Recent Special Project Grants
Spring 2026 Special Project Grants
New Day Intake Center: $1,000,000
Funds will be used to construct 16 women’s units with 32 beds at the brand-new center on Old Cleveland Road. New Day provides a compassionate, low-barrier, housing-first model to help individuals step out of chronic homelessness. 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 more than 900 guests to-date.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northern Indiana Corridor: $250,000
Funds will assist the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northern Indiana Corridor in advancing the development of a Mishawaka Neighborhood Center, transforming the 25,000 sq. ft. former City Hall into a community hub for youth, families, and seniors. The anchor service is a standalone Boys & Girls Club serving Mishawaka youth, alongside partners including WIC, REAL Services, Family & Children’s Center, and Mental Health Awareness of Michiana, providing coordinated support that strengthens family stability and well-being.
YMCA of Greater Michiana, Inc.: $250,000
Funds will help support the YMCA of Greater Michiana renovate 10,497 square feet on the first floor of the Downtown South Bend YMCA into a full-day childcare center. The center will serve 80-100 children, from infants through age three, with a strong emphasis on providing high-quality, affordable care. Their long-term goal is for families to spend no more than 10% of their annual income on childcare, helping ensure equitable access for families across the diverse community.
Early Childhood Development Center, Inc.: $100,000
The St. Joseph County Quality Improvement Grant is a local funding opportunity facilitated by Ready to Grow for licensed childcare providers enrolled in Indiana’s quality rating system – Paths to QUALITY. The QI Grant will help support continuous improvement through strategic investments in learning environments, adult-use technology, and professional development. As the opportunity expands countywide, it will increase access to quality-focused resources that help programs advance PTQ Levels 1 or 2 or sustain Levels 3 or 4, strengthening outcomes for young children and overall quality of programs.
Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc.: $75,000
Launched in June 2025, the South Bend Financial Empowerment Center provides no-cost, professional financial counseling to all residents to build savings and reduce debt. Operated by Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc., in partnership with the City of South Bend, the FEC aims to expand impact and build on the start-up phase to become a sustainable City project. Funds will be used for targeted marketing, strategic partnerships, and enhanced client experiences to increase session volume and retention. By deepening engagement, they will help more residents achieve transformative financial security.
Our Kids of South Bend: $60,000
Funds will be used for the first phase of a strategy that seeks to ensure every child, neighborhood by neighborhood, is known and supported from cradle to career. Initially focused on measurably strengthening early grade reading outcomes, Our Kids seeks to ensure that students in need of assistance receive high-dosage tutoring, high-quality after-school and summer programs, and proactive attendance support. Our Kids will strengthen, align, and expand the highest-yield services, working in collaboration with strategic partners and schools’ Multi-Tiered Systems of Support teams.
Indiana Health Centers, Inc. – Michigan Street: $52,000
This project will create a more healing environment and the capacity to expand services at the Indiana Health Centers Clinic in South Bend that is shared with the Center for the Homeless. Funds will be used for upgrades, allowing for the addition of new wellness services and improve the atmosphere of the facility to provide a vibrant, welcoming space that promotes whole-person health. IHC has the goal of increasing patient capacity from 4,000 to 4,800 patients annually and expanding wellness and behavioral health services.
TeenWorks: $50,000
TeenWorks’ Summer Program will reach 60-70 underserved teens in South Bend over the next two years and provide work-based learning opportunities at select nonprofit partner sites, providing vital career experiences and individual growth. Funds will help support teens learn from professional development training every week of the program, focusing on topics such as financial literacy, interviewing skills, and resume building. For summer 2026, they have worksites at Youth Service Bureau, the Food Bank and Adams High School.
South Bend Bike Garage: $50,000
South Bend Bike Garage will use funding to hire a part-time Executive Director to stabilize and scale a fully volunteer-run organization that provides affordable bicycles, repair services, and educational programming to the South Bend community. This role will focus on strengthening operations, coordinating volunteers, and expanding fundraising capacity to ensure long-term sustainability. By investing in professional leadership, the Bike Garage increase will access to reliable transportation, support healthier lifestyles, and deepen community connection through bicycling.
