Recent Special Project Grants
Spring 2025 Special Project Grants
$250,000 to HealthLinc
Funds will help support HealthLinc in remodeling the unused portion of its Mishawaka clinic to expand healthcare services for underserved St. Joseph County residents. The renovation will create a dedicated space for women’s health/OB services, behavioral health, optometry, and chiropractic care. It will also serve as a training site for the Behavioral Health Residency program. This expansion will add 14,000 visits by 2026, serving over 4,600 patients. The new facility will include additional service areas, a classroom, a conference room, and increased staffing, including providers and support staff.
$250,000 to New Day Intake Center
Funds will be used for the New Day Intake Center (NDIC) building on Old Cleveland Road, which will be a compassionate, low-barrier facility aiding homeless individuals. The facility will have 120 beds (60 for men, 30 for women, and 30 single rooms for either). This new facility will promote the dignity of guests with amenities like a kitchen, dining and community area, laundry room, offices, and dedicated spaces for mental and physical health care. The Motels4Now model has achieved a 77% success rate, helping nearly 800 guests to-date.
$250,000 to St. Margaret’s House
Funds will help support the redesign and expansion of St. Margaret’s House (SMH) existing building at 117 N. Lafayette Blvd, South Bend. The expansion will add approximately 6,500 sf. (a 47% increase in total space) for SMH’s work with vulnerable women and children in the South Bend region. The result will be a purposefully designed space that considers and responds to the needs of guests for decades to come. The new building will allow SMH to serve more women, more effectively, with expanded hours and services.
$100,000 to LOGAN
Affordable, accessible housing remains out of reach for many people with disabilities, even with government assistance. LOGAN has helped hundreds of clients find true homes where they live alongside peers with support from Direct Support Professionals. Funding will assist LOGAN with building a new group home on Catalpa Street in Mishawaka that will provide safe, supportive, and accessible housing for individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities in St. Joseph County.
$60,000 to AIDS Ministries / AIDS Assist
Health Plus Indiana will use funding to increase medical care in the community by hiring an additional provider. This provider will increase the number of patients that the organization can serve in the office and accompany the outreach team on the street to assist with wound care to the most vulnerable populations. They expect to serve 2,000 patients in 2026, with the majority being from St. Joseph County. Health Plus Indiana plans to have this position pay for itself once credentialing is completed by the development director.
$50,000 to Greater Impact
Greater Impact is dedicated to hiring and mentoring at-risk youth in the South Bend community through employment. Greater Impact works with Transformation Ministries and operates two divisions: Lawn Care and Screen Printing. Funds will help Greater Impact expand services and provide more employment opportunities by purchasing equipment for Lawn Care & Landscape, adding a new truck to grow Lawn Care from two to three crews, and purchasing essential equipment for both divisions to employ over thirty youth.
$50,000 to South Bend Greenway Conservancy
The Green Alley Project builds a critical link in a larger vision for a greenway. The project will connect the City Cemetery to the heart of the neighborhood at W. Washington Street. It will transform an underutilized city-owned alleyway and adjacent vacant lots owned by SBGC into a sustainable, climate-resilient public space that integrates stormwater management best practices, urban tree canopy expansion, and safe pedestrian connectivity. The design includes a pedestrian path and a vehicle-grade alley, separated by a bioswale populated with native trees and understory plantings.
$33,000 to Families First Center
Families First Center (FFC) aims to revitalize their facility, ensuring not only a nurturing interior environment but also a safe and welcoming exterior space. FFC recognizes the importance of physical surroundings in creating a supportive atmosphere for children and families during supervised visitation sessions. To achieve this comprehensive goal, they propose to utilize funding for interior and exterior renovations and improvements to the facility itself. FFC serves between 400-500 families a year through their services.
Fall 2024
$200,000 to Mishawaka Parks & Recreation Foundation, Inc.
The Miracle League Field at Normain Heights Park project was established to increase access, awareness, and the quality of life for people with disabilities in St. Joseph County and beyond. As the region’s first Miracle Field, participants will finally have the chance to play organized baseball in a safe, welcoming environment while giving families a place to connect and build lasting relationships. The field, along with additional features, are part of a two-phase renovation plan for Normain Heights, a park that has not undergone any significant improvements since it was built 50+ years ago.
