Official groundbreaking held for 'New Day Intake Center,' a low-barrier homeless shelter in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- After years of discussion, debate, and controversy, ground finally broke on a new homeless shelter in St. Joseph County. The nearly $19 million multi-building campus is called the "New Day Intake Center," and will replace South Bend's "Motels4Now" program. 

Monday was the official groundbreaking for the New Day Intake Center. Crews are expected to start building next spring for a 2027 opening. 

ABC57's Annie Kate asked Sheila McCarthy, who will be executive director, how the precursor to New Day, Motels4Now, got its start. 

"Motels4Now came out of an emergency situation of the pandemic," McCarthy said. 

Located on Lincolnway West at the former Knight's Inn, Motels4Now started in 2020 to break up South Bend's tent encampments during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

"At a couple different points, we had newborn babies living in the tents there," said Lori Hamman, former South Bend Common Council member. 

"Recognizing for the first time that homelessness is a public health crisis," McCarthy said. 

What was meant to be temporary will celebrate its 5th anniversary next month, McCarthy said. 

"We've had over 800 guests," she said, "and over 600 are no longer homeless."

Monday, after a strenuous journey for the city to find a suitable location for such a place, ground finally broke for the New Day Intake Center, located at 4022 Old Cleveland Road.

"This is a great location," McCarthy said. "This is a peaceful place that's still close to the shops on Bendix and Cleveland Roads... we're still on the bus line, we're right by the food stamp office, we're right by re-entry."

The plan is to end Motels4Now upon completion of New Day, McCarthy said. At that point, the city can choose to buy back the property for redevelopment.

"Our point-in-time count numbers, that are federally mandated to do every year, reveal a stable number of people who are both sheltered but also unsheltered in our community. And a big reason why we haven't seen an increase in the number of unsheltered is because of motels4now," said Carl Hetler, South Bend's coordinator of homeless outreach. 

The new low-barrier homeless shelter will have 120 beds. It will also have a full kitchen and dining room, counseling and medical offices, a chapel, and an art space.

"It's not just housing," Hetler said, "but wraparound services with residents from the hospital, with a psychiatrist, with meals being on-site."

They will build on half of the 15-acre land, purchased by the city. The other half will go to an integrated housing project by the South Bend Heritage Foundation. 

"With stability, a lot more options become possible," McCarthy said. 

Some of the funding for the New Day Intake Center comes from the city and American Rescue Plan dollars. The rest comes from the intake center's ongoing fundraising campaign.