Angels in the Attic: $35,000
Funds will help support From Crisis to Stability: Safe Transport Project, ensuring that when a survivor of domestic violence says, “I’m ready to leave,” transportation is not the reason they cannot. This initiative will establish confidential relocation support and rapid delivery of essential items such as beds, food, and diapers. By removing transportation barriers, Angels in the Attic accelerates safety, dignity, and stability for hundreds of women and children each year in St. Joseph County.
Unity Gardens Inc.: $35,000
Unity Gardens’ strong social capital combined with logistics expertise of organizations who rescue and share food has created a synergistic opportunity to connect more people with more food in the community; over 500,000 pounds of food in the last 12 months. Funds will help support space and storage through climate-controlled infrastructure toT keep food optimally displayed and fresh, reducing food waste.
CDFI Friendly South Bend: $30,000
Funds will help support CDFI Friendly South Bend Region build upon their history of expanding capital access locally. They will accomplish this by formalizing a Regional Capital Access Collaborative network with CDFIs, community banks, fintechs, and mission-driven lenders. The collaborative creates a network of lending and technical assistance relationships, organized around a designated physical space. CFSB will facilitate structure by offering a host location designed to serve network partners and provide a regular training site for their “Capital Coaching” curriculum.
The Upper Room Recovery Community: $25,000
Pathway 25 is a trauma-informed Intensive Outpatient Program designed specifically for justice-impacted young adults ages 18–25 in St. Joseph County, integrating clinical treatment, peer recovery support, and reentry stabilization services. Funds will help support Pathway 25 serve justice-impacted young adults ages 18–25 in St. Joseph County who meet criteria for Intensive Outpatient treatment for substance use disorder.
466 Works Community Development Corporation: $25,000
466 Works Community Development Corporation has worked on the revitalization of the Southeast Neighborhood since 2018. Over that time, the organization built a strong development team and built 33 homes in the neighborhood. The City of South Bend has requested that 466 Works build homes in the Kennedy Park Neighborhood, which is around the Martin Luther King Dream Center. Funding will assist 446 Works to create more affordable homes in the Northwest Neighborhood.
Cross Community Inc.: $14,000
Funds will assist with Cross Community’s ongoing Capacity Building Implementation Plan, focusing on creating a robust grant pipeline, standardized proposal processes, and integrated strategies for leveraging public, private, and philanthropic funds. By engaging a consultant and collaborating with the Regional Housing Collaborative, Cross Community aims to secure diverse revenue streams to support affordable housing development. The organization has three active projects underway requiring fund diversification to execute, which represents 29 new affordable housing units.
Mental Health Awareness of Michiana: $7,500
Mental Health Awareness of Michiana will use funding to develop and pilot a Workforce Mental Health Project that adapts their proven community education model for use in workplaces. The project creates employee and management classes as well as print and online resource packets to reduce stigma, increase awareness, and equip organizations to promote mental well-being. The pilot includes a minimum of five workplace presentations with three employer types (i.e., manufacturing, banking, and higher education) and positions MHAM to expand employer partnerships and promote Mental Health America’s Bell Seal certification.
Fall 2025 Special Project Grants
Dismas House of Indiana: $200,000
Funds will be used to support the Dismas Hub, a new community-based reentry and workforce development center expanding support for individuals returning from incarceration. Dismas House anticipates serving more than 500 people in the first year at the Hub, providing comprehensive services including grief groups, recovery meetings, restorative justice circles, workforce development, financial literacy workshops, and more.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Michiana: $125,000
Funds will be used to help support RMHC of Michiana’s “No Roof on Healing” Project to build an outdoor Rooftop Backyard – an expansion of their current 20-bedroom House. This will be an exclusive space for families, as its access point will be through the kitchen on RMHC’s third floor in the Skyway Building connected to Beacon Children’s Hospital in South Bend. This outdoor area will offer a range of sensory experiences—tactile, visual, auditory, and movement-based—ensuring every child can engage in safe, developmentally appropriate play.
