News & Events
Keep up with the latest Neighbor to Neighbor news, events, and helpful resources here.
Volunteer Care Coordinator
- 98 newcomers welcomed
- 83 dedicated volunteers
- 14 active Welcome Teams
- Our biggest fundraising year in N2N history
- 65% of donations came from individuals like you
Fundraiser: April 25, 2026
This fun, poker-themed fundraiser is a great way to bring our community together in downtown South Bend!
All proceeds support Neighbor to Neighbor’s Newcomer Assistance Fund, helping immigrant families with essential needs.
Play a hand in building a welcoming community!
This event is sponsored by:
Everence
GrassRoots Media
ND Federal Credit Union
Dinner & Fundraiser: October 3, 2025
Join us for an Evening of Community and Connection! The Neighbor to Neighbor Welcome Dinner and Friendraiser will be held on Friday, October 3 at 6pm at the The Tribune Community Center (226 N. Lafayette Blvd, South Bend, IN).Tickets are free but space is limited. Dinner, wine, and dessert provided. Participants will be asked to keep their last name and occupation private for the evening
This event is sponsored by:
Everwise Credit Union
Indiana Trust Wealth Management
Southwire
University of Notre Dame
Film Screening: September 14, 2025
Join Neighbor to Neighbor at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Browning Cinema on Sunday, September 14th at 4pm for a film screening of The Swimmers, a biographical drama depicting two refugees’ flight from Syria and their resilience in the face of hardship. Panel discussion to follow.
Fundraiser: July 2025
A huge thank you to our community who has supported our Rooted for Good Campaign — a $50,000 emergency increase to our Newcomer Assistance Fund to help at least 30 of our neighbors immediately apply for their permanent residence. We are delighted to announce that your gifts have brought us to over $46,000 of our $50,000 goal for the Rooted for Good campaign. We have begun sharing the good news with families waiting to apply for permanent residence. Those moments of joy have brought us great comfort in the midst of some hard months!
August 31 was the last official day of the campaign, but we will still take donations for this important and timely cause! Every dollar makes a difference in helping newcomers put down permanent roots in our community.
Advocacy
Speak Up for Immigrant Rights
Education
World Refugee Day 2025
In honor of World Refugee Day and Immigrant Heritage Month, join us on Thursday, June 26 at 5:30pm-8:00pm for a screening of the film Fremont, about a young Afghan woman working in a fortune cookie factory while adjusting to life in the US after the fall of Kabul.
Fundraiser
Poker Run 2025
Last year’s Poker Run was so much fun we’re doing it again this year! Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 26, 2025 for a fun day of engaging with the local South Bend community AND supporting Neighbor to Neighbor in the process. This is a great group activity, too, so invite your friends to join you!
NOW HIRING: January 2025
HIRED! Case Management Director position
Neighbor to Neighbor is seeking a compassionate and dedicated Case Management Director to join our team. This position will play a crucial role in assessing clients’ needs, developing care plans, and coordinating services to help them achieve their goals with the accompaniment of Neighbor to Neighbor volunteers.
2024 Impact Report
Highlights from 2024:
- 115 Newcomers served
- 78 Volunteers logged 2,000+ hours
- 11 Home Teams in the Welcome Project
- Successful Welcome Party campaign
Advocacy
CHNV Program Terminated
The US federal government issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) terminating the humanitarian parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), negatively affecting over 532,000 people.
Advocacy
All humanitarian parole programs have been terminated under the new administration, including for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s War on Ukraine. This means that Ukrainians can not flee to safety in the US under this legal protection any longer, and it also casts uncertainty and fear around what the pathway to lawful permanent residence looks like for those who are already here.
Advocacy
Justice for Mahmoud Khalil
Since our founding, N2N has been honored to work with and alongside Palestinian refugees in their quest for freedom and safety. Here is a letter by a Palestinian green card holder who is currently imprisoned and facing deportation for speaking out for Palestinian lives. He states, “At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.”
