Hi, I'm Jeff Rea, your host for Economic Outlook.

And I want to welcome you to our show.

Thanks for joining us.

Each week as we discuss the people, the companies and the projects driving the region's economic growth.

Juan leads a nonprofit focused on empowering the Latino Hispanic community through education, cultural and advocacy services.

Steve leads an organization focused on breaking the cycle of homelessness.

We're sitting down with a couple of great nonprofit leaders to talk about how they're helping to drive economic growth.

Coming up on economic outlook across the country, nonprofits employ 12.3 million people, with payrolls exceeding those of most other U.S. industries.

And nonprofits spend nearly $1 trillion annually for goods and services, all while providing critical services in the community and improving the lives of those they serve.

The southern region is blessed with some dynamic nonprofit leaders, and we've invited two of them into the studio today, and we'll showcase one on our field shoot.

Please join me in welcoming Juan Constantino, the executive director of La Casa de Amistad, and Steve Camilleri, the executive director of the Center for Homeless.

Gentlemen, welcome.

Thanks for being here.

Yeah, you know, I think our viewers are familiar with the good work you do, but we want to sort of take a deeper dive into nonprofit and kind of what's happening today.

So thanks for joining us for that.

One, I'm going to come your way.

So if somebody isn't familiar with La Casa.

Talk to us a little bit about the work that you do there.

Yeah.

So La Casa de Amistad translates to the House of Friendship.

We're actually founded in 1973, and we're a youth and community center here in South Bend, most notably for 48 years.

We're on the west side of town, helping the community in that area and neighborhood, especially our migrant farmworkers.

But now, as a youth and community center of transition to a new facility, over 18 different programs with 65 different partners, the educational side is youth from K to 12 and a preschool and adult education, social services, anywhere from navigating just resources and needing referrals to translating and interpreting documents or making three way phone calls to a legal clinic, particularly to support our immigrant and Latino communities.

So the.

Org's mission is support and empower Latino Spanish community throughout the entire region with a number of different services.

Wonderful.

A full plate, it sounds like, with lots of great service there.

And Steve Want to come your way too.

So you've been in the community for a number of years and I think most are familiar with the work.

But if they're not.

Tell us a little.

Well, first of all, we love being down the block from one on Michigan Street.

We love our neighbors here.

And we've been around for 35 years come this December.

And in five words, it's to break the cycle of homelessness.

That's what we're trying to do, which means the people that we serve live at the Center for the Homeless and we provide all the care.

They're on site from our Montessori classroom to our very youngest.

It might be to our veterans at our veterans center and to the rest of the population who lives at 830 in South Michigan.

We're trying to get them in build trust and relationships with our coaches, go through all the programing so they can come out on the other end ready to get back into the workforce.

Yeah.

Steve, I don't stay with you for a second.

So we've teased in the opening there the kind of the impact nonprofits have on economic growth in a community.

And I think sometimes people forget that connection.

I think that's really what we wanted emphasize today.

Just to share a little bit about sort of the role you and your organization play in trying to help drive economic growth here in our area.

Sure.

You know, we remind people, too, that we're a business, that we hire 40 to 50 people full time, that the guests who live there, the 200 people that live there, we want to bring them back into the workforce.

We have a job right in this program.

So they're ready to leave the Center for Homeless or even while they're living at this center to get to work.

And our programs help them do that.

In addition to that, we have a $4 million budget and the events that we do are all locally.

So we're we're really infusing energy, excitement and funds also into the community and trying to try to keep it here great and Juan that really same the same question.

Talk about just kind of the the role La Casa has and sort of driving economic growth here in the area, too.

Yeah, in a number of different ways.

I mean, anywhere from job placement and getting folks connected, whether there's a gap maybe in technology or broadband.

But I think if we look at our city of South Bend and the region, we saw recent growth with the most recent census, almost two and a half percentage points pushing three.

And that growth went in tandem with the growth of the Latino population growing almost 35% within its own right up to now, 17% In the city of South Bend, almost 10% of the county's population.

So not only are we talking about folks choosing to call South Bend St. Joe county in this region home, but the how are we not only helping with the growth, but the development of every individual, whether it's seeking jobs or even the adjustment to legal status.

They work throughout their immigration legal case so they can participate, get the authorizations to work, start their own business, be entrepreneurs, help the kids and educate the kids of the future that our next business owners, doctors, teachers, maybe mayors and things along that nature.

Great.

Stevie, going to come your way.

You're the you're the elder statesman, the guy that's been here a really long time.

No, I'm just kidding.

Because I resemble that.

We go back.

We go.