Milkweed Gardens: $100,000
Funds will be used to help develop Milkweed Gardens’ lots on South Michigan Street to become community green spaces, known as Milkweed Commons, that address the area’s lack of nature-based amenities. One area will be a pocket park with native plantings, pollinator gardens, permeable and accessible paths, seating, shade structures, a firepit, a stage for outdoor music, public restrooms, and educational signage. The other will be a micro-farm focused on edible plantings, food circularity, and regenerative practices. It will serve as a hub for community engagement and urban agriculture education.
Robinson Community Learning Center – University of Notre Dame: $75,000
Funds will help support inclusive playgrounds at two locations (ND West and Eddy St) that will serve under resourced families and children from across the broader South Bend community. The initiative will support 600+ children and families, enhance 5 RCLC outreach programs, and promote physical and mental development through sensory-rich play elements and inclusive design.
Goodwill Industries of Michiana, Inc.: $73,500
Funds will help support Goodwill’s Career and Technical Education automotive program expansion in St. Joseph County. The automotive program is designed for individuals with no experience to receive free, high-quality training that will prepare them for industry careers in St. Joseph County. With this expansion, approximately thirty additional clients will go through the program in 2026 and beyond.
Lacasa Inc. (of Goshen): $55,000
Funds will help support expansion of Lacasa’s financial stability services in St. Joseph County. Targeting households at or below 80% AMI, Lacasa connects clients with tools, resources, and classes on budgeting, credit, homeownership, and investing for the future. By partnering with Habitat for Humanity and additional St. Joseph County nonprofit organizations, they will increase access, strengthen regional collaboration, and help families break cycles of debt and poverty. Lacasa will be adding in-person classes, appointments and opening their auto loan program to St. Joseph County residents.
A Rosie Place for Children (O’Hana Heritage Foundation, Inc.): $50,000
Funds will help support HeARTworks programming at A Rosie Place for Children in their new state-of-the-art studio. This programming unlocks opportunities often unavailable to children with complex medical needs, turning respite stays into immersive arts experiences. Children will explore AI technology, multisensory music, and other innovative adaptive tools to independently create and share their own works of art.
Rebuilding Together St. Joseph County: $50,000
Funds will be used to help support Rebuilding Together’s expansion to repair 30-40 homes in 2026 and 2027, ensuring that low-income seniors, veterans, and families can remain in the homes they love. Rebuilding Together plans to expand their impact beyond South Bend into Mishawaka and surrounding communities, reaching even more households in need of critical repairs. This expansion will strengthen housing stability county-wide while also living up to their name, rebuilding St. Joseph County together, not just South Bend.
South Bend Community Tennis Association, Inc.: $50,000
Funds will help support the Leeper Tennis Center project, which consists of two phases. The first phase involved resurfacing 13 tennis courts with post-tension concrete, ensuring a minimum court lifespan of 20 years. The second phase of this project will address upgrades to the tennis court lighting and facility building renovation. The tennis courts will be used by multiple local high schools, colleges, clubs, nonprofit organizations and USTA tournaments, spanning the age-range from youth to older adults.
Life Treatment Centers, Inc.: $25,000
Funds will be used for Life Treatment Center’s (LTC) outpatient substance use disorder group therapy rooms. This project will create safe, welcoming, trauma-informed spaces that promote healing, reduce relapse risk, and reinforce recovery. LTC serves 240 unduplicated clients annually who utilize the group therapy rooms for outpatient substance use disorder services. With the updates, LTC anticipates an increase in both capacity and efficiency, allowing the organization to serve an additional thirty-six (36) participants in 2026.
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.