1996

In 1996 Loretta Hibbs visited the Los Angeles Dream Center for the first time. She was deeply moved by what she saw. Although she didn’t realize it then, the vision that would one day become City Dream Centre was already beginning to form. It would grow in leaps and bounds until finally taking shape as an official Dream Centre and registered charity in 2016.

2009

In 2009 Loretta was given a challenge by her employer. He asked her this question: If our organization were to disappear tomorrow, would anyone in the community notice? Loretta and the rest of the staff immediately began working to ensure that the answer to that question was yes and so began the journey.

Bringing Healing

Very quickly, areas of need were identified, and teams began to form. An offer to help in local prisons rapidly grew into what is now our Education program. Parenting, Boundaries and Anger Management courses are taught in local recovery homes, shelters and in both Provincial and Federal prisons, helping inmates transition back into the community and reconnect with their families.

Adopting Schools

Another project that would become a foundational piece started when Loretta approached the Surrey School Board with a very general offer to help, not really knowing what that would look like. She asked for the name of the school with the most needs in Surrey so that they could meet those needs on an ongoing basis. There were four schools that were struggling so equally that the School Board could not choose just one, so Loretta took all four. The Adopt-a-School program was born, and the need was so much greater than she could have imagined.

Changing Lives

Over the years the Adopt-a-School program grew to include thousands of family food hampers and wrapped Christmas gifts, personally delivered each year. New and used clothing events, and weekend emergency feeding followed. As a trusting relationship with teachers, administrators and the school board grew, Adopt-a-School was given the privilege of offering Kid’s Jam Noon Hour programs. At risk youth are taught about respect, self-esteem, etiquette, bullying, value and purpose; skills that are life changing and that will help protect them from gangs and traffickers. It has turned kids who bullied into kids who now mentor younger kids in their schools.

2014

In 2014 a mentoring program was established to train and assist other organizations to adopt a school in their area, with a goal to eventually have all inner city high needs schools adopted. Right now there are 14 adopted in the Surrey area.

Expanding Programs

Another well established project is the annual Back to School event where we host over 2000 people from our adopted schools and surrounding neighbourhoods. Families dealing with the issues of poverty, many of them refugees and new immigrants, receive a hot lunch, kid’s activities, free clothing, free kid’s haircuts and 1500 backpacks with supply kits.

Our Education programs are taught in local recovery homes, shelters and in both Provincial and Federal prisons. Our Parenting course has been recognized in court, helping parents who have been incarcerated or in recovery regain supervised visitation with their children. Our Boundaries course helps reshape the way we build and maintain relationships, reuniting families and creating a healthier home life. Anger Management teaches new ways to cope and manage anger issues.

2017

In 2017 City Dream Centre added their boutique thrift store, For the Love of Thrifting, and established City Care Dental, a mobile dental unit that brings dental care to the individuals, kids and seniors in need in our community.

Becoming an official Dream Centre now seemed both inevitable and daunting. That is, until a friend from the Los Angeles Dream Center pointed out that we were already doing it. All that the team had been planting and growing over these years was already the work of a Dream Centre. We just had to start building the bridge to make it official, and so we did.

Our Story