Dream Center Southwest Michigan helps Niles' homeless community stay warm.

NILES, Mich – There’s a local effort in Niles to bring warmth to Niles’ homeless community.

The Dream Center Southwest Michigan has started a fundraising effort to purchase coats for homeless people braving the frigid winter temperatures.

“The dream center has helped me out, it’s probably saved my life, they’ve given me blankets they keep me warm,” Homeless Niles native Patrick Foley said.

The Dream center is one of three local chapters in Michigan of the charitable organization that was founded in Los Angeles.

“The Dream Center came into the area about three years ago as a dream of providing resources to people who were going through rough times in their life,” Dream Center volunteer Caryn Adler said.

The local chapter is staffed with 25 volunteers and has a goal of raising $1,500 to purchase 17 coats of which they purchased 11 and donated two to Lakeland Hospital already.

The coats are made by homeless people that are hired by the Empowerment project and trained to sew.

The coats transform from coats to sleeping bags allowing those in need to sleep in them to stay warm.

The Dream Center’s fundraising effort continues until January 2nd and they could be contacted through their facebook page.