Harkena’s story.

The Dream Center staff had been coming to Skyview Apartments where we lived interacting with the kids multiple times a week for a while. I was pretty skeptical at first as to who they were or what they were doing, but I began letting my kids join in for activities every now and then. In 2019, our apartment caught fire and we lost everything. There were a lot of different people and organizations that reached out saying that they wanted to help, but all of them fell through except one–the Dream Center. They kept in touch with us throughout the first two weeks after that of us living in a hotel to make sure we had food, clothing, and just someone to talk to and process everything that happened with. 

Once we got an apartment, they fully furnished it within two weeks. I could not believe that the Dream Center was there for us in that way and to that extent. They were people I barely knew, but they helped our entire family because they had grown to know and love my children in a way I didn’t even realize. I didn’t even know what most of the staff members looked like, and there were so many people coming to our house with things we needed that I was in disbelief. They actually ended up giving us more resources than I knew what to do with, so I was able to be a blessing to others and give items to people in my community who were in need. Those two weeks and the weeks to follow changed everything for me when it came to the Dream Center.

In 2017 before the apartment fire, I started working on opening a hair braiding business. As I grew my business, I kept hitting a stumbling block because I didn’t have a place to teach my classes. I mentioned it one day to the ladies at Dream Streets, and they gave me the opportunity to host classes there for clients rent-free at their facility. This was a huge expense and weight lifted off of me. It allowed me to start growing my business and make fees for class participants affordable.

Currently, my husband and I lead Mobile Food Distribution two to three times per week. Serving others has always been a passion of ours. Our Dream Streets community means everything to us! The staff and volunteers are now our family and we love them all so much.

They have been such a blessing to us and we hope that we can continue to be to them.