It’s now the parking lot of the Berean Transformation Center church, but in 2020, the former branch of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in downtown South Bend held the tents of about 100 homeless people with no access to water or sanitation. That made it a fitting location for a November 26 news conference sponsored by the New Day Intake Center in observance of the annual national pre-Thanksgiving Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The event launched a capital campaign to support construction of New Day Intake Center, which helps to serve the homeless population of South Bend. Provided by New Day Intake CenterEdward Bradley, a member of the board of directors of New Day Intake Center, speaks at a press conference in South Bend on Tuesday, November 26. Margie Pfeil, board president for New Day Intake Center, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, and the co-founder of St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker Community in South Bend, pointed out that even though New Day Intake Center serves 120 guests on average every day and has successfully used the housing-first model to eliminate homelessness for 592 individuals, it has done so with a bootstrap operation in makeshift quarters. “Now we’re poised to build a permanent, purpose-built facility with wraparound services,” Pfeil said. Board Secretary Becky Czarnecki, assistant director of faith and justice for Notre Dame’s Office of Campus Ministry, introduced two of those 592 people during the event in South Bend. After living on the streets for 20 years, Jack Vest now has his own apartment, “and I have a future,” he said. Kuyler Harrison said she is looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with her beloved chihuahua in her own warm home for the very first time. “I couldn’t come up off it on my own,” she admits, “but now I know victory. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Commercial realtor Edward Bradley briefly traced the history that led to this “new day.” In 2016, numerous unsheltered people were living under the viaducts in downtown South Bend. At the time, the mayor of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg, said of the homelessness problem, “There’s nothing worse for business.” Bradley, who is on the board of directors for New Day Intake Center, cited just one example of the cost of the issue. That year, Memorial Hospital’s emergency room provided this population $360,000 worth of uncompensated services. By 2020, when there were three large tent camps in South Bend, the COVID-19 pandemic made homelessness a visible public health issue. Isolating contagious people in vacant motel rooms, including those at the former Knights Inn, began to point the way to a long-term solution. New Day Intake Center has been providing people with dignity and hope ever since. It is the only low-barrier homeless shelter in northern Indiana, meaning the organization has an admission policy that welcomes guests regardless of criminal history, active addiction, or severity of mental health disabilities, thereby housing chronically homeless individuals who struggle to find placement in other shelters. Bradley pointed out that homelessness is an issue in nearly every city. Chronic homelessness has grown by 79 percent since 2016. There are no quick solutions, but doing nothing is far too costly, both literally and figuratively, he said. “We can’t go back,” he added. “We are all affected, so I hope you will all consider financially supporting this essential work.” New Day has already raised more than half of its $18.8 million goal. Jon Schommer, executive director of Our Lady of the Road, a homeless ministry established by members of the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker Community, said his center has been able to provide meals, showers, and laundry facilities but has dreamed of long-term stable housing and supportive services accompanying guests and empowering them to take their next best steps. Also serving as treasurer for New Day, Schommer said the city of South Bend is in the final stages of acquiring a site for the New Day Intake Center on Old Cleveland Road on the far west side of the city, with construction planned to begin in 2025. The preliminary design features 120 beds, laundry facilities, a commercial kitchen and dining room, meeting room, office space, and outdoor gathering spaces with a community garden. A sense of community is an important goal. “New Day is a nonprofit organization based in South Bend that provides dignified accommodations through its housing-first residential program for those experiencing chronic homelessness,” according to a news release shared by members of the organization. “Through a range of community partnerships, guests are connected with onsite wraparound support including mental health and addiction services, a medical clinic, and access to transportation and food, with the goal of ultimately transitioning each guest to more sustainable housing.” Visit newdaysouthbend.org for more information. The post Organization Aims to Help Homeless in South Bend appeared first on Today's Catholic.