ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- Vibrant Communities announced three Elkhart County residents have been awarded funding from the Little BIG Idea Grant to help bring their fun, creative, and important community-building projects to life.

Esperanza “Essie” Monge, a mental health liaison at Oaklawn, recently moved to the Shanklin/Millrace area near the Goshen Public Library with her husband and 5-year-old son Emery.

Emery was diagnosed with autism in November and Monge took it upon herself to think of ways she could fill a void and encourage more social events, interactions, and group activities for people with autism in Goshen.

Monge applied for and received a $500 grant award to coordinate a monthly LEGO Club at the Goshen Public Library.

“A LEGO Club is a great way for people with autism to have some familiar structure while practicing new social skills,” said Monge. “It's something both younger and older kids can enjoy as well as their parents. It provides important interactions and offers the chance to improve communication skills and grow more confident. It helps with problem-solving and emotional regulation and helps them learn to share and ask for help. The LEGO group also allows participants to improve new skills by being in new situations and learning to move those new skills from one context to another. And Goshen has a great library and a great staff—with the ability to help translate the club advertisements into Spanish—meaning that the club can be multicultural as well as multi-generational.”

Wakarusa resident, Justin McNally, a self-described "serial entrepreneur" and an owner of the Wakarusa Dime Store applied for the Little BIG Idea Grant to present Free Movie Nights at Wakarusa Downtown Park.

McNally was awarded $500 and says it will pay for movie licensing fees for two future events.

“Each movie license is a little over two hundred dollars, so this grant would get us through August without having to find additional sponsors,” said McNally. “Our inaugural Movie Night in the Park was on June 28 and was funded solely by local sponsors, and there was a huge amount of interest. The Little BIG Idea Grant award allows us to plan two future Movie in the Park nights and, potentially, turn this into a regular community event for the town and people of Wakarusa.”

Another Wakarusa resident, retired schoolteacher Judy Briganti, was awarded a $500 grant to coordinate a community gathering Wakarusa’s Southwood neighborhood, an area her father owned and, in the early 70s, developed before eventually becoming the Southwood Addition.

Briganti says the gathering will include the dedication of a new Southwood sign to replace the original identifying sign, which was removed during recent road work, and to cover the cost of a neighborhood ice cream and pizza social.

“We intend to have a neighborhood gathering of 28 property owners to dedicate the new sign and renew interest in creating neighborhood connections and activities,” said Briganti. “The gathering and dedication will occur in late July or early August. My father and mother held many neighborhood gatherings out here during their time, and I held many at my home as well before COVID. Creating strong neighborhood connections is something many of our residents believe in strongly, and I believe in always doing my best to encourage support for the community. I’m thankful for the grant award, and glad that so many of the influential leaders and quality people who reside in Southwood have been so interested in supporting this effort.”

Elkhart County residents of all ages can apply for a Little BIG Idea Grant online.