Youth Service Bureau to build new youth homeless shelter

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Groundbreaking is set for Thursday on the new 22,000-square foot building that will house the Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County. The emergency shelter serves homeless youth ages 12 to 18 while the Young Moms Self-Sufficiency Program assists mothers between 16 and 24 years old.

The new YSB facility will be built on 15 acres of donated property on the eastside of South Bend.

“This building is going to bring everything into one, much more efficient space,” explained Christina McGovern, director of marketing and development at YSB of St. Joseph County. “It’s going to make it much easier for the clients we serve, to be able to just transition from one program to the other. And if they come in to, say, the drop-in center for some pizza and to do their laundry, and then disclose another problem while they’re talking with us, we can just walk right down the hall instead of having to drive across town.”

It wasn’t too long ago when Danica relied on the resources within the YSB.

“I encountered the YSB at about 10 years old, and they’ve been an active part of my life ever since I was a member of the Young Moms Program for sustainable living, when I had my oldest. She’s now nine years old,” said Danica.

Now 28, a mother of two children, and serving as a pediatric nurse, Danica said the land for the new facility is also a lot of promise.

“It may just be a lot right now. But there’s a vision for so much more. And that’s what success really starts with is an idea and a vision. And then with a little bit of support from your community, all the pieces can come together,” she said.

Major construction on the building is anticipated to begin in the next spring.

Click here to help the YSB raise roughly $1 million dollars to fund the remainder of the building project.

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