Steve I've worked together a long time and we used to be the youngest guys in the room, and we're we're thrilled.

There's some other guys that have stepped forward, right?

So.

That's right.

So talk Steve a little bit about just, you know, in both you sort of ask that question because the organization you run today is different than the organization you joined almost 20 years ago and and is different than the one that that was formed some 35 years ago.

Talk about just sort of the evolution in your work to sort of stay on the on the edge of kind of what the community needs most.

Yeah, Yeah.

I don't know if I've evolved over the 20 years, but the center has what has never changed is the support we've been given by the community.

We couldn't do without the community.

And in the 20 years our budget has actually doubled from 2 million to 4 million serving the veterans with a specific facility.

That's something we're really proud of.

And and as we approach Veterans Day here soon, that's we're really proud of what we've done for the veterans here in the community.

We've also seen an increase with weather amnesty.

So we open our doors as well this November to 70 additional folks.

We just want to make sure that there is no one out on the street in these cold winters for the next six months.

So some of of different things have evolved in.

And sadly, we just see more people experiencing mental health issues.

So that's really an area that we have to continue to rise up and support all in our community who are struggling with different mental illnesses and so Juan I think it's similar as, you know, having been at the at your old facility versus new watched a little bit as the Hispanic population has grown here and the need to provide services grow.

And so so just talk a little bit about this, this evolution and how you're trying to stay on the edge of sort of what's needed in the community.

Yeah, Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, when we were at 746 South Meade Street on the west side of town, our small building used to be an old Polish department store and transformed community center.

We use all 8000 square feet of it every way that we could from pantry to the youth services.

And then the shift to where we are now in South Michigan Street is 41,000 square feet.

But a lot of that came with the signs of the times.

So what was just the one building became then?

We need to rent the third floor of the Mary Kress building to run adult education to.

We have to rent a satellite site on Western Avenue to do community convenings and things of the such.

In 17, there was a lot of rhetoric around immigrants and there was a lot of fear going on.

And so just there was an uptick of phone calls, more people that wanted to adjust their legal status, see what pathways they had and what was helping.

4000 people a year became 6000 people a year in 2017.

Moving forward, then went to 8000.

Two years later, we were just bursting at the seams and at that moment and we were also thankful, fortunately, thanks to our community and folks, to begin to think about growth in a capital campaign.

And what did that mean?

So we were looking long and hard at where where was this going to be?

Maybe on Western Avenue, maybe on the west side.

What we realized was we weren't just serving the city of South Bend or just the west Side.

It was the entire region that was traveling to La Casa de Amistad because there isn't another center that does what La Casa de Amisatd does under one hub.

So we made the shift in 2021 to our new facility on South Michigan Street.

And what was once accounting for hits, whether it was a phone call or walk in traffic was 8000 people.

Now we're averaging 2500 phone calls a month and 1000 to 1500 people walking in on a regular basis.

So it's just continue to shift.

The needs of the community are changing.

The immigrant population is also being very diversified.

We're seeing a lot of folks from Central and South America, particularly Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and not just are Latino immigrants as well.

You know, we've got folks every settle from Afghanistan thanks to two of the two other nonprofits in town that are resettlement agencies.

And so La Casa is also working to meet the needs there.

And again, looking at the signs of the times, what's growing, what's changing, what things are happening globally, nationally, that then also impact us here in South Bend, and Steve a little bit to you talk about the generosity of the community.

And so my guess is you probably have some funders who have been with you from day one and some who donated for the first time yesterday because they were touched by the work you're doing.

But but just speak to us a little bit about just nonprofits in general, um, kind of that role relationship.

You sort of are able to do whatever you're able to to raise, you know, help us get in your mind, in your mind there about I don't know if anybody on my mind, I wouldn't want them to live there.

We only have 30 minutes.

That's right.

And I also want to say, and I admire Juan, his agency and his leadership, and I've been inspired by it.

And we've become really close friends.

I would I didn't realize you guys started at a department store as well as did the Center for the Homeless.

Wow.

And so now we got our two neighbors, both started in department stores and of course, ours were Gilbert's department store.

And then we had that similar growth, one where we just kind of kept going down the city block because the need continue to be there.

So a somewhat similar evolution.

You guys have been around a little bit longer, but we've been on the block a little longer.

That's right.

And Juan knows well and you do, Jeff, too, in terms of fundraising, it's really about reaching people who their heart is touched to give to the most vulnerable in our community.

And that happens.

Your relationships, I mean, the ministry that we're part of with the guest who live at the center is about relationship because we talk about people being disconnected and the way to get at people who are disconnected is you reconnect them and you reconnect them through relationships.

