continued on page 2

DECEMBER, 2012

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 A Heavenly Comeback

2 Dream Designs Resale Shop 3 Going Green 3 Frigid Blessing

4 Whats Going On?

4 Coat Drive

Merry Chistmas from

Kalamazoo Dream Center

Acts 20:35

“In all things I have shown

you that by working hard

in this way we must help

the weak and remember

the words of the Lord Jesus,

how he himself said,

‘It is more blessed to give

than to receive.’ ”

KALDREAM.ORG

1

A Heavenly ComebackSome Challenges in life are worth recounting, for they tell a deeper story, one which

goes beyond our richest expectations. 2011 was a year of challenge that the Kalamazoo

Dream Center had never faced before. Revenue had reached an all time low and the

possibilities of staying open had run out. Resources were no longer available to fund

outreach or even pay the next monthly expenses. With sadness, we had made our

announcement to close and we set our sights on liquidating. The process was long and

laborious and took three months with the doors closed to get everything sorted and

ready for a permanent closure. We were one day from sending our letter of dissolve to

close the organization.

But heaven had another

plan. I received a phone call

the day before releasing

our determination letter.

The message was simply

this, “the right ministry,

the wrong time”. The caller

believed that our efforts

should not end, that more

than ever this outreach

must remain to keep those

in the inner-city encour-

aged and keep the message of Christ going out to the community. That call set us on

a pathway of finding the resources to get us back on track, making

it to the next station of recovery and then onto the next.

Today, one year later, the vision of the Dream Center is marching forward. New life has

sprung up in numerous places and people are echoing the same message we heard at

the end of last year with a different twist,” the right ministry, the right time.” Not only

is the ministry back up and running full steam, but we have now doubled the amount of

families and hurting individuals we were reaching previously. The Center has also added

new ministries such as fresh dairy, meats, and produce. The desire to help bring sustain-

ability into the lives of those we minister to has also come to fruition with the addition

of our Life Skills classes launched in August. People can now learn ways to come out

of their poverty trap by learning healthy skills like financial responsibility, cooking on

a budget, how to develop a career and other topics that will be offered. Volunteering has

also made a launch forward as the Dream Center has refreshed its commitment to bring

quality individuals on board with a heart to minister compassion to needy. This was

a comeback with God’s name all over it.

Kalamazoo Dream Center Volunteers

2

THE NEW DREAM DESIGNS RESALE SHOP

In late October, The Kalamazoo

Dream Center held a pre-open

house to announce a new and

exciting venture, the Dream

Designs Store. It’s a new re-sale thrift shop soon in operation. The pre-open house

was held to share information on the mission that the store will fulfill. Fifty people

were in attendance to see what the shop will look like and how it will impact the

community. The shop is expected to be open close to the start of the new year.

How it began The vision for the store

started when the ministry came back from a near permanent closer

at the end of 2011. We believed at that point, it was vitally important

to find ways to provide sustainability and keep the privilege of

serving the community intact. New vision was birthed out of this

near tragedy which included a new thrift store that would provide

a selection of items that could be sold, allowing a source of revenue

to recycle back into the ministry keeping the Dream Center alive.

Soon after the vision was announced a store team was assembled.

Many great things followed. People began to show extra-ordinary favor to the vision, which included the donation of the Dream

Designs building (Located at 2922 Portage Street) by a local business man and a generous donation by a family to launch

this great project. Many others followed, donating their time and talents to get the shop operating.

How it operatesThe new re-sale thrift store will offer: • furniture • pictures and mirrors • select clothing

• lamps • knick knacks • other home goods FOR PURCHASE!

The shop will have similar items to offer which the Dream Center offers its clients however, we will not stop offering all the

free items that we have always been known to offer to those we minister to. We will continue to provide free emergency food,

free clothing, free household goods and fresh dairy and produce. The difference is, a very small percentage of some items

will be selected for use at the store. All of the proceeds from the store will go directly to operating the Dream Center and

will help establish financial sustainability.

Other great newsAnother exciting component of the Dream Designs vision is the opportunity to train people in a new skill to help them become

employable. The vision is to help our clients get back to work by giving s them chance to volunteer in a retail environment

and get experience to find work in that career path. Plans are also being made to turn the basement into a training center to

teach other skills to our clients to get them heading into the direction of employment. All we do in training will be focused

on Christ-centered principles and be designed to share Christ with the participants.

ImportantAll donations will be accepted at the Kalamazoo Dream Center whether earmarked for the store or the center. It is important

to reiterate that all opportunities, events and overall operations for the needy that have been established at the center will

remain and are even expected to grow in the future.

