The Dream Center is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Christian

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

network of community centers based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, established in 1994. The president of Dream Center is Matthew Barnett.

History

The organization was founded in 1994 by Pastor Matthew Barnett and Tommy Barnett of Dream City Church as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

. In 1996, after purchasing the old Queen of Angels Hospital in

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

, it transformed it into a social center for the homeless, prostitutes and members of street gangs. In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an international Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. It lies within the evangelical tradition. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. H ...

merged the Dream Center with the Angelus Temple, making Barnett the senior pastor over Angelus Temple as well as the Dream Center. Associated Dream Centers have been established in other cities. As of 2022, the organization has established 84 centers in other cities and countries around the world.

Programs

Dream Center offers a

food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

and assistance programs for victims of disaster, domestic violence, drug addiction, human trafficking and prisoners. Dream Center came to the aid of many Los Angeles fire victims in 2025 with housing, clothing, groceries, toiletries and meals.

Controversy

In 2005, some

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

evacuees staying at the Dream Center said they had difficulty receiving donations. 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. "There is no basis to the complaints we've heard," Hayes said, "The horror stories reported to us do not exist." In 2017, a subsidiary of the Dream Center, in partnership with a private equity fund, purchased the Art Institutes, South University, and

Argosy University Argosy University was a private for-profit university with campuses throughout the United States owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC and Education Management Corporation. On February 27, 2019, the U.S. Department of Educat ...

systems of for-profit colleges from Education Management Corporation. 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. The transaction was never approved by the Department of Education and 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. 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.

References

External links

* {{coord, 34, 4, 27.9, N, 118, 16, 8.83, W, type:landmark, display=title Christian missions in North America Christian organizations established in 1993 Christian organizations based in the United States Echo Park, Los Angeles