Advocacy
Support the Afghan Adjustment Act
In 2022, a bill called the Afghan Adjustment Act was introduced to Congress. The bill has been discussed and tabled every year since, and even though humanitarian parole was temporarily extended in 2023, Afghans are still sitting in limbo with many who have applied for asylum waiting to be given permanent residency.
Advocacy
Tell IN Senators "NO" to HB 1531
Advocacy
Birthright Citizenship
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld a decision made by a district court to block the Trump administration’s move to end birthright citizenship, rejecting the government’s claim that states suing over the policy lacked standing.
Advocacy
Refugee Funding Freeze
a judge blocked the January 20th executive order that froze all funding for refugee resettlement due to the fact that the Refugee Act of 1980 is an act of Congress and that fully-vetted refugees have been negatively affected in the past month.
Fundraiser
2024 Welcome Party
In the Fall of 2024, Neighbor to Neighbor hosted the Welcome Party, a fundraising campaign that ran from October 2024 to January 1, 2025. It was a HUGE success and there is much to celebrate, most notably:
- 9 new members joined and a total of 53 individuals donated during the campaign.
- Of the $151,979 raised, 49% came from individuals and 51% came from grants.
- We met and exceeded our fundraising goal by 122%.
Press Release
Post-Election Letter
A letter from Neighbor to Neighbor staff following the results of the 2024 Presidential Election.
N2N in the News
Fusion Fest celebrates South Bend’s immigrant entrepreneurs and international cuisines
By Angela Matthew | South Bend Tribune
A refuge in entrepreneurship
Most teenagers get a part-time job at the supermarket or in food service, but Afghan sisters Shogofa Tanai, 17, and Bibi Hawa Tanai, 14, are self-employed. They run a business giving people henna tattoos.
Education
N2N celebrated World Refugee Day with a panel discussion followed by a screening of the 2017 documentary The Staging Post: The Refugee Education Revolution.
Fundraiser
Poker Run 2024
Join us for an exciting poker-themed fundraiser! The Neighbor to Neighbor Poker Run is a lively event designed for everyone, created to foster community connections while supporting the work of welcome. All proceeds will directly benefit our Newcomer Assistance Fund.
Advocacy
Indiana House Bill Threatens Driver's Licenses for Some Legal Immigrants
Indiana lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would not allow certain legal immigrants – those who are here under a status called Humanitarian Parole (HP) – to obtain a state ID or driver’s license. Indiana HB1162 has already passed the state House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate sometime next week.
UPDATE: This bill passed.
2023 IMPACT REPORT
Neighbor to Neighbor's 2023 Impact Report
The 2023 Neighbor to Neighbor Impact Report is ready for perusal! Some highlights include almost 4,500 hours of volunteer work (thank you, volunteers!!), nearly 60% of our income coming from individual donations (thank you, again!), and 105 immigrant newcomers served in 2023. We could do none of this without the support of our community, and we are very grateful.
ARTICLE: December 20, 2023
Adams, Susan and Cramer, Andrea. (2023). Voices from the Field. INTESOL Journal, 20(1).
Susan Adams of Butler University interviews Andrea Cramer for this annual spotlight in the INTESOL Journal.
PRESS RELEASE: December 4, 2023
N2N receives two local grants to fund Welcome Project
In recent weeks, Neighbor to Neighbor has received two grants from local organizations to fund the Welcome Project: one from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County and one from the University of Notre Dame’s Philanthropy and the Common Good class.
PRESS RELEASE: November 3, 2023
Ziker Cleaners Partners with Neighbor to Neighbor
Ziker Cleaners, South Bend’s largest dry cleaning and laundry service, has recently engaged in partnership with
PODCAST: Sept. 25, 2023
Andrea Cramer, founder and executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor in South Bend, dives into the story behind the mission of this non-profit and how it came to be. She shares how we can truly be neighbors to ALL of those around us, not just those who look and think exactly like us.
NOW HIRING: October 2023
Coordinator of Mission Advancement
Neighbor to Neighbor is seeking a half-time Coordinator of Mission Advancement to expand the organization’s reach and ability to serve immigrant populations in the greater South Bend region.
