For 150 years 1st Source Bank has been giving back to its community and Project Neighbors is the recent recipient of that generosity. On December 12, 1st Source Bank Regional President Bob Ax presented Project Neighbors board members, Paul Schreiner and Lois Reiner, with a $25,000 check from 1st Source Foundation in support of the nonprofit organization’s newest project, Neighbors Place.
Project Neighbors will convert the former HealthLinc Community Health Center in Valparaiso into affordable apartments for low income, single women. “This is cause whose time has come,” said Ax. “We are pleased to support this. This (place) will be a lasting legacy for the community.”
Project Neighbors, with the help of the Porter County Community Foundation, is actively looking for community support to make this happen. The apartments will be housed on the two upper floors of the building, and the plan is for the lower level to accommodate expansion of Hilltop Neighborhood House preschool program and continue to provide neighborhood community space. Project Neighbors is purchasing the building from HealthLinc and will partner with Housing Opportunities to manage the property. They hope to be leasing the 18 studio apartments by summer of 2014.
Project Neighbors is a nonprofit organization established in the 1980s, committed to helping neighbors and promoting equality. That help has taken many forms, including providing affordable housing, healthcare, and childcare as well as promoting diversity. Project Neighbors has helped hundreds of families since its inception, through its major impact projects, such as Hilltop Neighborhood House, HealthLinc, and Neighborhood Educational Opportunities, as well as smaller projects, such as individual homes for deserving families.
For more information email Project Neighbors at info@projectneighbors.org. To make a contribution to Neighbors Place, visit www.projectneighbors.org or mail a check payable to Project Neighbors to 554 S. Locust St., Valparaiso, Indiana 46383.