— we’ll help you find it. DeSoto County has so many great resources; we just all need to partner together and make it work.” Since the Dream Center launched, Smith has heard stories — both heartbreaking and uplifting — from the people she has helped. As people showed up to receive food distribution, staff would gather information to find more ways to help, asking about their needs and challenges. “My husband and I are lifelong residents here, and DeSoto County is such a beautiful place that we forget, because we don’t see it every day, the homelessness or hunger,” she says. “But it’s there. We partner with the DeSoto County school systems heavily, and I’ve gotten a call every week from a social worker that a kid is hungry in the classroom. We want those people to know they are valued and worthy, and break the chain of poverty and the poverty mindset.” The Dream Center is funded strictly by donations and through unpaid volunteers. Hence, Smith stresses that additional help is always in demand: for medical personnel at the clinic, for helping children in the DeSoto Grace program, for food pantry workers to help organize and assemble food boxes, or for tackling administrative tasks and special projects. The nonprofit has also been hosting Saturday block parties for the community, with sports, music, and family-friendly activities for all ages, concluded with fresh produce boxes distributed to attendees. Then, on Sunday mornings, Compel Church inside the Dream Center welcomes local kids to spread some extra love. “It’s a great way for us to meet people in the community, to find out what the needs are and how we can help meet those needs,” Smith says. “So many people are in survival mode right now — so focused on the needs of today they can’t even think of the future. On our trucks, we have the phrase ‘Dream again.’ We want to help them with the needs of the moment, and help them get to the place where they’re not just worried about surviving today, they’re knowing that they can thrive and dream again for the future.” desotodreamcenter.org Based in Oxford, Mississippi, Tracy Morin is an award-winning freelance writer and editor with a passion for covering food, beverage, beauty, and boxing.
64 DeSoto
