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Their first dream was getting off the street. On Tuesday, five formerly homeless African-Americans will have another one come true.

Thanks to tickets donated by U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago), the five will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to attend the historic inauguration of the candidate they voted for, Barack Obama.

Cherice Mull, 21, Patricia Posey, 23, Crystal Davis, 23, Kevin Hendrix, 21, and Eric Smith, 20, are recent graduates of and current participants in Chicago’s Teen Living Programs, the only Chicago-area organization dedicated to serving homeless youth.

“Teen Living is one of the most outstanding programs of its kind,” Davis said. “It was a no-brainer to provide them with tickets.”

Davis said that he was allocated a total of 196 inaugural tickets and received 11,000 requests. Teen Living Programs was one.

The organization offers housing, job training, educational support, mental health counseling, holistic health care and life skills training to participants. Its goal is to reduce the number of homeless youth through a comprehensive, long-term approach.

United Airlines has donated roundtrip airfare for the group and Jewel-Osco has provided $5,000 to help cover the cost of food during the three-day excursion, but TLP is seeking donations to raise the remaining $15,000 needed for the trip.

Additional expenses include hotel accommodations as well as new outfits TLP will provide for the youths to wear to the ceremony.

Nia Tavoularis, TLP director of communications said the organization is “very protective of its youth and their success,” thus making the decision of who would attend based on “the youth that can best handle the pressure of going to an event like this,” she said.

One of the five said she was looking forward to the excursion.

“I couldn’t be more thankful,” said Patricia Posey. She is particularly looking forward to Obama’s speech, she said, because he is “such a charismatic speaker.”

Posey, who left home when she was 17, is pursuing a degree in social work at Kennedy-King College and serves on the executive board of the National Network for Runaway and Homeless Youth.

“I wouldn’t be able to do half the things in my life without the [Teen Living] programs,” she said.

“There is a parallelism between Obama’s message of hope for our country and the message we instill in our youth,” Tavoularis said. “If you work hard, are committed and focused, you can achieve anything.”

Davis struck a similar chord: “Stumbling blocks can be turned into stepping-stones.”