Every community in the United States wants its young people to stay, work and contribute. And, almost every community in the country has to work hard to do what is called “talent attraction and retention.” In the South Bend-Elkhart Region, one of the bright lights attracting young people is a nonprofit called enFocus, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in May. In 2012, Andrew Wiand and six others visited an incubator focused on entrepreneurship in Durham, N.C. as they studied in the ESTEEM master’s program at the University of Notre Dame. They were so inspired after their visit that they worked Read More »

As Church Community Services has been working to meet community needs, the organization saw a gap in how it assisted Latinos. After collaborating with others in the community, CCS created a plan to focus on some of their services towards the Latino community. The Community Foundation of Elkhart County awarded a $100,000 grant to help the agency fill these gaps. The first step in the process was bringing someone in who understood the Latino community and was able to speak the language. Yolo Lopez-Demarco was hired as the Community Impact director for the LatinX program. “I was super excited when Read More »

Jane Allen remembers when she started seeing students with a new set of issues. They were running down the hall screaming to get out of the building. Some were hiding under desks or in lockers. Not every Middlebury Community School building had its own counselor and students who had access to counselors in their building were limited to three visits a year.Jane, the superintendent of Middlebury Community Schools, talked with Kori Cripe, then a counselor at Northridge Middle School, about how to help these students who were dealing with mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression and anger. Jane Allen Read More »

Volunteers in our community continue to show resilience as they support nonprofit organizations and offer work and skills. Acts of Service continues to match helping hands with nonprofits in need of volunteers, as well as promote volunteerism in our community. Acts of Service has dozens of business partners that encourage and even organize employees serving in the community. Several of them spent days serving in the community. Key Club members at Concord High School also made cards to encourage others. To learn more about Acts of Service, use the QR code with your smartphone or go to www.ActsofService.com. Volunteers Read More »

The village is gathering around the children of Elkhart County with some new ways to help raise them to be lifelong learners. The Kids and Families Committee of the Community Foundation is focused on awarding grants to empower early childhood development and education. Helping children from birth to age eight is one of the areas of emphasis for Community Investment Grants. Data and Results-Based Accountability will be key components of the effort to help address areas of need and improve performance. Since identifying the area of emphasis in 2020, the Kids and Families Committee picked community-level indicators to track over Read More »

When Jim Hahn was first diagnosed with cancer in October 2020, his reaction was calm. His wife Cindy says, “He would tell me, ‘God gave me this to make a difference.’” While he battled seven rounds of chemotherapy in the Elkhart General Hospital, Jim kept a small, spiral notebook by his side. In it, were the names of all the nurses, receptionists and other caretakers he came in contact with at the oncology clinic. He knew who their spouses were, where they lived and whether they had kids or pets. Cindy recalls him being able to hold a conversation with Read More »

Connie Luce made sure that the young people at Bashor Children’s Home got a great Thanksgiving meal. Donors have made sure that the tradition will continue for years to come and that every meal, not just the one at the holiday, comes out of Connie’s Kitchen. Connie was a volunteer at Bashor for more than 30 years and the head cook and decorator for the holiday for 27 years. Connie died August 13, 2020, after living with a glioblastoma brain tumor for more than one and a half years. A couple, who wishes to remain anonymous, honored her by creating Read More »

Tucked in a cornfield near Nappanee, an old homestead whispers its stories to those who will listen. Helen Mishler wanted to make sure those tales from the Daniel Stump Homestead would keep being heard, that those who came to visit would get a sense of the history of this place and those who lived here. Helen died a few days before Christmas 2020, but because of her gift to the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, those stories will be heard for years to come. Daniel and Salome “Sally” Stump moved to this plot of land from Canada in the late Read More »

At Welch Packaging, doing the right thing is just part of doing business. The company founded in 1985 by Scott Welch and silent partner Don Kindt continues to grow and continues to give in a huge variety of ways. President Scott Welch views himself as the quarterback of a team that gives time and money to improve the communities in which the company does business, particularly Elkhart County. “My belief is that God gave me a purpose in life and I’ve had a lot of lucky things happen to me. I’m a conduit, in a sense, if good things happen Read More »

The effort to build the new Tolson Center for Community Excellence should result in an exciting groundbreaking in the near future. Since summer 2018, members of the community have rallied to create a more vibrant hub on the south side of Elkhart. The Elkhart City Council defunding Tolson resulted first in a task force and then a larger effort to build a new facility that will serve the neighborhood and beyond with spaces for youth development and recreation as well as community gatherings, sports and educational opportunities. The center at 1320 Benham Avenue is expected to open in its new Read More »