Look forward to future emails with more information on the progress of the store! We are excited to have such a blessed

opportunity coming our way and we hope to share it with all of the members of our community! Please expect the fully

furnished, fully stocked, fully designed, fully cleaned and exceptionally decorative Grand Opening continued on page 3

R E S A L E S H O P

Dream Designs Open House

GOING GREEN GOD WORKING IN THE DETAILS

Frigid BlessingBeginning in February of this year we successfully formed a partner-

ship with an Allegan based food distribution center. We are now seeing

between 1000 and 1200 pounds of fresh food coming to the center each

week, helping us to address the needs of the hungry. As a result, we were

able to begin offering fresh foods to our guests, something we desired

to do for several years. Fresh dairy, meats and produce were now being

placed into the hands of many needy clients.

This also posed a unique problem, cold storage space. The answer was to

find a commercial refrigerator and freezer that could hold food currently

being stored in four residential fridges and three residential freezers.

A portion of the answer came when a local church offered the commer-

cial fridge they inherited when they purchased and moved into their new

building. Life Spring Church offered us a beautiful four door commercial

fridge. Now, we only needed to find a way to move it. Thanks to our

generous friends at Allied Mechanical Services, they took on the project.

We are ecstatic about this new addition to our warehouse. Please pray

with us that we are able to acquire a commercial freezer that will

complete our refrigeration needs.

The Dream Center is proud to announce

their transition of GOING GREEN!

The Dream Center has had nearly all of

their mechanical equipment replaced with

new energy efficient and environmentally

friendly units. The best part about these

updates is that they were made available

and installed through a Consumers Energy

grant that the Dream Center was awarded

because of their immense food distri-

bution to the needy.

Changes include:

• A new gas furnace

• New radiant heat wall units

• New programmable thermostats

Going even greenerAllied Mechanical Services was chosen by

Consumers Energy to implement the instal-

lation of all the mechanical units through

the grant they awarded. AMS was so im-

pressed with our service to the community

that they wanted to make an investment

of their own into the project. To our delight,

they offered to install a new energy saving

air conditioning system and upgrade our old

florescent lighting to energy saving fixtures

throughout the facility. We are grateful to

God for such a great display of favor and

the generosity of these companies. With

these savings, we will be able to reach

out to the hurting even more.

continued from page 2

to be in the first of the new year! For any other information, feel free to

contact the Dream Center through email at kalamazoodreamcenter@gmail.

com or by phone at 269-382-4760, and keep checking our Facebook

for progressive updates!

Job Skills and Job Searching; Cooking on a Restricted Budget;

Successful Single Moms; and eventually a Job Retraining Program for

the unemployed, the under-employed and displaced workers seeking

employment. The Dream Center crew is excited and optimistic regarding

the potential for change in the lives we are impacting. As a faith

community, let us pray for genuine biblical stewardship

and corresponding lifestyles that honor God and provide

additional resources for Kingdom distribution.

Workers from Allied Mechanical Services deliver to the Dream Center a beautifulcommercialrefrigerator donated by Life Spring Church

Our new gas furnaceavailablethrough a Consumer’s Energy grant

3

Coat DriveA large scale coat drive was held on Friday, December 7th! It was a magnificent success and many needy families were blessed

with warmth and surrounded with the love of Jesus.

Here are the results:

• Over 150 head of households were served

• Over 450 coats were distributed

• Multiple blankets were given away

• Over 300 tooth brushes were provided

• Any remaining coats will be distributed

during regular Dream Center hours

• We were able to serve every walk-in!

Volunteer Donate items

Financial Gift Other

______________________________________________

Name

______________________________________________

Address

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Phone

______________________________________________

Email

All donations are tax deductible

GET INVOLVED

< Please cut and mail to:

Kalamazoo Dream Center

1122 Portage St. Kalamazoo, MI 49001

269.382.4760 www.kaldream.org

kalamazoodreamcenter@gmail.com

Become a friend on

POINTS OF SERVICE 2012 DECEMBER OUTREACH EVENT

4

The numbers below represents how many

points of service the Dream Center has

supplied through the primary services

we provide. The center has doubled its

numbers since the beginning of the year.

Clothing - 7,025

Emergency Groceries - 2,414

Fresh Food - 3000

Furniture, Bikes & Beds -135

S IMPLE WAYS TO SUPPORT

Meijer RewardsSign up at www.meijer.com/rewards

Our new number is 131257.

Tax Deductible DonationsAll financial donations to the Kalamazoo

Dream Center are tax-deductible.