A generation ago, the quintessential “American Dream” was a simple thing to identify, portrayed nightly on “Leave it to Beaver” and the “Andy Griffith Show” — owning a house in the suburbs with 2.5 kids, a dog and a car in the garage. Then, this dream was a beacon for most, if not all, to aspire to. Today, that dream has changed.

Today’s American still trusts in the promise of our country, but the dream they seek is no longer uniform, no longer so easy to pin down and define.

Throughout the country communities are pursuing their own dreams — from the city streets of Manhattan, to the suburbs of Los Angeles, to the recovering manufacturing cities of Michigan and the small towns of the Southwest wrestling with their changing cultural identity… all the way to the small New England town of Brookfield, where the American Dream seems like it may still exist in its purest form.

Using the scope of Patch’s nearly 900 sites nationwide, a new series, "Dispatches," will become a compilation of what the modern American Dream means to the modern American.

Through snapshots of society in time and exposes into what people are searching for, and finding, in today’s struggle for happiness, Patch will seek to redefine success in America and the cultural goals that motivate us all.

And, of course, we want your help: Tell us what issues and what stories in Brookfield go to the heart of your American Dream.

This is a unique moment in the history of our country, and Patch is uniquely positioned to explore and amplify the stories that capture this moment.