$137,500 to Hope Ministries
Hope Ministries recently launched Phase 1 of its Campaign for Home. Phase 1 addresses critical infrastructure, safety and revenue needs to ensure the home Hope provides to families, men and women will endure for years to come and sets the stage for Phase 2 which will expand and enhance the home. Hope has about 100 residents, which includes a combination of separate housing sections for men, women and families. They serve their residents lunch and dinner daily, along with an additional 95 people per day from the community who are in need.
$125,000 to Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County
Funds will be utilized to support costs associated with launching Habitat for Humanity’s new Homeownership Training Center, which will also serve as their organizational headquarters. This vibrant space – a renovated former medical building in Mishawaka – will be large enough to accommodate organizational growth and allow Habitat to facilitate more mission-driven services in a single, welcoming location. By addressing their space, logistical, and safety challenges, Habitat will be able to better meet St. Joseph County’s growing need for affordable housing.
$100,000 to Potawatomi Zoological Society
Funds will support the Potawatomi Zoo’s newest capital project, Big Cat Tracks, a state-of-the-art Amur tiger and leopard habitat. This project will be the first expansion in the Zoo’s history, incorporating two additional acres recently acquired from the City of South Bend, adjacent to the current Zoo border. This unique experience integrates the existing landscape of the park, creating a naturalistic experience for not only the big cats, but for guests as well.
$100,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northern Indiana Corridor
Funds will help support BGC’s Leadership Academy, which will provide academic enrichment, personal growth opportunities, character and leadership development for suspended students from local partner school districts. The building will also have a training hub for Club staff during the day and a Tween Center after school, providing 5-8th graders access to these high-quality programs. This project addresses a vital community need and aligns with BGC’s mission to prepare all youth for successful futures.
$50,000 to Neighbor to Neighbor
Funds will help support Neighbor to Neighbor’s (N2N) project expansion to hire a full-time social worker to improve the quality and impact of services, ensuring sustainable support for immigrant and refugee families. N2N seeks to enhance its capacity to transform the South Bend community by alleviating isolation and fostering empathy among immigrant and refugee newcomers and local residents. N2N plans to increase their volunteer teams by 50%, totaling 12-15 teams and to increase the number of newcomer families they support by expanding their capacity to 125 individuals in 2025.
$40,000 to Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Inc.
Funds will help support the Lydick Bog Nature Preserve Expansion Project. The project includes preservation of a 93 acre addition to the 178 acre preserve, installation of 1 mile trail to connect the preserve to Pine Road and the Indiana Dinosaur Museum trail system, repair and enhancement of the existing 1.7 mile trail system, installation of informational and interpretive signage, and nature based outdoor programming to activate the trail with the surrounding residents of St. Joseph County.
$25,000 to A Rosie Place for Children
A Rosie Place for Children is embarking on a journey to bring to life the vision of an onsite completely adaptable art studio. Funds will help support a beautifully designed space specifically for medically fragile children and staff to co-create one-of-a-kind pieces of art. This new addition will have a special destination and purpose, be fully accessible and overlook the beautiful natural scenery. “HeARTworks Studio” will foster developmental exploration in a fulfilling sensory environment.
$25,000 to Dustin’s Place
Dustin’s Place provides peer grief support to children and families following the death of an important person in their life. This project is an expansion from their current grief support groups; bringing school grief support groups into at least 15 St. Joseph County Schools in 2025. Expansion will include hiring of a School Program Coordinator. Dustin’s Place school program provides a weekly peer grief support group during the school day for 8 weeks each semester. Through this program students learn what grief is and how grief includes so many emotions beyond what is typically believed, coping skills for those emotions, and hope in their grief journey.
