ATLANTA DREAM CENTER 2015 ANNUAL REPORT ATLDREAMCENTER.COM

OUR MISSION IS TO

REACH, RESCUE, & RESTORE MEN, WOMEN, & CHILDREN,

CONTENT 04

LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER / CEO

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REACH

08

RESCUE

10

RESTORE

12

VOLUNTEERING

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MISSIONS

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OUR VISION FOR 2016

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FINANCIALS / GIVING

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MEET THE STAFF

THAT THE

GLORY OF GOD MAY BE KNOWN.

“WE HAVE SEEN MUCH FRUIT THIS YEAR, BUT THERE IS STILL WORK TO BE DONE.”

FROM OUR FOUNDER AND CEO and I so enjoyed watching the progress of the Atlanta Dream Center P atty last year and have been extremely blessed to have been a part of

what the Lord accomplished in so many lives. As you thumb through the pages of this booklet, we know that you too will be amazed by the number of people that have had a life changing experience through this ministry. What is equally amazing to Patty and I are those who have come alongside us and have enabled us to reach beyond our means and surpass our goals last year! We are incredibly grateful for the part you have played in God’s plans for the Atlanta Dream Center as you partnered with us last year to reach our mission. You have blanketed us with love, time, financial support, prayers, and resources, which has pushed us to a higher level of excellence. For that, we are truly thankful. Our mission is to Reach, Rescue, and Restore men, women, and children that the glory of God may be known. Last year, God was truly made known in our own community and throughout the world and we give him all the glory for everything He has done through the labor and fruit of this ministry. We have seen much fruit this year, but there is still work to be done. 2016 is well underway, and we are expecting God to once again accomplish more than we are capable of achieving on our own. I want to personally thank you again for helping us achieve our goals for 2015. We ask that you will prayerfully consider continuing your partnership with us as we follow God’s calling in 2016. We look forward to working with all of you this year and witnessing the great things to come.

Paul Palmer Founder & CEO Atlanta Dream Center

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05

REACH

554 Bibles given to women in jail

Our mission is to reach the world for Jesus, but even as we do that we need to reach the people in our own city. We believe, like the disciples did, that, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon [us], because he has anointed [us] to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent [us] to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18­-19). We do this by reaching the thousands of homeless men on the streets, the hundreds of women sold into commercial sexual exploitation daily, and the thousands of kids who are being neglected in their own homes. Our mission is to reach them where they are, and by reaching them, we will reach the world for Jesus.

2015 REACH IMPACT

10 children received weekly tutoring and discipleship

6 children joined our new summer reading club

806 visits to women in 6 county jails

14 medical facilities trained to recognize signs of trafficking

81 speaking engagements to raise awareness about sex trafficking

OUT OF DARKNESS

METRO KIDZ

589 children ministered to through weekly outreaches 965 roses given on Princess Night 3,000 children received toys through our annual Christmas Toy Giveaway

8,203 meals given out on Compassion Night

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iAM

3,000+ articles of clothing given to clothe the homeless

150+ men and women attended our weekly discipleship small group

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A Rescue Team volunteer recalls a specific rescue when herself and her teammate were on their way to a local Waffle House to pick up a girl named Ansley* that had called the Rescue Hotline number for help. When Ansley called the Hotline, she explained to our Hotline Responder that her pimp was threatening to kill her and she had to get away. She planned to meet the Rescue Team at the Waffle House while her pimp was out. While Ansley was waiting for the team, her pimp showed up. When she saw him walking in, she quickly called her Hotline Responder and told her he was there and hung up. The Hotline Responder immediately called the Rescue Team that was on their way to get Ansley and explained the situation.

RESCUE We have all needed a form of rescue at some point in our lives, whether for a broken down car, a medical emergency, or something else. Rescue is help from circumstances that we can’t get out of on our own. Through Out of Darkness, we rescue men and women out of situations of commercial sexual exploitation like prostitution and sex trafficking. The person has to decide that they want help, but once they do, we are there any time day or night to get them out. We were able to complete 300 rescues in 2015! Praise the Lord for being the God of Rescue!

