The Dream Center: Restoring Women's Dream
Story by Lizzie Emmons
Photos by Dana Mann
Tucked away from the usual hustle of North Jackson traffic on Oil Well Road, at the end of a freshly paved driveway, is a newly constructed building that the nonprofit organization, the Dream Center, and its residents now call home. As I followed my GPS into the parking lot, I was shocked that I hadn’t noticed the large building in plain sight on a road that I frequent. It’s surprising how much important work is done for our community behind closed doors in hidden buildings that we all drive by daily.
The Dream Center provides shelter for dozens of women and women with children. Their newly constructed building opened at the end of last year and has the ability to host up to 90 occupants with all amenities that they may need for a long stay.
Long before dreaming up the newly constructed space and helping women build the lives of their dreams, the Dream Center began as an immediate reaction to an F4 tornado that destroyed many areas of Jackson and caused families and individuals to be left without a home. The group was given an old, vacant hospital for sheltering those who were left unhoused. However, once displaced people were able to return to homes after reconstruction, there remained a significant need to continue supporting unhoused people in the region. The Dream Center filled this need by keeping the doors of the old hospital open, eventually relocating to individual houses donated by local contractors, and now to their brand new facility on Oil Well Road.
Robin Apelgren, assistant director, met me at the entrance of the new building to give me a full tour of the space, but not before front desk volunteers Hazel and Sheila greeted me with large smiles and shared their stories of why they were working at the space. Like many of the volunteers, Sheila was a former resident of the Dream Center who was there to give back and help other women rebuild their lives, just like she was able to do years ago.
Robin Apelgren began as a volunteer at the Dream Center, new to the community and looking for a way to get involved. She began by simply answering the phone and looking after babies while their mothers were in classes.
“As I saw the changes in the lives of the women at the Dream Center, I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of,” she told me.
Robin led me through a tour of the new building. The space still has that new construction feel — a coat of fresh, crisp paint on every wall, echoing sounds of footsteps resonating through empty halls with bright light fixtures, and sunlight streaming through the clean windows in every room. In addition to showing me the bedroom areas, Robin led me through a workout space, an art studio, a free clothing closet, a library, a cafeteria and common area, a large kitchen, a play room, and a laundry space, all available for the women and children to use during their stay.
All women who find themselves at the Dream Center have experienced forms of crisis and/or loss. From June 2022 through July 2023, the organization served 315 clients from the West Tennessee area, with 100% of clients being at or below poverty level and 92% of women served having previously experienced abuse.
What began as simply filling a housing need has now turned into a robust faith-based program to assist women in achieving any of their dreams and turning their lives around. Today, the Dream Center assists women with job readiness, resume building, finding gainful employment, and any other service that will prepare the women to achieve success.
“It’s such a turning point for the women when they realize that they can move forward and not make the same decision again,” Robin said.
The organization relies heavily on local volunteers to give their time and talents to support the programs for the women and children at the facility, as well as connecting women to other local resources that can be of assistance to each of their specific circumstances.
The ultimate goal of the organization is to help women rebuild their lives, restore their hopes, and renew their dreams. Day after day, Robin sees this happen firsthand. “To see them slowly blossom into a different person, and to realize that they can leave everything behind and be the person that they want to be — it’s just tremendous.”