$15,000 to Green Bridge Growers
Funds will support Green Bridge Growers’ Farm to Preschool project. This project expands on a US Department of Agriculture grant awarded to pilot this program. This is a carefully crafted format that incorporates an in-class farm to preschool curriculum, family engagement (cooking demos, nutrition education, tours), preschool gardens, and local food sourcing. Green Bridge Growers’ goal is to create a sustained model for delivering their preschool curriculum through existing partnerships with Ready to Grow St. Joe, area colleges and universities, specifically St. Mary’s College Speech and Language Department.
Spring 2024
$150,000 to Reins of Life
Funds will be used for Reins of Life’s capital expansion project which will include a weather-protected entrance and accessible parking lot, classroom with an adjacent bathroom, conference room, private spaces for staff, volunteers and medical professionals, enlargement of the indoor arena, additional horse stalls, tack room, a fire suppression system and handicap-accessible walkways. With the proposed additions, Reins will significantly improve their ability to fulfill the current demand, anticipate growing enrollment by 25%, and will continue to deliver high-quality, consistent programming.
$94,000 to Imani Unidad, Inc.
As a trusted voice, ally, and advocate for St. Joseph County, Imani is an ideal partner with underserved and underrepresented stakeholders in the community. Funds will support Imani’s program expansion with a two-prong strategy: 1) to relocate the program team into its newly donated renovated facility at 2806 Lincoln Way, South Bend and 2) hiring an Outreach Manager position. Building renovations will create adequate and improved space for drop-in services and programs that Imani provides, such as HIV/HCV testing and connection to community resources, a confidential counseling room, education, training, and hosting of multiple programs such as Imani’s peer individual and group supports. The lower level has a small, outdated kitchen that will be updated to a small commercial kitchen to host nutrition and cooking classes and serve as an additional resource.
$55,000 to LOGAN
Through recent federal and state changes, LOGAN has been challenged to reimagine their service delivery model for clients receiving day services. Funds will support LOGAN’s new Life Enrichment and Employment Pathways, which will provide three pathways to competitive integrated employment, emphasizing community engagement. These pathways are tailored to individual needs and interests, offering diverse opportunities for clients with intellectual developmental disabilities.
$50,000 to South Bend Youth Hockey
South Bend Youth Hockey and the Ice Box skating rink provide access to a skating facility for youth of all ages to learn to skate, play and enjoy ice hockey, and figure skating. Funds will be used to support the addition of a third rink, which will help increase equity and access for ice time. While new rink will boost the Ice Box’s already sizable impact on the local economy through hosting out-of-town tournaments and guests, its enduring impact on St. Joseph County will be in unlocking opportunities for underserved local youth to engage in safe and fun activities.
$35,000 to University of Notre Dame
The South Bend Entrepreneurship & Adversity Program (SBEAP) through the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Center offers an 11-month wraparound solution for helping disadvantaged individuals start and grow businesses. Since 2020, SBEAP has trained and equipped 346 entrepreneurs in South Bend, and saw 189 businesses launched. To provide more support and help address unique challenges and problems that arise, funds will help support a drop-in center to facilitate ongoing support for entrepreneurs: The SBEAP Entrepreneurship Empowerment Zone. In addition to tailored support services, the site will offer expanded, ongoing training, mentoring, and consulting.
$27,000 to YWCA North Central Indiana, Inc.
Over the past year, more than 760 women and their 400 children called the YWCA North Central Indiana domestic violence shelter in South Bend home. Most of these children witnessed domestic violence or were victims of abuse themselves and are at risk for serious long-term physical and mental health concerns. Funds will support YWCA’s Children’s Counselor position to help clients heal and move forward with their lives with the confidence they need to overcome trauma.
Fall 2023
$125,000 to Center for the Homeless
Approaching 35 years of service to the South Bend community, the Center for the Homeless is now requiring extensive renovations in order to fit guests’ changing needs, keeping guests and staff safe, and allowing them to continually improve their programming and services in order to meet their mission of ending the cycle of homelessness in our community. Funds will be used for renovation of the Community Partners Building (north building) which houses their Early Childhood Intervention and Jobs, Training and Education Centers, community fellowship space, classrooms and administrative offices.
