Partner Background
Our Kids of South Bend is a new nonprofit with a bold mission: to work from cradle to career so that every child in our community has the support they need to thrive. We begin in the Near Northwest Neighborhood (Census Tract 6), one of South Bend’s most challenged yet resilient communities.
Our Kids will serve as the backbone organization for child and family well-being—coordinating services, breaking down barriers to access, and ensuring no child falls through the cracks. We will connect families to existing partners, hold systems accountable for delivery, and, when necessary, directly provide high-impact services. Our approach is simple but ambitious: saturate support in one neighborhood until every child is on track for success, and then scale.
The need is urgent. Children in South Bend face:
Adverse childhood experiences at rates higher than the national average.
Chronic absenteeism – 37% in South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC) schools.
Low academic achievement – 77.8% below reading proficiency; 81.2% below math proficiency.
Rising youth violence, now the leading cause of death for young people nationwide.
Our aim is nothing less than to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and build a replicable model that proves what’s possible when an entire community commits to its children.
Our Kids draws inspiration from global and local innovators – India’s ASPIRE, and the work of similar organizations in the U.S., such as the Harlem Children’s Zone. Our pilot launches in 2026, proving the model in the Near Northwest Neighborhood before expanding citywide and perhaps beyond. Planning for the launch of Our Kids SBN is being led by Dr. Andrew Hoyt, Founding Head of School at the Portage School of Leaders, an innovative, competency-based charter high school in South Bend radically committed to students’ authentic engagement in deeper learning and positive adult relationships; Alec Torigian, National Coordinator for ACE's Pursuing Achievement Through Higher Education (PATH) initiative, whose mission is to provide radical accompaniment, opportunity, and formation on scholars' journeys from 6th grade through college graduation; and Jeffonia Jones, Family Engagement Specialist at the Portage School of Leaders, a certified life coach responsible for connecting students and families with the tools, resources, and support they’ll need to reach their fullest potential.
Definition of Opportunity
This project offers a team of Notre Dame students the opportunity to support Our Kids of South Bend at a pivotal moment in its launch.
Students will help translate an ambitious, systems-oriented vision into clear, credible, and investment-ready projected plans and materials for funders, partners, board members, and other stakeholders.
The project focuses on strengthening and clarifying the organization’s projected growth, financial, and staffing plans, and on preparing materials to translate these simply and appealingly for external supporters.
Emphasis will be placed on assisting with translating the cradle-to-career backbone approach, emerging strategy, and organizations' growth projections into concrete, realistic plans, roles, costs, and timelines, drawing upon founders’ and board members’ guidance, benchmarking against other promise neighborhood models, and with input from social entrepreneurship tools and experts.