The Healthy Hearts program for elementary students in Elkhart County was expected to produce lower body mass index (BMI) results within three years. “In year one, we are already seeing that BMI reduction,” said Liliana Quintero, executive director of the Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition, which runs the program in Elkhart County intended to educate and improve nutritional and exercise habits for elementary students. Indiana health officials approached Quintero and her organization to run a program emphasizing healthy habits and heart health. She looked at curriculums, but was not happy with any of them so she wrote her own aligned with American Heart Read More »

I happen to like Giving Tuesday a lot more than Black Friday. I would rather that we focus on charitable organizations and how to help them advance their mission rather than buying something. Before you start spending money on Christmas presents, I encourage you to think about your giving and the causes that are important to you. As adults, we learn that giving gifts really is more enjoyable than receiving them. At the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, we are servants to help others give to causes they value. It is what we get to do year-round, not just a Read More »

When an individual, a couple or a family wish to establish a fund with the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, deciding on the level of active engagement is one of the first steps. Some donors choose to remain actively engaged in the annual grant-making decisions, while others prefer to establish an endowment to benefit a specific organization and maintain assets to help ensure the sustainability of the organization. The latter, a Designated Fund, is one type of gift Dick and Linda Armstrong were confident in making. Dick wanted to create a fund that would have a long-term impact on the Read More »

A $400,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Elkhart County is part of a $5 million investment by IU South Bend to start a cluster of advanced health science programs at the Elkhart Center in downtown Elkhart. Undergraduate classes in speech language pathology will start this fall on the South Bend campus and master’s level courses will be offered in Elkhart in the fall of 2018, said Chancellor Terry Allison. Occupational therapy and physical therapy programs could follow after that, he said. He is hoping for 120 students to be in the programs in the coming years. IU South Bend Read More »

For nearly four decades, Walnut Hill Early Childhood Center has helped families by providing affordable, high-quality early learning opportunities. A new facility could expand the number who can benefit from its services. The non-profit early childhood center is planning renovation of a facility to become its third location since being founded in 1968 on the north side of Goshen. A fire prompted a move in 1980 to its current location on 11th Street in the Assembly Mennonite Church building. In that location, up to 80 children ages 2½ to 6 years old learn in four classrooms. More than 50 children Read More »

Janet Ferro and Cathi Auger playfully tease each other that if the day comes, the other one will have to speak in front of the 100 Women Who Care Elkhart County group. The longtime friends joined the giving circle when it began three years ago. Every three months, the 100 Women Who Care group comes together for a short social gathering and meeting time to decide the beneficiary of their $10,000 quarterly gift. Ferro and Auger have participated in every meeting. “For each $100 you put in, you get one vote for a charity of your choice,” said Ferro on how the Read More »

The first grants from the Greatest Need fund through the Community Foundation of Elkhart County continue a tradition of nearly 50 years of generosity from the Well Foundation. The Well Foundation, formerly named the Goshen Hospital & Health Care Foundation, was created in 1969 to provide strength and stability to Goshen General Hospital so that future generations might have access to high quality health care. The Foundation gave more than $6 million to health needs of the surrounding community during its existence. Its founders, a group of caring people who worked together to give back to the community, organized the Read More »

It was an unseasonably warm day in March. Folks in and around Elkhart County went about their days as usual. Among them was Heather Streiter, then a 17-year-old getting ready for her day at Concord High School. She set down her straightener on her marble Jack-and-Jill vanity she shared with her sister Meghan, rushed to pile her things together, nabbed her bag from the table, and flung the door open. Her Honda Civic carted her down the same old streets. She used the time as she normally did to think about typical high school things: How will I finish that Read More »

It’s 6:00 a.m. and Jamison Czarnecki is swapping his orange and grey running shoes for a pair of well-worn hiking boots. He’s on his feet the bulk of the day, and much of that is spent outdoors. Red laces offer just the slightest touch of flare to an otherwise reserved appearance. Jamison heads out the door, and he’s off to work. He passes the familiar Emilio’s Tires and crosses Main Street. Johnson Controls to his right and industrial buildings to the left form a final barrier before he hits the final stretch of road that will bring him to his Read More »