What Community Development Looks Like
This is what good community development looks like. It isn't one organization, one project, or one big investment.
Published September 17, 2026
Great article from the South Bend Tribune highlighting the momentum happening in the Near Northwest Neighborhood, and especially the years of work by Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc. (NNN).
It is residents who care about their neighborhood. Nonprofits doing the work year after year. Small businesses willing to invest and open their doors. Developers taking on difficult projects. The City, lenders, funders, and community partners finding ways to support them. And organizations like the Near Northwest Neighborhood Association (CDC) are helping connect all of those pieces together.
Housing. Small businesses. Public spaces. Community organizations. Local investment. People choosing to stay, invest, and build. There are too many to list, but look around the neighborhood you will see them… from the City to a local business trying to start, it takes everyone from big to small to make it happen.
That's community development.
We're proud that CDFI Friendly South Bend is becoming a small part of that story, too, as we open our new office in the neighborhood at Portage Place in the former Ward Bakery building.
There is already a lot of momentum here. Our goal is to help keep it going… connecting more entrepreneurs, nonprofits, developers, and neighborhood projects with the capital and resources they need to move forward.
Congratulations to NNN and to all of the residents, businesses, organizations, and partners who have put years of work into building this momentum.
There is still plenty of work to do, but this is a great example of what can happen when a community invests in a neighborhood from a lot of different directions.