$125,000 to Women’s Care Center
Funds will be used to build a new Women’s Care Center in downtown Mishawaka. The City of Mishawaka is donating land and a parking lot at the corner of Lincolnway and Cedar. The new center will be double the size of their current small Mishawaka center, and will be located right next door to the potential One Roof St. Joseph County neighborhood center. With a dedicated classroom, more counseling and education rooms, and a large childcare space, the new center will allow for more classes and individual sessions, as well as for a new program in partnership with the health department to help women access prenatal care sooner. Women’s Care Center has a goal of 3,800 visits at the new center in 2025.
$75,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County
Funds will be used to support the planning and implementation of a Pilot Program for Harrison Elementary School. In collaboration with Beacon Community Impact, University of Notre Dame researchers, and The Child Abuse Services Investigation & Education Center’s Truancy Prevention Program (CASIE), their team is implementing a Coordinated Action for Resilience through Early-intervention (CARE) Pilot Program to provide a preventative, multi-tiered system of student and family support, focused on reducing chronic absenteeism and improving academic outcomes for K-5 students.
$55,000 to Clubhouse of St. Joseph County
Funds will be used to develop an Education and Employment Program to support Clubhouse members’ interests and goals in education and career development. The Education and Employment program is a signature program within the Clubhouse model, however Clubhouse SJC, who will be evaluated by Clubhouse International for consideration of accreditation in August 2024, does not currently have this program. Clubhouse SJC will use funding to help develop this program including supporting interested members’ participation in a professional peer support specialist training program.
$50,000 to Unity Gardens
Funds will support the Educational Expansion Program, which utilizes new resources to broaden Unity Gardens’ impact and programming reach. The four Season Geodesic Learning Lab, the Edgy Veggie Mobile Classroom, and the Giving Grove Urban Orchards will help Unity Gardens reach more people with more food in more spaces while creating additional program revenue. Each of these educational tools targets underserved populations who have less access to safe green space, fresh healthy food, and meaningful hands-on learning opportunities.
$25,000 to Neighbor to Neighbor
Funds will support expansion of Neighbor to Neighbor’s Welcome Project. Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) trains volunteer teams to be paired with newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in St. Joseph County through The Welcome Project. Through this project, volunteers practice welcoming newcomers through assistance with everyday needs, such as transportation assistance and education, employment assistance, meal sharing, and this program allows the newcomers to welcome volunteers into their homes and lives. N2N will be adding 100-150 new newcomers (clients) and a new cohort of volunteers, adding 50 new community members to the project. In total the organization will work with 150-200 new individuals through project expansion.
Spring 2023
$250,000 to Cultivate Culinary School and Catering, Inc.
Funding from this grant will be used for Cultivate’s Community Cold Storage capital expansion project. This new state-of-the-art cold storage facility will provide the community with 21,000 square feet of cold storage for rescued food with the capacity to receive up to 78 truckloads of food at once. This will allow for the rescue of 19 million pounds of food each year that will be redistributed to over 100 community partners. Cultivate has rescued over 1.5 million pounds of food directly from St. Joseph County in the past five years and over 50% of the organization’s food distribution remains in our county.
$100,000 to Potawatomi Zoological Society
Funds will be used to support Potawatomi Zoo’s newest capital project: a Concession Lodge and Bear Habitat. The 6,000-square-foot Lodge will include a dining area that looks directly into the bear habitat. This project is part of the Zoo’s $10.7-million “Phase 3” of its Master Plan, which also includes a new, upgraded lion habitat and a state-of-the-art Amur tiger exhibit. The Concession Lodge has capacity for indoor seating of 120 plus 300-400 on an outdoor plaza, a significant upgrade from the Zoo’s current modest concessions area.
$50,000 to Kindness to Prevent Blindness
The Kindness to Prevent Blindness (K2PB) program provides a community service annually to hundreds of students by treating and preventing eye issues. This mobile eye clinic provides space for screenings and a lab for making glasses. Students in need of glasses receive two free pairs, as well as a voucher for a replacement pair if needed. Since its founding in 2018, K2PB has provided over 5,000 eye exams and 8,000 pairs of eyeglasses to students in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. This funding will support a dedicated pediatric optometrist to staff the mobile unit part-time, as staffing shortages in the medical industry are making it harder to find volunteer doctors. Over 65% of K2PB’s services have been for St. Joseph County students, serving over 60 different St. Joseph County schools.