BARTOW

CHEROKEE

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They began to pray that God would protect her and guide them on what to do. They decide to go ahead and continue on to the location but play it safe. When they got there, Ansley was standing outside the restaurant as they pulled up. They were able to safely connect with her and she got in the car and they left. On their way to the safe home, Ansley told the Rescue Team, “I have no idea why but he just got up and left just a little bit before y’all got here!” … We know why. God had a bigger plan for Ansley’s life and nothing was going to stop Him from rescuing her!

FORSYTH

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4

*Name changed for safety purposes FULTON

COBB PAULDING

GWINNETT

174

15

95 DEKALB

199

DOUGLAS

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CARROLL 39

ATLANTA

313

1 39

11

CLAYTON

21

HENRY

FAYETTE COWETA

ROCKDALE

8 39

3

Uknown Calling Location: 172

LOCATION / ORIGIN OF HOTLINE CALLS IN METRO-ATLANTA COUNTIES

HOTLINE BREAKDOWN 2015 was a huge year for our Out of Darkness Hotline and Rescue teams. The graphic above represents the number of hotline calls received by our volunteer team, broken down by the metro-Atlanta counties the calls originated from. However, it doesn’t end there. Out of Darkness received calls from all over the state of Georgia and across the country. We received 317 calls from outside the metro-Atlanta area, and to the right are the number of calls received from states outside of Georgia. These hotline calls resulted in 300 rescues.

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FOR HE HAS RESCUED US FROM

OTHER STATES Alabama: 21 Arizona: 4 California: 5 Colorado: 3 Florida: 23 Illinois: 6 Indiana: 5 Iowa: 1 Kansas: 1

Kentucky: 15 Louisiana: 1 Massachusetts: 1 Maryland: 2 Missouri: 18 Nevada: 1 New Jersey: 2 New York: 6 North Carolina: 25

Ohio: 8 Oregon: 2 Pennsylvania: 2 South Carolina: 10 Tennessee: 14 Texas: 3 Virginia: 3 Washington State: 3 Wisconsin: 3

THE DOMINION OF DARKNESS

AND BROUGHT US INTO

THE KINGDOM OF THE SON HE LOVES IN WHOM WE HAVE

REDEMPTION, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” COLOSSIANS 1:13-14

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RESTORE 167 75 66 43 8 2

Restoration is not an event, it’s a process. We often think that once someone is rescued, life is easy from there. But the truth is, after rescue the hard work of restoration begins. As people deal with the trauma, hurt, anger, fear, insecurity, and shame of what they’ve been through, they need a loving community to faithfully walk out that journey of healing, constantly reminding them of God’s love and of their identities as His sons and daughters. We provide housing, crisis stabilization, and case management for people leaving homelessness, addiction, and sexual exploitation. Just as brokenness comes through relationship, healing must come in the context of relationship as well.

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “ - Romans 8:15

We learned our friend used to be a musician in a band and that he loves music. So for his birthday, some people moved by his story donated a brand new acoustic guitar and a brand new hard case for his guitar. He immediately burst into tears. Later that day we were able to take him to the Department of Veterans Affairs and get him an 18­month apartment. Now he volunteers with us on our homeless outreach, on the other side giving hope to those who are homeless just like he used to be!

women went on to a long-term recovery program (55% placement rate)

kids came to know Christ as their Lord & Savior through various Metro Kidz outreaches

men were placed into recovery programs

women and children were assisted in leaving situations of domesitc violence or homelessness

children attend our weekly Bible study, with 8 more at our newly opened second location

children publically professed their faith in Christ through baptism during a Sunday morning service

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There’s a gentleman that we met out on the streets who is a U.S. Veteran and is also homeless. Through our Compassion Night outreach, we invited him to attend our weekly iAM Small Group on Wednesdays. After he showed up for that first small group he fell in love with the Dream Center, a place he describes as “the best people and friends I’ve ever met”.

