Dream Center Bismarck officially opens doors

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - “Find a need and fill it.” That is the goal of Dream Center Bismarck, a nonprofit organization which officially opened its doors Sunday.

When Jim Barnhardt woke up from a dream in early 2016, he said he and his wife knew what they had to do. The couple worked for six years to bring Dream Center Bismarck to fruition.

Although the center opened its doors Sunday, the nonprofit has been helping the community since 2019. They started their “adopt a block” outreach program with the Banquet, which presently is distributing upwards of 100 thousand pounds of groceries a month to low-income neighborhoods.

“We have seen the need here for many, many years, and it’s just really fun to see the people come and get the meals, and good for the community to provide,” said volunteer coordinator Marion Kiefer.

Along with the meals they provide, the new facility has partnered with other organizations that provide free health screenings, classes, and programs to help fill the variety of needs in the community.

“We also have the opportunity for people to come to this one location, and they’ll be able to find all types of resources that they need, or didn’t even know were available, and we can help them with that,” said organizer Cindy Barnhardt.

The facility’s open house welcomed nearly 1,000 people, and it’s safe to say the impression was positive.

“My take on it is, it’s a great facility, hopefully they’ll have the resources to sustain it,” said Dream Center visitor Michael Walsh.

The center may have only started out as dream, but its goal has become reality.

Dream Center Bismarck is located at 1805 Park Avenue.

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