Community Foundation Awards More than $800,000 in Special Project Grants

As part of its 2025 fall grants cycle, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has awarded $803,500 to the following organizations:

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.