Mindy* came into our crisis housing directly from jail. She was motivated to change and begin healing from the start, but also really struggled with anger and stubbornness. She persevered throughout her time with us, even through strong addiction triggers and difficulties, and was placed in a long­-term recovery program out­-of-­state. She recently completed her one­year mark with that program and is on her way to being a new woman! Mindy is working on her GED, and is growing in her faith. She is currently on ­ staff with her program as their landscape intern and just got her certification to be a fork­lift operator! We’ve seen Mindy transform in freedom from toxic relationships and addiction, and the Lord has blossomed her creative gifts and personality to bless others and to powerfully share the impact of His redeeming love and freedom. *Name changed for safety purposes 11

GET INVOLVED The culture and heartbeat of the Atlanta Dream Center is defined by our belief that love is an action word. This is only made possible by going into our community and meeting these individuals where they are. We are a volunteer driven ministry and therefore rely on the help of hundreds of volunteers each week to heal the brokenhearted, minister to the poor and set the captives free. We connect our volunteers’ willing hands of service to reach, rescue, and restore seven days a week.

READY TO JOIN US AS WE REACH, RESCUE, & RESTORE? WE’D LOVE TO GET YOU PLUGGED IN. ATLDREAMCENTER.COM/GET-INVOLVED

In 2015, we had the help of many volunteers in reaching our mission:

3,244

125 86 12

served on one of our Reach teams or weekly outreaches served on one of our Rescue teams served on one of our Restore teams

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MISSIONS 2015: CREATING A MISSION FOR EVERYDAY LIFE What a year it has been. Each year we think things couldn’t get any better, but they always do. Last year, “unity” seemed to be a resounding theme. It was such a beautiful thing to watch pastors connect with other pastors and create life-long friendships. We had the honor to walk three different churches through the

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process of starting a Compassion Night in their own communities. We’ve had middle school and adult groups submit Princess Night cards to hand out on our anti-sex trafficking outreach. We saw dreams and visions implanted into the hearts of thousands of students of who God is and how they can share His love with people in

every day life. Our goal is to get students in the mindset that ministry doesn’t only happen on mission trips; ministry should be in their every day life. Last year we were able to plant that seed in over one thousand students’ hearts. Witnessing these students’ hearts become broken for the lost and watching that turn into

a passion for reaching people with the gospel is what drives us to keep doing what we’re doing. We invite you to prayerfully consider coming and being a part of what God is doing through the Atlanta Dream Center Missions. If you’re interested in bringing a group to partner with us, please email us at [email protected].

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2016 PLAN

MISSIONS

AS WE LOOK BACK AT THIS PAST YEAR...

- Host 750 Mission team members - Raise $300,000 through Missions to support Atlanta Dream Center ministries

WE MARVEL AT ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE THROUGH THE ATLANTA DREAM CENTER, AND WE EXPECTANTLY LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE WITH EXCITED HEARTS TO SEE WHERE GOD TAKES US! HERE ARE SOME THINGS WE FEEL GOD IS CALLING US TOWARD IN 2016.

METRO KIDZ -Fully functioning at 4 weekly outreach sites by the end of 2016 -Add 2 part-time staff members

iAM - Place 125 individuals struggling with homelessness, addiction, or domestic violence into long-term recovery programs - Build reationships with over 750 individuals through weekly homeless small group. - Give away 150 outfits weekly with our Mobile Clothing Closet - Launch new aspect to Compassion Night, including grilling food, giving haircuts, and bringing Mobile Clothing Closet. - Give out 8,000 meals to homeless

OUT OF DARKNESS - 300 Rescues of victims of commercial sexual exploitation - Double our hotline responders team (from 8 to 16) - Open another safe home, fully staffed/funded/operational - Increase the number of women being actively mentored - Post-recovery transitional plan for program graduates that addresses discipleship, affordable housing, and livable wages - New OOD chapter launch in Columbus, Ohio

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FINANCIALS T

hank you to the the individuals, churches, foundations and businesses who financially supported the Atlanta Dream Center and our ministries in 2015, making a $1.36 million impact in the metro Atlanta area. Each one of you, with gifts large and small, played a role in reaching the lost, rescuing those in need and restoring the brokenhearted. You shared your treasures with the Atlanta Dream Center, and we are extremely grateful for each and every one of you. But the work is not done. There are still at-risk youth in our city, homeless & addicted men and women in need, and women trapped in commercial sexual exploitation. The Atlanta Dream Center is believing in continued breakthrough in 2016, with an impact goal of $1.51 million. As financial supporters of the Atlanta Dream Center, we want you to know we value you and your gifts to us. With the hire of a Director of Development, expect to hear more from us and learn of new ways you can stay engaged with us throughout the year. Thank you for supporting us financially, but more importantly in prayer. And thank you in advance for continuing to partner with us in 2016.