So our guests are in constant relationship with our staff, with our volunteers, with our donors.

As far as the donors, we try to get them to meet the guests as often as possible.

Sometimes that's in person, but sometimes that's true, the stories that we tell.

So I see my role as the principal storyteller and as often as I can get out there.

But it's hard to.

We know sometimes we get locked to the desk and you get caught in the administrative side.

But but we want to be out there meeting with people, telling those stories, and our events do a good job of it.

Right?

Whether it's the lip sync event that just happened or the how they launch.

And coming up in December or our dancing event in April, those are opportunities again for us to build those relationships with the entire community.

And this is a really generous community.

I know some people will say to us, Oh, are you guys in competition or with other agencies?

It's collaboration.

In fact, some of us have gotten together on grants and reaching out to foundations together.

I really think when we're stronger, when we partner together and then we're all lifted up and so there's no competition and even when we might be going to the same agencies, we support each other and we speak really highly of each other because we're going to take a quick break here in the studio, but we're out in the field.

George Lepeniotis my co-host is out with another great nonprofit leader.

George, let me toss it to you.

Thanks, Jeff.

I'm in downtown South Bend, and I'm joined today by a very great guest, Jacqueline Kronk, CEO of the Saint Joe County.

Boys and Girls Club.

Jacqueline, thanks for being with us.

Thank you for having me.

Jacqueline, tell us a little bit about the Boys and Girls Club and the role that you play in young people's lives.

Yeah, our job is to inspire and enable all kids to become the best version of themselves.

And what does that mean?

That means giving them the hard and durable soft skills to go out and be productive members of society.

And and we're really grateful to have the opportunity to serve as many kids as we do in Saint Joe County and beyond.

So when you say beyond, you've actually just started to look beyond the borders of Saint Joe County, but Saint, your county still is truly your home.

We stand in the facility, the Carmichael facility, that you spent a lot of time and effort developing and in changing.

And we'll talk a little bit about that as we go.

But what what would you define as your place in the community?

I know South Bend is home, but it goes way beyond that, doesn't it?

Yeah.

You know, we're the largest youth serving agency in our area, second to the South Bend School Corp. And we have a responsibility.

It's a responsibility to invest in our kids.

And right now, coming on the heels of the pandemic and the student learning loss like we believe, it's our job to invest in the education.

And so that means literacy, math, fluency, their emotional well-being, college and workforce readiness, all components that we our kids experience and take part of on a daily basis here at the club.

Yeah.

And we're standing in what is a kindergarten room, right?

And we're hearing some kids in the background and there's a lot of activity in this building.

Tell me, what is the concept here?

You are, in fact, a school.

We are.

So we partnered with Success Academy and so they run a school during the day.

It's a micro school, the four day school week with the fifth day, all experiential learning.

So I think that what we're trying to do is really kind of blow up how education has been done and look at out-of-school time learning and try to embed it in the continuity of the day and really look at ways that we can engage kids and give them experiences and access and opportunities to things that could make them a valuable part of our workforce moving forward.

And in addition to training them, one of the experiences that we've seen or I've seen personally as I've looked around, you've showed us around the building and the programing that you're doing here and the kids that you're impacting.

You really do make a personal connection with these kids.

It's all about the genuine human encounter.

And when a child walks through our doors that we're engaging them, we know their name, their greeting with a smile and with positivity.

What that does for the value and the impact on human dignity goes Miles.

And if we complement that with excellent programing, our kids are going to respond.

And rice level that we can see them in the future will hold bright, bright paths for them if they do.

Before we went on air, you were telling me a little bit about the metrics, right?

Because it is still you are a CEO, you run it much like any other business.

You have goals, you have mission statements, but you also look at performance.

And I know others do too.

And you've got some pretty positive reviews, haven't you?

Yeah, I think all of the investment that is being made in us, whether it's a state, whether it's federal with private sector or corporations, they need to be looking at data and impact and results.

And we're thrilled.

The Department of Education has taken a look at our curriculum and our programing and really seeing that what we're doing is working.

And so we're grateful to be the recipients of an additional investment of millions of dollars of resources to take our curriculum and scale it to other clubs across the state.

And this is where it started right here at our main facility here at the O.C.

Carmichael Junior Youth Center.

And it's through the amazing people that I work alongside that raise the bar and give our programing the effort and the consistency and the energy that we know our kids deserve.

So when we look at that programing and we talked about this before, but you really are in addition to treating them, making that human connection, filling in the gaps maybe where school or home cannot, you're also giving them those experiential life skills.

Let's talk about that.

What the success stories that come out of a Boys and Girls Club and the support you provide, how does that help them later in life?