Fundraiser
2023 N2N Welcome Party Campaign
In the month of September 2023, Neighbor to Neighbor ran a campaign to build a base of sustaining donors called The Welcome Party. The campaign brought in 16 new regular donors and a total of $15,230 in increased impact.
Education
Little Amal comes to South Bend
Neighbor to Neighbor, the EM EN Art House, and the St. Joseph County Public Library invite the Michiana community to gather at the Morris Performing Arts Center plaza (211 N Michigan Ave, South Bend, IN 46601) on September 7, starting at 7:00 p.m., to participate in the interactive event Amal from Afar.
NEW GRANT FUNDER
Neighbor to Neighbor receives a $25,000 grant from the Archewell Foundation
With a belief in the power of connection and a goal of uplifting communities, the Archewell Foundation’s Welcome Project supports the creation of programming for women who have recently resettled from Afghanistan.
NEWS: July 21, 2023
Refugees are not always in some far-off country. Some live, work and play among us every day in our community. That’s the focus of a new exhibit at the St. Joseph County Main Library called “Blurred Lives: Refugees to Neighbors.”
PRESS RELEASE: July 20, 2023
The exhibit, which is on display on the second floor gallery, tells the stories of 12 refugees — many of them N2N clients — who came to Michiana as refugees and asylees fleeing persecution in Viet Nam, Bosnia, Iraq, Venezuela and Afghanistan, among other countries.
FUNDRAISER: June 19-26, 2023
Neighbor to Neighbor BINGO FUNdraiser
To raise awareness, funds, and FUN in honor of World Refugee Day on June 20, N2N is hosting a BINGO FUNdraiser the week of June 19-26. Download the card, donate, and start playing!
2022 IMPACT REPORT
Neighbor to Neighbor's 2022 Impact Report
Our 2022 Impact Report is now available. We love to share about our work, so if there are any questions, we are happy to discuss them.
NEWS: May 20, 2022
While pledges of welcome to refugees of the war in Ukraine fill U.S. headlines, churches and institutions are quietly working to resettle and acclimate households fleeing other longstanding conflicts, one family at a time, Anabaptist World reports.
VIDEO: January 4, 2022
Andrea Cramer and Therese and David Cory share about their work with Neighbor to Neighbor.
2021 IMPACT REPORT
Our 2021 Impact Report is now available. We love to share about our work, so if there are any questions, we are happy to discuss them.
NEWS: December 9, 2021
Several local organizations are preparing to help more Afghan refugees settle in St. Joseph County, among them Neighbor to Neighbor
PODCAST: November , 2021
Nate Louks interviews Andrea Cramer in this Sound Off episode, which originally aired on 96.7 EAGLE.
FUNDRAISER: June 19, 2021
Join Us for Our 2nd Annual Miniature Golf Outing
This fundraiser will be fun for the whole family. Come play for fun or register a team to play for a prize. There will be free refreshments and a merchandise table.
NEWS: January 12, 2021
Neighbor to Neighbor is one of sixteen grassroots nonprofits, doing the work of welcoming, to be selected to the Hello Neighbor Network. This 10 month fellowship will include professional development, national convening, and ongoing support.
2020 IMPACT REPORT
This report summarizes the community impact we had over 2020. We are excited to continue our work of welcoming Aspiring Americans into our St. Joseph County community.
NEWS: December 6, 2019
A new Philanthropy course at Notre Dame allows students to fund local nonprofits. Neighbor to Neighbor is honored to be among the first cohort of nonprofits to be awarded funds.
NEWS: December 5, 2019
Neighbor to Neighbor’s advocacy work led the Indiana BMV to make a meaningful change in test prep accessibility. Michiana’s local new station, WNDU, reports on the needed update.
NEWS: December 6, 2019
Neighbor to Neighbor’s advocacy work led the Indiana BMV to make a meaningful change in test prep accessibility. Indianapolis’ news outlet, the IndyStar, reports on the needed update.
NEWS: November 24, 2018
Neighbor to Neighbor sues the BMV, claiming it is violating the Civil Rights Act by offering the test in 14 languages but the manual only in English.