Inside Columbia Presbyterian Church at the corner of Fourth and Locust streets, dreams are becoming reality. The Columbia Dream Center staff members and volunteers are working hard to provide opportunities for people in need through a variety of programs, and their efforts are flourishing.

"We have jammed a lot of stuff into this church," explained Jenn Hollinger, outreach coordinator for the center. "We used to have a separate building for our shelter, but now everything we do is under this roof. We do not have one square inch of extra space."

The Columbia Dream Center hosts a food pantry, provides shelter space for men and women, serves free lunch on weekdays, operates a resource center and houses a clothing bank.

As Hollinger explained, the center moved its shelter into the church in April of 2023. The move cut the shelter's size in half, and the space can now only accommodate 16 adults.

"Columbia has the second-highest homeless rate in the county," Hollinger said. "Lancaster city is first, and then here. It's a dream to be able to do a family shelter, because there is a great need here, and we are looking for a shelter building. It just hasn't manifested itself yet."

On the other side of a divider from the shelter, volunteers set up the food pantry for guests to use once a week, either on Tuesday evenings or Wednesday mornings. People complete a self-declaration of need and do not need to live in Columbia to use the pantry.

"They come through the line and pick up what they need," Hollinger said, noting that items vary depending on what she can get from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Blessings of Hope and local businesses that donate items. In a typical month, the pantry serves close to 900 families.

Mondays through Fridays, the Columbia Dream Center provides lunch for area residents through a soup kitchen that features a hot meal four of the days and a bag lunch on Wednesdays. "Our soup kitchen numbers continue to grow," Hollinger shared. "We did over 4,000 lunches last month."

The Columbia Dream Center used to operate as Hands Across the Street but rebranded once it became an affiliate of the original Dream Center program based in Los Angeles. It now operates as a ministry of Columbia Presbyterian Church.

In the church sanctuary, the Dream Center operates the Restart Day Center, offering access to computers and help with finding resources such as housing or jobs. Downstairs in the building, a clothing bank provides free items to men, women and children.

Preparing the church, which dates to the 1880s, to house the Dream Center required extensive renovations. "In the sanctuary, we pulled out all the church pews," Hollinger said. "We pulled out the old red church carpet and put in new flooring. We brought in chairs to use for church." Work is ongoing, with painting projects and kitchen updates on Hollinger's wish list.

"Our kitchen is from the 1950s, but we make it work," she said, noting that the center added a convection oven two years ago. "This kitchen was built for church dinners where you serve maybe 100 people. This summer alone, we were pumping out 300 to 400 lunches. We'd like to renovate it, but it's an involved and expensive project. We were quoted $80,000 for just a new range hood."

The Columbia Dream Center also serves as a Power Packs affiliate, providing free food to families in the Columbia Borough School District on a weekly basis.

The community can help to support the Columbia Dream Center with monetary donations or donations of items such as hygiene and cleaning products. Volunteers are also always needed.

Mostly, though, Hollinger wants to spread the word about what the Columbia Dream Center is doing to help the community.

"It's surprising how many people live in Columbia and have no idea that we are here," she said. "We could help them if they need help."

For more information on the Columbia Dream Center, visit https://columbiahas.org.