Transformation Ministries Receives $1 Million Grant Toward Early Learning Center

For more than 15 years, Transformation Ministries has been working with students from around South Bend, helping to shape their lives and equipping them to grow and thrive. During that time, a program that started with a dozen students and no permanent home has grown to include a beautiful facility on King Street and programs that provide students opportunities to work, learn, and grow together.

Now, thanks in part to a $1 million grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, they’re adding an Early Learning Center.

“Research shows that 80 percent of brain development occurs before age three-and-a-half,” says Kory Lantz, Executive Director at Transformation Ministries. “So the earlier we can work with kids, the better.”

The Learning Center will include seven classrooms, a multipurpose room, and a kitchen. Lantz expects to serve up to 100 children from six weeks through pre-K.

“What makes this project especially exciting is how naturally it builds on the work Transformation Ministries is already doing with young people, allowing them to begin that support even earlier and creating a stronger continuum of opportunity as children grow.” said Aaron Perri, Vice President, Community Impact at the Community Foundation.

Recognizing the developmental gap in students who do not receive early education and the financial strain that childcare presents for families, Lantz hopes to solve both problems at the same time.

Besides the Early Learning Center, families of enrolled students also have access to the Family Empowerment Center, where Transformation Ministries can work directly with parents.

The investment in the center is significant, and the early architectural renderings are impressive.

Already the team at Transformation Ministries has raised $7 million of an $8 million goal. They’re working to understand and meet licensing standards and will begin hiring staff as the center comes closer to completion. Once the center is fully operational, Transformation Ministries will employ 25 staffers at the Early Learning Center.

That means an impact that goes far beyond children. It means jobs for the community. It means one less thing that busy parents need to worry about.

Transformation Ministries has already begun construction on the Early Learning Center and plans on opening the space in August 2027.