Dream Center

The Dream Center is a Pentecostal network of community centres in Los Angeles, California, established in 1994. The president of Dream Center is Matthew Barnett.

Dream Center
Founded1994
FoundersMatthew Barnett
Tommy Barnett
FocusHealthcare, Development
Location
Area served
84 centers
Key people
Matthew Barnett
Tommy Barnett
Websitethedcnetwork.org

History
Dream Center Headquarters in Los Angeles.

The organization was founded in 1994 with, Matthew Barnett and Tommy Barnett of Dream City Church, as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God.[1] In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel merged the Dream Center with the Angelus Temple, with Pastor Barnett becoming the senior pastor over Angelus Temple as well as the Dream Center.[2]

After purchasing the old Queen of Angels Hospital in Echo Park Downtown Los Angeles, it transformed it into social center in 1997 for the homeless, prostitutes and members of street gangs. [3] Associated Dream Centers have been established in other cities. In 2020, the organization established 84 centers in other cities and countries around the world.[4]

Programs

Dream Center offers a food bank, clothings and assistance programs for disaster victims, victims of domestic violence, drug addiction and trafficking in human beings and prisoners. [5][6]

Controversy

In 2005, some Hurricane Katrina evacuees staying at the Dream Center said they had difficulty receiving donations. [7] In response to the complaints several social activists, led by Ted Hayes, an advocate for the homeless, called a news conference demanding an investigation of the Dream Center. After visiting the Dream Center, however, and being given a tour of the facility, the activists concluded that the accusations were groundless. In fact, they were found to be from a smear campaign. "There is no basis to the complaints we've heard," Hayes said, "The horror stories reported to us do not exist."[8]

In 2017, a subsidiary of the Dream Center, in partnership with a private equity fund, purchased the Art Institutes, South University, and Argosy University systems of for-profit colleges from Education Management Corporation.[9] The transaction received significant scrutiny, due to concerns about Dream Center's ability to successfully manage the acquired schools, and criticism that the transaction was designed to allow the schools to avoid increased regulation of for-profit colleges.[9] The transaction, which was not approved by the Department of Education under the Obama Administration, was approved in 2017 by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. In 2019, at least 30 of the art institutes and related colleges were closed, with some closures announced abruptly in the middle of the academic year.[10][11] Some of the Art Institute programs were transferred to Studio Enterprise, a Los Angeles creative arts training firm funded by principals of the private equity firm Colbeck Capital Management. [12]

References
  1. ROBERT CROSBY, A Dream of a Center: 'A Model for Faith-based Organizations', christianitytoday.com, USA, August 15, 2011
  2. Kurt Streeter, Angelus Temple Will Keep Historic Interior, latimes.com, USA, October 15, 2001
  3. Joe Mozingo, Queen of Angels Undergoes Conversion, latimes.com, USA, September 6, 1997
  4. Dream Center, About, dreamcenter.org, USA, retrieved July 8, 2020
  5. Dream Center, Outreach Programs, dreamcenter.org, USA, retrieved September 19, 2020
  6. Scott Thumma, Dave Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America's Largest Churches, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2007, p. 84
  7. Wells, Matthew (September 18, 2005). "Katrina challenge for LA mission". BBC News. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  8. Sahagun, Louis (September 17, 2005). "No Nightmare Seen at the Dream Center". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  9. Moore, Daniel (September 20, 2017). "EDMC sale gets initial blessing from U.S. Department of Education". post-gazette.com.
  10. "For-profit school operator closing 30 campuses, including 3 in NC". newsobserver. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  11. Sun, Deedee. "Students loot Art Institute of Seattle classrooms as school suddenly shuts down". Kiro7. Kiro7. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  12. Cowley, Stacy; Green, Erica L. (March 7, 2019). "A College Chain Crumbles, and Millions in Student Loan Cash Disappears". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2019.

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