$25,000 to Center for Civic Innovation (University of Notre Dame)
Notre Dame’s Center for Civic Innovation (CCI) Summer Internship Program will partner with the Near Northwest Neighborhood (NNN) and St. Paul Bethel Baptist Church to design and implement a public play area for children on the church-owned lot at 715 Leland Avenue in South Bend. Funds will be used for construction materials for the play area; support for the interns performing the design work is provided by a matching grant from the Leighton Foundation. This collaborative project has additional support from the City of South Bend IGNITE grant.
$7,000 to Reins of Life
Funding from this grant will help expand Reins of Life’s Interactive Vaulting program, covering the mandatory workshop and training costs for two instructors to become PATH-certified in Interactive Vaulting and the necessary equipment for program expansion. Interactive Vaulting, or Therapeutic Vaulting, is a type of physical activity for children and adults with balance, attention, motor skill, or social-emotional deficits. This project will secure components to cover the growing demand for these services by participants with behavioral and social diagnoses.
Fall 2022
$250,000 to Oaklawn Foundation for Mental Health (payable over two years)
This grant will support a $5 million capital project that will replace Oaklawn’s 170-year-old building and transform how the organization provides mental health and substance use services to St. Joseph County residents. The new space will allow Oaklawn to expand its existing programs and staff, and will include an integrated physical care clinic, a pharmacy, multiple new group therapy rooms, an additional 52 therapy offices, and telehealth offices.
$125,000 to Transformation Ministries
This grant will support Transformation Ministries’ renovation of 1101 King Street in South Bend. This additional space will allow the organization to expand its current program capacity from 15 to 75 students in “City Light Kids” (grades K-5), 72 to 100 students in “Iron Sharpens Irons” (middle and high school students), 20 to 50 young adults in “Alumni,” and 100 to 400 people at family-style dinners. The building will also include a Family Resource Center that can accommodate over 100 community members. Transformation Ministries’ current building on Portage Avenue will be renovated into an Early Learning Center, serving children up to age 5.
$100,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Joseph County
This grant supports BGCSJC’s transportation program, encompassing the purchase of two 25-passenger buses, one yellow bus, and the salary for two part-time bus drivers. A recent grant awarded by the IDOE’s STRIVE program has resulted in significant growth in the number of youth that BGCSJC serves (from 500 to 1,700 students), the number of Club sites (from 10 to 25), and total staff (from 50 to 180). Housing its own transportation program will allow BGCSJC to create many more experiential learning programs and will get Club members there safely with dependable staff and reliable vehicles.
$100,000 to Goodwill Industries of Michiana
This grant will help support the creation of The Academy at Goodwill’s Bendix Campus. Located within the same building as The Excel Center, this new 35,000-square-foot facility will include an Automotive Training Center, as well as spaces for certification courses in welding, CNC, construction (in partnership with Habitat for Humanity), and industrial sewing. Goodwill plans to serve 150-180 students across these programs annually. The building will have dedicated conference room space available for local nonprofits to use for training and professional development.
$55,000 to the Upper Room Recovery Community
This grant will help upgrade the kitchen and community room in the Men’s Home at the Upper Room Recovery Community (URRC), making the space feel more like “home” for residents. With access to the upgraded kitchen, 32 male residents will have the opportunity to establish healthy eating habits by cooking balanced meals in conjunction with URRC’s Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) program. Renovations will include new flooring, cabinets, countertops, sinks, energy-efficient light fixtures and extended wiring, as well as large energy-efficient appliances which will reduce utility costs.
$50,000 to Faith IN Indiana (payable over two years)
This grant will support Faith IN Indiana St. Joseph County Chapter’s efforts to build and broaden grassroots leadership and participation through training 50 leaders and engaging in hundreds of relationship-building and listening meetings. Ultimately, Faith IN Indiana seeks to improve our community’s dialogue around significant issues by bringing together a broad base of citizens from different faith and cultural backgrounds.