You know, I think it goes back to fundamentals.

It's looking someone in the eye, it's shaking their hand, it's presenting with confidence.

It's those soft skilled, coupled with the hard skills that we know someone needs, a career, pathway ideation and a certain, you know, if you want to be a scientist or an engineer, if we don't start introducing that early in earlier to kids lives, it's not possible, particularly for marginalized communities.

So for us, it's it's all about those touches every single day.

It's about the consistency.

It's about providing those experiences that might open up paradigms and opportunities that may not be there otherwise.

So I'm going to ask you for a couple of stats as we leave.

And I hopefully I don't stump you, but how many kids does the club serve?

Just over 3000 on a daily basis.

Everyday basis.

And how many employees does the club?

Just over 400.

So 400 employed individuals serving 3000 kids on a daily basis, which, as you said, makes you one of the largest educational institutions in the county?

It does.

And it also gives us a huge responsibility, and it's on us to rise to that occasion and make sure that we're sustainable, that we're operating lean, that we're operating more like a business.

I think more nonprofits should make that shift.

But we also operate with an attitude of abundance because the kids that walk through our doors are deserving of everything we do, and the private sector, the public sector.

They also like betting on winning horses.

And right now we have the team and the resources in place to make sure that St. Joe county and the counties that are surrounding us regionally are advancing and that we have a human capital abundance moving into the next 20 years.

Well, thank you for explaining it.

Thank you for being with us today.

Thanks for showing us around this amazing facility.

And I know you don't need it, but good luck in the coming years for what I'm sure will be exciting program.

Thank you very much, Jeff, back to you in the studio.

I'm sure you've got more to talk about, about the role that nonprofits play in our economy and how they're helping support our region in ways we've never seen before.

George, thank you.

Appreciate it.

Was great to see your stories out there in the field.

Juan, I'm going to come back your way.

So so let's talk.

So we got to talking about funding and building facilities and services, but we also talked about the important role you guys play as employers in the area.

And so I'm curious, so to dynamic leaders where I think would be successful if you dropped them in a lot of different places in the community.

Juan, talk to us about your journey to leadership at La Casa.

Yeah, it's a long story, but we'll try to keep it short.

So I was at Holy Cross College and and was in the development department for two years as my internship, and in that time was really where I got my foundation understanding, fundraising.

And as I was working in the department, one of our my fellow colleagues and interns was working at a La Casa de Amistad part time role, and she was saying, Hey, Juan La Casa is getting ready to open a full time position for the first time in a long time.

You'd be great.

You should apply.

And I'm like, All right, well, applying.

And I would say I'm the executive director at the time.

And so I did.

And as programing assistant it was all of $12.50 an hour right out of college.

As your parents define success, they're kind of like, What are you doing?

But we started at La Casa June one of 2016 as programing assistant.

From there transitioned over to development coordinator in 2017.

And then as we began to kick off the capital campaign, went into director development a couple of years later.

But all of that just came pretty organically.

And just with the times and how we were adjusting and pivoting to just services and just just meeting the need within our Latino and immigrant community that continue to grow and shift and in 2020, as we're in the midst of COVID and a capital campaign, also toward the end of the year, we find out a director is getting ready to transition on something else and which is an exciting time for him.

And my immediate response was, I don't want the job.

I'm like, There's no way.

But, you know, we had another way.

We end up having additional conversations, building relationships with friends, mentees, board members, volunteers and community partners.

And so eventually I put my name in the hat.

We'll see how this goes.

And September of 2021, the board officially voted me in as the executive director of La Case de Amistad Then that is that it's been two years now in the role, a very dynamic two years and a lot of different ways just moving into a new building, looking at the signs of the times growing a staff we almost grew by 50% and are going to grow another 50% internally.

And so it's been good.

It's been a lot of learning, a lot of different pivots.

I'm lucky I hang out with friends and mentors that have done it a long time, and I also know we're not alone in this space.

Sometimes I'm like, Boy, why?

What's going on here?

And you talk to the executive director, I go, You're not alone.

We've gone through this and here's how we've done it.

You don't have any gray Yeah.

20 years.

Yes.

Yeah.

So, Steve, let's build on that.

So talk a little about your journey.

So again, you've had this really important CEO role in our community for for a long time.

Talk to us about what took you to that space.

Once again, people are going to think we're twins because I was in development at Notre Dame, so we both have the development background.

I love that work.

Moved over to do some ministry work at Notre Dame.

Director Ministries at the Basilica was volunteering at the Center for the Homeless and just absolutely love the mission, love the guests that I got to get to know.

And so you just got to love the mission of the place that you're at.

And I absolutely did.

