Roland ?. B.
1/5
The people who have given it "5-Stars" are family-employees (or friends of employees), of The Dream Center; which skews the review-rating to the high-side with a bias. The Dream Center in Decatur is like a family-operated ponzi scheme. There is no system of checks and balances due to nepotism. The Dream Center is a ministry of the Calvary Assembly Church of Decatur, Alabama. The Director of the The Dream Center is the Pastor's Daughter, therefore, when improprieties arise, there's no "going up the ladder" to get results. Meredith's family provides blanket protection for her, and they'll quickly inform you that "Meredith is in charge, and they leave it up to her." So, who does Meredith answer to? This is very unethical. They also stopped allowing the residents to smoke, which even decreases the chances of success for the residents. But they don't tell them they're not allowed to smoke until AFTER the entrance fee is paid (which is non-refundable).
Generally, the Dream Center staff are rude, unprofessional, and very insensitive to the Girls in the program and even their families. Meredith (the Director since late 2015), regularly harasses the Girls by bringing them in her office where she yells at them, and hurls profanity (yet claims to be a Christian). Jena Smith certainly doesn't have a friendly, caring demeanor, and is very elusive when answering questions for family members. She's very dictatorial and rude to the residents, and their families, and isn't a good fit at all for her position. There are numerous improprieties. They are disingenuous and don't provide full disclosure about program costs. They present that the enrollment fee covers everything, but after entrance into the program other fees and monies will be required. Even though it's categorized as "faith-based," there's very little Bible Study that takes place. When they go to church they're only exposed to the false, "prosperity gospel," and many of the girls are just as spiritually lost when they leave as when they arrived. The program is very disorganized and poorly managed. Instead of being a loving, caring place that supports people suffering from addictions and their families (like you'd expect from a Christian organization), it's more like a military boot-camp ran by unqualified people. None of the staff are qualified, nor do they have legitimate degrees related to the field. They will dismiss people for frivolous, personal reasons and even try to sabotage their chances of entering another program (but they can be re-admitted to The Dream Center after 30-days; by paying the entrance fee, again, of course). The behavior that Meredith and Jena exhibited towards us was very obnoxious, unprofessional, and very unbecoming conduct for Christians.
We used to recommend this program, but after much reflection and investigation, we can no longer recommend The Dream Center in good faith until many changes are made. In their attempt to hurt our family member to get vengeance against us, they actually did us a favor by dismissing her, according to their words, "on good terms." We found a much better place. Our loved one has graduated the program, is clean, and has since finished up her Bachelor's Degree and became employed in her field. Every cloud has a silver lining. I only pray that one day The Dream Center will recognize their need for change and that it will take place. Until then, I'd strongly recommend looking at other options, because there are much better ones out there. The only good thing about The Dream Center is that is does help by removing people with addictions from the toxic environment. But they provide no tools for success after residents leave the program. Again, there are much better options out there, and it's worth the extra cost and driving time. There's much more, so feel free to e-mail me and I'll provide specifics. I'll also give tips on how to find a legitimate rehabilitation facility for your loved one.
