Bringing light
into darkness.
Our residential addictions treatment facility, in an atmosphere of hope and love, helps men restore their dignity and find purpose in living a life in freedom from addictions.
There is overwhelming evidence that a serious addiction problem exists in our region. The Red Deer Dream Centre is part of the solution.
We want to inspire positive change for each person that enters our treatment centre – regardless of faith or position – and reverse the path of hopeless people living in addiction.
The Dream Centre welcomes clients coming straight from detox and supports them with housing as well as individual and group counselling. We also offer assistance with education upgrading and job skill training.
We then continue to support our clients long-term as they transition back into their community.
Our goal is for our clients to find HELP, find HOPE & find HEALING, reconnect with their families, and become productive, contributing & purpose-filled members of society.
A timeline of our development:
2018
Our vision for a future treatment centre began when we secured a 25-year lease, with an option to purchase, the old Lotus Night Club building in the downtown core of Red Deer in the spring of 2018.
2019
Construction application for development in the City of Red Deer submitted. After a lengthy process and healthy debate, application approved on December 10, 2019.
2020
Our organization officially became recognized as a registered charity/non-profit on February 25, 2020.
2022
Renovations are completed and paid for. Our residential addiction treatment centre opened in October 2022. Our hope is to add a program for women in the future.
The Red Deer Dream Centre building details:
Located in the Red Deer downtown core, our alternative residential treatment option provide participants with:
- Live-in, residential treatment options scaled to income.
- Treatment plan that brings hope as they envision what living in sobriety looks like.
- Transitional housing and continuing support services for months/years after they leave our in-house program.
Main-floor
The main floor provides a public open space for gatherings, an exercise space, a kitchen, offices and meeting rooms.
Second-floor
The second floor provides more office space and a private space for the clients which includes private “bunkies”, bathrooms, fitness facilities, and common rooms for socializing.
We are so grateful for many in our community who have helped build a solid foundation as we opened our doors in the fall of 2022. Lives are being changed! But, there is still so much more to be done.
As of July 2024, the Red Deer Dream Centre is now receiving partial funding through a grant from Alberta Mental Health, administered by AHS. Our cost per day per treatment bed is $160. The grant currently provides 50% of our costs for 20 recovery beds and the remainder of the costs need to be covered by private donations through our ‘Freedom Funders’ program (monthly), cash donations, and our annual ‘Road to Recovery’ fundraising walk in September. Our annual budget for 2024 is $1.4 million, which means, as a registered non-profit organization, we need to raise approx. $700,000 annually through private donations and fundraising efforts.
As a local initiative, fuelled and funded from the heart by those who care, we depend on your continued support to meet our annual operating budget and continue our life-changing work.
Where did it start?
Meet Matthew Barnett- founder of the Los Angeles Dream Centre and hear how the original “Dream Centre” there has served the city of Los Angeles.