.

The story of a 45-year-old Sudanese immigrant living in Lincoln illustrates the point. The father of 10 was an accountant in Sudan. Unable to get an accounting job in the United States, he enrolled at Nebraska Wesleyan University and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and management

Even with a degree, he cannot find a job in Lincoln.

When he tells his children about education and opportunity in America, they do not believe him.

And why should they, he asks.

Yet America is the land of eternal optimism.

Despite tough times, lost jobs, decimated retirement accounts and lost homes, the American Dream prevails, especially among those who have been hit hardest by the recession - young adults and minorities.

A recent Pew Research survey found that 76 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds believe their personal financial situation will improve during 2009. Less than half of those ages 30 and older felt the same way.

And the MetLife survey found 89 percent of Hispanics, 83 percent of Asian Americans and 82 percent of African Americans believe they will achieve the American Dream, compared to only 66 percent of Caucasians.

Shanon Al-Badry, 14, is among the optimists. Her family fled Iraq and came to Lincoln in 1994. Her parents spoke of freedom and opportunity.

Although the family struggles financially, the Al-Badry children are realizing the American Dream, Shanon said, translating for her mother.

Two boys are enrolling at Southeast Community College to become a police officer and a firefighter. The oldest girl just received a full scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she will pursue a degree in engineering. Shanon will be a ninth-grader at Lincoln High School this fall; her goal is to be a pharmacist.

"If you want to achieve the dream, you have to work hard, pay attention in school, work hard and get good grades," Shanon explained.

She pauses and smiles.

"No, I'm not worried about achieving the dream."

Reach Erin Andersen at 473-7217 or eandersen@journalstar.com.