Housing is Healing.

Who We Are

We began as Motels4Now, a housing-first program created in August 2020 by Our Lady of the Road, with the mission of housing the chronically homeless in dignity and to accompany guests as they transition to longer-term, more sustainable housing options. As the need has evolved, so too has our scope of services—and now our organization itself is evolving into a standalone entity, the New Day Intake Center.

We remain South Bend’s only housing-first, high-access homeless shelter. We believe that Housing is Healing, and we provide dignified accommodations and access to wraparound mental, physical, and emotional healthcare in partnership with community organizations. Through collective action, we can provide as much high-quality care as possible to our most vulnerable neighbors.

Evidence-Based Practices

We follow an evidence-based approach called “Housing First” which addresses the fact that many people experiencing homelessness struggle to find stability because surviving minute to minute on the streets is their main priority. We begin by offering a stable bed, a locking door, a functioning bathroom, a climate-controlled space, and regular access to food and drinking water.

From there, nearly all of our guests make significant progress towards housing stability in partnership with our on-site housing team, including some men and women who have been unhoused for as much as twenty years and who have been able to achieve stability by staying with us.

Many of our guests are also able to reconnect with the medical system, mental health care and addiction services, and with the government and benefit agencies. As a bedrock of our philosophy, we provide the space and opportunity for engagement with healthcare providers to be on our guests’ terms.

How We Do It

We measure positive results by improving the situation, not “improving” the person. Our guests are not broken and in need of fixing. Instead we accompany our guests and community partners to explore the barriers to housing a person — then we overcome them.

Our core values are Nonviolence, Constructiveness, and Accompaniment. Our guests have usually faced severe trauma before and during their time being unhoused. We avoid violent speech or gestures typical of prison-like environments; we instead focus on the positive attributes a guest brings to us and affirm their opportunities for growth. We are wholly committed to being by their side as long as it takes.

Our Team.

Sheila McCarthy, Ph.D.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
smccarthy@newdaysouthbend.org
Catherine Osborne, Ph.D.

DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION
cosborne@newdaysouthbend.org
John Fyrqvist

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Eliana Armounfelder

HOUSING TEAM LEAD
housing@newdaysouthbend.org
Larry

(he/him)
SENIOR ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Sav

(she/her)
SENIOR ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Brock

(he/they)
SENIOR ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Susannah

(she/her)
HOUSING SUPPORT COORDINATOR
Heidi

(she/her)
HOUSING SUPPORT COORDINATOR
Kenny

(he/him)
ON-SITE SECURITY
Sophia

(she/her)
SENIOR ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Ms. Wells

(she/her)
ON-SITE SECURITY
Twila

(she/her)
SENIOR ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Mike

ON-SITE COORDINATOR
Phoenix

(she/her)
ON-SITE COORDINATOR