Food Security
Food is a basic need so many go without.
Providing food to a child isn't charity. It's compassion wrapped in love.
Neighborhood Market
Hunger in Oregon is sadly growing, and food insecurity in Marion and Polk Counties is on the rise. In 2020 with the pandemic Salem Dream Center created Neighborhood Market, where families could come to get much needed food. During the pandemic we distributed more than $500,000 of food to families. Since then, access to food has been on the forefront of our community learning center. Children and families know they can come to the center and find a hot meal or find food to take home. When someone is living in Starvation Mentality, you can’t help them to plan for a better future, because all they are too focused on surviving today. When we provide food and other items such as hygiene products, cleaning supplies and other needed item, we are providing hope and a sense of security. It is then that we can help them set goals and work toward an achievable dream.
Harlan’s Garden
Our community garden is named after a lovely gentleman who has lived in the community for 50+ years. He always dreamt of the back yard of our center becoming a community garden, the exact thought we had when we first saw it. The community garden is free to anyone who wants a raised bed and believes in our model that we are all in this together. We provide the space, water, plants, seeds, tools, and more. We all work to maintain the garden and keep it looking beautiful. Everything you see in the garden was donated. An interesting fact, the garden was the first thing completed at our center. In fact, nothing happened inside, not one improvement, until the garden was completed. That wasn’t by design, it’s just how it happened. That’s why under Harlan’s Garden, it says “It all began in a garden.”
Food Boxes
Food Box Blessings began simply in 2005 with 12 turkeys and all the trimmings for a Thanksgiving dinner. From there it has grown every year, to today where thousands of pounds of healthy food is boxed up and then delivered to families homes, once just before Thanksgiving, and again before Christmas. The majority of children we interact with depend upon the free breakfast and lunch they get at school. When they are out of school it puts a hardship on the family, it’s for that reason we bless families with food boxes during the holiday break. 97% of the volunteers who pick up the food from local distributors, box it and delver it, are Dream Center youth, teen and adults.
Breakfast & Lunch at The EDGE Program
The Edge program provides breakfast and lunch to more than 100 kids who attend our Saturday open gym program. While kids come to play and engage, the security of knowing that two healthful meals will be provided brings the whole family together. You can often find parents joining in to cook, clean, and take turns serving up platefuls of pancakes, bacon, burritos, burgers and more. We encourage you to stop by Walker Middle school gym on Saturday mornings to eat and play with us, open from 10:00am - 12:30pm.