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Restore Dreams?
Dream Center provides weekly and emergency food
distributions to those in need around in San Antonio.
The Dream Center features an
extensive food and toiletry pantry,
clothing, diaper wall and more, that
provide weekly and emergency distributions
to those in need. Through its
San Antonio location and clothes and
food sites around the city, as well as
missionary work in Mexico, the Dream
Center helps 900 families, literally
thousands of people, each month.
The Dream Center emphasizes
helping people without
judgment, requirements,
or the need to
jump through hoops.
“We want people to see
the homeless and those
in need as more than
just a charity case, but
as an opportunity to
touch someone else,
and share hope,” said
Warren. “When you can
pour your life into
somebody, it doesn’t
“ When you can
pour your life
into somebody,
it doesn’t just
do something
in them, it does
something
in us, too.”
Warren Beemer,
Founder, CEO
just do something in them, it does
something in us, too.”
The Dream Center wants to be a
familiar fixture in areas of need and be
a resource if and when someone needs
help. Adopt-a-Block puts Dream
Center volunteers on upwards of 90
blocks every week to meet the needs of
various neighborhoods, as well as get
to know the residents. The team has
not missed a Saturday in nine years.
“We might find a neighbor needs a car
seat or more urgent need like a wheelchair,
or ramp built. We see what we
can fulfill immediately, and then go to
our partners for the more significant
needs.” The Dream Center works with
various partners, from carpenters to
heating and AC companies, who generally
help fill requests at little or no
charge. Most importantly, the staff and
volunteers share the hope of the gospel
as the place to start dreaming again.
Baptisms are common and the
community celebrates together.
Neighborhood events year round help bring the
community, churches, police and council members
together.
Various neighborhood events
throughout the year help bring the
community, churches, police department
and council members together to
begin the process of trusting one
another. The ministry recently hosted
a “Funtober” event to give neighborhood
children a safe trick-or-treating
experience. “We’ve gone from breaking
up drug deals at our events to having
breakfast together, to taking these
people back to our food pantry. We
now have that relationship,” recounted
Warren. “There’s peace that comes
from these interactions, and I know
that peace comes from Christ, even if
they don’t.”
Warren tells a story of a colleague
visiting the homeless living under a
bridge, and how one man, in particular,
met her with hostility and resentment.
The Dream Center volunteer explained
that her father also had a difficult life.
Without missing a Saturday in nine years, volunteers get
to know neighborhood residents. Whatever the need,
volunteers step into action.
After having an affair, he had lost his
marriage, and later his job. He found
himself living under a bridge, and she
told the man, she could only hope
someone was praying over and feeding
him wherever he was. For 15 years, the
volunteer went to the same bridge and
fed the same angry man, with little to
no interaction. One
day, he came to her
and said he was ready.
He received Christ,
went to a program to
help kick his addiction,
went on to Bible
school, and later
became a pastor. At
his congregation, the
man, who had previously
lived under the
The man, who had
previously lived
under the bridge,
talked about how
all it took was one
person who
continually showed
up and gave him
the opportunity to
change.
bridge, talks about
how all it took was one
person who continually showed up and
gave him the opportunity to change.
Even if 15 years later, Warren said, “we
slowly see people change and begin to
manifest something different than the
previous trappings of their life.”
As the Dream Center motto says,
“find a need and fill it, find a hurt and
heal it,” which is why the Dream Center
is known for not only its distribution of
food and necessities but also its assistance
in a myriad of issues families and
those in need face. Services include
5 www.saBeacon.com December 2018
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