By Karen McBride
Published by Dunndeal Publications
July, 2015
Lead Pastor, Craig Altman, of Grace Family Church founded Dream Center of Tampa. The church’s vision to reach youth and families in need led it to build the center. It is located at 2806 North 15th Street, in Tampa.
Renovations on the 19,000 square foot facility began in November 2010. With the help of hundreds of volunteers from Grace Family Church, Open Arms Church, Sisters Making a Difference, Jed Kirby & Urban Young Life, and area businesses, such as Cornerstone Construction, Simpson Environmental, KB Partner Foods, Aaron’s Incorporated, Mandy’s Electric, KDS Interiors, Hugh MacDonald Roofing, and Total Solutions, the building completed its transformation and opened the doors in August 2011.
Government cutbacks have diminished access to programs and resources for people in East Tampa, and families were anxiously awaiting the opening of the Dream Center. Services offered include after school care, computer access and tutoring, mentoring and family counseling, job and skills training and sports activities.
Upcoming events include the monthly Adopt-A-Block, wherein volunteers meet on the 2nd Saturday of each month to go into the community to help neighbors with projects in and around their homes and to pray for them. The next event will be July 11, 2015.
On July 15, 2015, Teddy Dupay, Florida’s all-time leading basketball scorer and current youth coach, will attempt to break multiple world records for the most basketball 3 pointers. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the current world record is 10,381 in 24 hours. The event is open to the public. All proceeds will benefit Academy Prep Center of Tampa and St. Petersburg, a non-profit school dedicated to educating economically disadvantaged middle school students.
Volunteers are needed at the Dream Center of Tampa for afterschool group mentoring for grades K-5 (computers, arts and crafts, recreation, homework help, and athletic programs for grades K-12, Boys Mentoring program, Girls Mentoring Program, and more. If you are interested in volunteering or mentoring, please go to http://dctampa.org/get-involved/.
You can support the Dream Center by purchasing a coupon book from any of these participating stores. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Dream Center of Tampa Bay.
http://dctampa.org/pdf/coupon-book-list.pdf
Church services are held at Dream Center of Tampa on Sundays at 11:30 am. The services are taught by Lead Pastor, Craig Altman, with contemporary Christian music, fun teaching for your children, and the dress is casual. Ralph J.E. Johnson is the Campus Pastor, and he can be reached at (813) 374-8999 or via email at rjohnson@dctampa.org.