And I still do 20 years later.

And so there's an opportunity to really, you know, to leave Notre Dame and go and be part of this great community in a different way.

And I just that was it.

I feel really called to do this.

This is in my heart and it's something I love to do.

I had studied and had a nonprofit degree, and so I thought, well, maybe we'll we'll actually get a chance to put that to good use and got down to the center.

But I will tell you, I was asked a very difficult question.

My first day, someone said to me, you know, how are you qualified to be the director of the center of the homeless?

Have you ever walked in our shoes?

Have you ever experienced homelessness?

And it hit me heavy the first day.

And I had that hadn't been my experience, but I said, I want to be there and I want to listen to your experiences and get to know you and get to know the experience that you and other guests have had and try to tell that story to the community.

And 20 years later, that remains the same.

Trying to tell that story, trying to build those relationships again.

I just love the mission.

I love that we're part of and I love being part of the nonprofit community as well.

To have great friends and colleagues that just are really all working together to help those in most need.

Yes.

Steve, let me start with you for a second, because as the as the both of you, as sort of the leaders of your organization have the same challenge every employer does.

Right.

We've got to find top talent.

We've got to plug them in.

We've got to keep them talk to us just about just sort of how that works.

Maybe in your organization or in the nonprofits.

Of course.

You know, and quite honestly, we are recruiting employees, just as other businesses are, and we're trying to be strong in the market, offer equitable rates, be a great employer, provide great benefits.

So we're we're trying to check all those boxes and be an environment that people want to be part of, have a great culture.

And so for us to do that again to nearly 50 full time employees, that's really important.

We think we're a great place to work.

We think they're are great opportunities for folks, both growth opportunities and something to do that's really meaningful and purposeful.

I think at the end of the day, that might be what a nonprofit that offers.

This is going to be great meaning and purpose in what you're doing to connect with people again that are in need that you've seen in your community.

And so if it's on your heart, I think a place like La Casa or a center for the homeless or boys and girls are places where people want to end up Juan talk just from your end too because you sort of gone from the an employee of the organization to the head of it.

So so in our last couple of minutes here, talk a little bit about the even that evolution and the kind of workers that you're trying to attract to your team.

Yeah, I mean, I think similar to what Steve said, you know, we're a business.

We're trying to recruit in a lot of similar ways from equitable pay rates that are competitive to even benefits that are provided internally.

But it boils down to the why and is this a place you want to be?

You're going to spend a lot of time here.

And we also have the fortune of people also identify with La Casa de Amistad as a Latino immigrants serving an agency, as a Latino, an immigrant myself, who once upon a time my mother and I went to the food pantry.

And so there's just a different drive and a different connection, but also just being a good employer, having a good workplace, creating a good environment, providing opportunities for growth and development and partnership and collaboration, and keeping it fun while you're there, you spend a lot of time there, becomes a family.

And so, you know, figuring out how to navigate those spaces, you know, Steve is the back to the elder statesman here, so I need to sit in our last 2 minutes the sage wise advice.

So so if if other nonprofit leaders or are watching you know what would you or or someone who's sort of on the fence and not sure which career path to take, what kind of advice would you give to them?

Well, if they're watching and their other not properly, as I thank them as well, because we know we love what we do.

But it's also tough.

It's hard.

There's some really tough days and there's some great days.

And I would say, again, to really take that time to discern, really think about vocation, what are you called to do and is what you're called to do meet the needs that are happening in the community.

So if you're a marketer or an accountant, we need marketing people, we need accounting people.

And if you feel like you want to do it for someone who's serving people experiencing homelessness or the different people in different nonprofits, then maybe that's a place to look.

We need all skill sets for agencies like ours, right?

And Juan in our last minute or so.

So talk about the advice to donors.

So folks who are supporting here, give us 30 seconds on on what what advice you would leave with them.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think similar to Steve was saying, it boils down to relationships.

But one thing I like to differentiate, especially when talking with donors about relationship, is that there's charity and there's investment, and we want to ask for investment in the mission in the community, which is an investment in the city and in the region.

And then how we can clarify that and then ask for that investment.

And then ideally it's something they align with, then invest.

It hopefully continues also long term to make a meaningful impact.

Great note, gentlemen, thank you for the great work you do in the community.

We're grateful for that.

Thanks for letting our viewers understand that better today.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

That's it for our show today on behalf of the entire team here at PBS Machina, thank you for watching or listening to our podcast to watch this episode again and again for our past episodes, you can find economic outlook at New Talk or find our podcast on most major podcast platforms.

Let's encourage you to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

I'm Jeff Rea.

I'll see you next time.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.