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While working as the Sr. Accountant for New Life Church, Drew Davis was researching the Los Angeles Dream Center and felt called to bring the same kind of ministry to Arkansas. The AR Dream Center started in the summer of 2009 with a pick-up truck, a few yard tools, a lot of faith and a lot of showing up.
”My degree is in accounting, and I knew less than zero about social work. The closest I came to working with the homeless was when I worked in downtown Little Rock and I crossed the street to avoid talking with homeless people. I was not equipped, I was not educated; but I was called.” – Drew Davis, ARDC Director
The mission started by simply knocking on people’s doors and asking if there was any way they could help. Davis says that physical and economic needs were obvious, but “The truth is people need people to just listen. They need a friend, and that is what we tried to be.”
Today the DC is in six cities, serving over 1,000 people every week in ongoing programs. One of the greatest needs the AR Dream Center meets is providing after school programming for kids. They discovered early on that FOOD = LOVE and have developed into one of the largest feeding organizations focused on children. This past summer they served meals to 79,000 kids. As these programs grew, they were able to create ministries for parents and adults. No opinions, just relationships.
“We strive to have a deep relationship, because most people know they are screwing up; but what they are missing is a real friend to walk it out with them.” – Drew Davis, ARDC Director
Things have certainly changed in the five years since the AR Dream Center’s humble beginnings. This year they have partnered with over 100 churches and organizations with over 15,000 people serving in 2014.
So what does the future hold for the AR Dream Center? A Women’s Discipleship Home is in development focusing on women dealing with abuse, homelessness, prison, or just hopelessness and helping to restore their lives. They plan on growing their summer feeding programs to reach kids year-round in underserved communities through a mobile after school program. The Dream Center is the first organization in Central Arkansas to have a Food Corp Service Member on the team to help the local food movement become a lifestyle for all of the families caught in a vicious cycle of malnutrition and food insecurity brought about because of poverty. They are also expanding their facilities in order to accommodate triple the number of kids they currently reach and are developing a teen program. The recent tornado impacted a lot of lives in central Arkansas this year. Through funding the Dream Center has invested in staff specifically to serve the 250+ families affected all the way through the end of 2015.
The Dream Center is always looking for more hearts to serve whether through tutoring and mentoring, clean up and construction, or collecting, organizing, picking-up and delivering donations. If you would like to help you can email staylor@ardreamcenter.tv , visit the website www.ardeamcenter.com or follow the community at www.facebook.com/dreamcenter.
You can also join them for the Dream Maker Celebration October 30 to celebrate their Dream Makers. A Dream Maker is a person who invests their time or their finances into the dreams of others. The cost is free and you will hear all kinds of stories about this year and what is coming up.
“All that has been accomplished is because God selected people who really didn’t understand what they were doing; but were willing to just show up every day and be obedient.” – Drew Davis, ARDC Director
~All photos courtesy of The Arkansas Dream Center~
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