 American Idol Danny Gokey Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Dream Center Source - Press release In celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the L.A. Dream Center, an outreach to the homeless and needy in L.A. & across the U.S., American Idol’s Danny Gokey performed at a special media event hosted by Jason Kennedy of E! News Daily and Suzanne Marques of Good Day L.A. At the event, Gokey announced along with Dream Center founder, Matthew Barnett, the naming of the Dream Center’s Youth Outreach Center after his late wife, Sophia, recognizing his commitment to the work of the inner-city relief organization, through his recently formed foundation, Sophia’s Heart, created in her memory.
The Dream Center, the former Queen of Angels Hospital in downtown L.A. is now a refuge for L.A.’s 11,000 homeless, abandoned teens, gang members, and those suffering from drug & alcohol addiction. The organization feeds 30,000 people per week (one million pounds of food) and houses more than 1,200 people daily each week in Los Angeles, with over 130 satellite outreaches across the U.S.
The Dream Center provides shelter, life rehabilitation, education, basic needs, job training and numerous resources through its 273 programs. Located in a formerly crime-infested neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Dream Center has become one of the outstanding models of transformation in America. Since its inception, the Dream Center’s surrounding L.A. inner city area has seen a homicide drop of 73% as a result of its different programs.
The Dream Center also has its own recording studio and created its own record label titled Dream Records, recently launching their first artist Press Play which debuted in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200, becoming a huge iTunes success and appearing on The Today Show. The members of Press Play all work for the Dream Center and its CD sale proceeds go to the development of the Dream Center organization. Much of the recording studio equipment was donated by Grammy Award winning music producer-songwriter-musician Rodney Jenkins.
The vision for the Dream Center was birthed in 1994 when Matthew Barnett, who was just 20 years old, came to Los Angeles from Phoenix, AZ. He felt compelled to first address the physical needs of an impoverished community before any of his own needs. In recognition of the 15th Anniversary, last week Barnett slept on Skid Row to experience how it feels to literally walk a day in their shoes, and to reach out to others. | 
