neighborhood news
DC Dream Center Celebrates 5 Years by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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ne evening late in August, a stream of people filtered in and out of the DC Dream Center at 2828 Q St. NE. Kids stopped to do arts and crafts, play some basketball in the gym or to take biking classes with volunteers from Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). Meanwhile, adults conversed over barbecue and visited tables with information from local organizations and DC agencies. The DC Dream Center (DCDC) was celebrating five years since the ribbon was cut on the center’s new building that serves the community of Southeast DC, with a particular focus on Ward 7 and 8. The center offers free programs to the community including employment services, after school sessions and after-school camps, one-to-one mentoring, tutoring, exercise classes, Bible studies, “Mom’s Night Out”, weekly prayer breakfasts and bi-monthly luncheons. “Not only was it a celebration of five years of God’s faithfulness, it really was an opportunity to bring together community that, especially due to COVID, really hasn’t had an opportunity to celebrate much in a communal fashion,” said DCDC Executive Director (ED) Ernest Clover.
A Long History in the Community
There are Dream Centers all over the world, from Perth, Australia to Atlanta, GA. Each one provides a specialized response to needs in the community. DCDC Executive Director D Ernest Clover speaks at the August 2022 celebraDCDC’s history actually goes back 26 tion of the DC Dream Center (DCDC) Fifth Anniversary. Photo: DCDC years to the founding of the Southeast White House (SWWH, 2909 Pennsylvania Ave SE) ton from Morrison and Dominick. His team immediately by Sammie Morrison and Scott Dimock. They wanted undertook fundraising, listening to community members to provided community programs and services as part of about their needs. In the end, the Dream Center was built Christian public witness. The SWWH established the to order for many of the programs that SWWH had been mentoring, after school and family support programs as offering for decades, a space open to all District churches well as many of the outreach programs that DCDC confor outreach and programming. tinues today. Founded in the same year, SWWH built a relationship with the National Community Church (NCC) PasA Re-Examination of Purpose tor Mark Batterson. In 2010, NCC began considering a Now DCDC meets community needs as they are identicenter for outreach in the city. Morrison and Dominick, fied. During the pandemic, the Center repurposed from then in their early 70s, had hoped to renovate a buildMarch 2020 to June 2021 to give out over one million ing they owned about a block from SWWH for the same pounds of food, over 64,000 free meals, and over 100,000 purpose but were ready to step back, so they handed the free hygiene and non-perishable items. ministry and the building over to NCC to renovate for urAlthough they never closed, the pandemic forced a ban outreach. pivot in planning at the Dream Center, Cover said. “COClover arrived at the Southeast White VID, just like for a lot of other people, really shook us to House in 2012, starting out as a mentor our foundations,” Clover said. “We had to examine, “why to a 12-year-old student. That’s when the are we doing any of the stuff we’re doing?” opportunity opened up to build out the DCDC identified key guiding principles. Education is new Dream Center. Clover took the bathe first priority, Clover said. A second centers on helping students understand the power of language. A third is “the marketplace of ideas,” wherein DCDC makes space for people of diverse backgrounds to come together and talk. The final but still prominent pillar is economics; DCDC holds job fairs and helps entrepreneurs establish businesses.
Entrepreneurship ABOVE: DCDC’s Drumline group, run by the Washington Arts Rhythm & Drums Project, performs at the block party. Photo: DCDC RIGHT: Children play with balloon art at the party. The Dream Center works to meet community needs, but has a special focus on children and youth. Photo: DCDC
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The center uses each of its programs to facilitate all five principles. For instance, four years ago, DCDC entered a collaboration with Howard University, to provide medication assisted treatment and telehealth to persons with opioid use disorder. Howard was looking for the right person to work in the program.