11%

WHO GAVE MORE THAN $5,000 IN 2015

10%

12%

2015 INCOME BREAKDOWN

25%

42%

Individual Gifts

City of Atlanta Cobb EMC Community Foundation, Inc. Courtesy Properties LLC D&L Group Holdings LLC Delta Air Lines, Inc. The Emily Winship Scott Foundation Ida Alice Ryan Charitable Trust Lindsay Windows South Little Family Charitable Fund MC Foundation National Christian Foundation PetroSP, LP Regency Lighting Reliant Technology LLC Scott Hudgens Family Foundation, Inc. Solature, LLC Whole Foods Market

Other

Includes Mission Teams, Support, & M-25 Store

FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE SPONSORS WHO GAVE BETWEEN $1,000 AND $5,000 IN 2015

2015 EXPENSES Fundraising General Administration Missions Support Building and Properties Ministry and Operations

Total

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FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE SPONSORS

Business Donations

Foundation Gifts

Churches & Faith-based organizations

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR 2015 FINANCIAL PARTNERS!

$72,293.24 $60,455.52 $51,237.85 $153,298.17 $1,029,866.22

$1,367,151.00

Atlanta Foundation Branch Banking and Trust Company EA Homes Charitable Hobo Nation, Inc. Johnson Family Foundation TTEE J. Tucker Foundation Luminate Events, LLC Lupas Family Charitable Fund Medtronic Foundation Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust New Dawn Consulting, Inc. Noble 1 ORION Racing LLC Parsons Clinic of Chiropractic Reed & Jeanne Larson Foundation RS Industrial, Inc. The Home Depot Foundation The Taylor Foundation The Williamson Family Fund

CHURCH PARTNERS WHO GAVE MORE THAN $5,000 IN 2015 City Church Eastside Cornerstone Community Church First Presbyterian Church of Marietta Kairos Church Greater Atlanta Presbytery Northside United Methodist Church North Atlanta Church of Christ Rising Church, Inc. Victory World Church

CHURCH PARTNERS WHO GAVE BETWEEN $1,000 AND $5,000 IN 2015 Abundant Life Church Cumming Bethel Church Christian CElebration Center Church of the Apostles of Atlanta Emmanuel Church, Inc. Evangel Temple First Assembly of God – Dallas, GA First Pentecostal Tabernacle Church Fellowship Bible Class Generation Life Church Lamb Creek Christian Center, Inc. Legacy Christian Church, Inc. Macon House of Prayer, Inc. Pike County Assembly of God Revive Church Inc. Ruth Community Church The Church at Chapel Hill Tussekiah Baptist Church Victory Hamilton Mill West Cobb Church Inc. World Victory Celebration Church

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MEET THE STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Reid Smith-Vaniz Board Chairman Reliant Technology

Mike Goldstone Regency Lighting

Dave Campbell Coca-Cola, Retired

Kim Rash Self-employed

Steve Williams The Sauers Groups, Inc.

Paul Raulet Raulet & Property Partners

Ken Fuller Fuller Studios

Tom Raney JE Dunn Construction

Fred McClure Self-Employed

Chris Radosta Regency Lighting

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SPECIAL THANKS TO: Alex Rodriguez Chick-fil-a

Michael & Bonnie Ferguson Photography

Tom Palmer Photography

Austin & Jeana Smith Graphic Design

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ATL ANTA DREAM CENTER

CONNECT WITH US Address 652 Angier Ave. NE Atlanta, GA 30308

Mailing Address P.O. Box 54537 Atlanta, GA 30308

@atldreamcenter

Online atldreamcenter.com [email protected]