At The Dream Center in Los Angeles, Calif., volunteers specialize in the impossible by reconnecting an estimated 30,000 isolated people each week to God and a community of support to address immediate and long-term needs resulting from homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, lack of education and human trafficking. Founded in 1994 by Pastor Matthew Barnett, The Dream Center Foundation is a volunteer-driven organization and endowment fund that "plants seeds for God's work," generating income to feed, shelter and provide life-changing care for hurting people in the greater Los Angeles area.
Anchored at the formerly vacant Queen of Angels Hospital in Echo Park since 1996, Dream Center teams help people with desperate needs each day.
These teams provide mobile hunger relief, medical programs, residential rehabilitation programs for adults, a shelter for victims of human trafficking, transitional housing for homeless families, foster care intervention programs, job skills training, life skills, counseling, basic education and Bible studies. They also reach out to gang members, unwed mothers and emancipated youth.
Activities at The Dream Center earned it the nickname "The Church That Never Sleeps." Barnett hosts a weekly television program of the same name, which airs nationally and internationally.
During November this year, they opened and dedicated a full floor of the center to recovering and homeless U.S. military veterans.
As Pamela Evelyn Vagell Lewis stated on social media Dec. 1, "Our God is a redeemer and He is using the Dream Center as His Hands on earth!"
The Dream Center's record of success has attracted urban missionaries and Christian leaders from across the world, according to the group's website, enabling them to gain insight and skills they take back to their own communities. In fact, more than 100 independent Dream Centers have been launched nationally, with some internationally.
Barnett states his staff and volunteers are building a community of resilient people whose lives have been redeemed by God's love. "The lives we change are not merely examples of God's power to restore broken lives. The men, women and families we help also go on to share that love with others, to pass on the hope they have been given, and to make transformation possible for others."
Additionally, Barnett is the senior pastor of the historic Angelus Temple, which combined forces with the Dream Center in 2001 in a unification of flagship ministries from two different denominations (Foursquare and Assemblies of God). The Sunday services at Angelus Temple now include more than 6,000 people per week.
Barnett is also a New York Times best-selling author of "The Cause Within You." His previous book was entitled "The Church That Never Sleeps."
He is the son of a well-known megachurch pastor, Tommy Barnett, who lead's one of the fastest growing churches in America, Phoenix First Assembly of God.
Visitors can join organized tours of The Dream Center twice weekly, to see firsthand the many activities assisting a variety of people in need.
