More and more frum “out of town” communities are offering housing, education and job incentives to attract families. Meet some of today’s friendly recruiters

Originally from: 

Seattle and then New York. When we came to visit my brother-in-law in South Bend, we saw it checked all our boxes. Seven weeks later, we moved here.

How I started recruiting:

I’m a good schmoozer! I’d had a business selling specialty coffees, and I had reached out to the business world for contacts. It was a natural progression to connect the frum community here to the business world. I stepped into this role helping others find parnassah in South Bend, and now it’s my full-time job, funded by the community. Every day is different. I meet with local business owners, speak to families who are considering relocating, and network with politicians. It never hurts to be connected — with those connections, for example, we got increased police coverage after the shooting in Pittsburgh.

What makes South Bend special:

An extremely low cost of living, an extremely hot and active job market that works with shomer Shabbos schedules, and the state tuition voucher system, which pays for the majority of tuition. In fact, they recently raised the cap for this program, so even people who earn a significant amount of money can benefit from it.

Who should consider relocating to South Bend:

Anyone, particularly young professionals. A dollar goes a lot further here, so it makes sense for young families.

'How South Bend has expanded recently: Right now, there are 135 to 140 frum families living here, 25 new families from the last few years alone. The growth at the mosdos in particular is incredible: The South Bend Hebrew Day School had its highest enrollment ever this year, with 205 students. Next year, they’re expecting between 215 to 240. The Yeshivah Gedolah of South Bend reopened in 2017 with four boys; for next year, 45 are already enrolled. For years, one small shul had been struggling, but it’s hired a new rabbi and now there’s a 20-strong minyan every morning, and standing-room-only on Shabbos.

''FAQs:

“What are the housing prices like?” and “Will my kids be happy there?”

Most common comment from visitors:

“I didn’t know a place like this existed!”

How I recruit people:

Newspaper articles, Facebook ads, the OU fair, general marketing, email lists, job listings, and posts by my wife online. Plus word of mouth. It’s an easy-to-remember tagline: movetojewishsouthbend.com.

Shuls and schools:

We have two shuls, the 140-year-old Hebrew Orthodox Congregation (HOC) led by Rabbi Meir Bulman, and the 15-year-old Midwest Torah Center led by Rabbi Doron Lazarus. We have a day school offering preschool through eighth grade, Bais Yaakov High School of Indiana for girls, and the Yeshiva Gedola of South Bend for boys. Unlike many small out-of-town communities and even some larger ones, you don’t have to send your kids away for school.

Kosher restaurants:

We’re working on it! Currently, there’s a little kosher market that sells meats, cheeses, and sliced deli, and one shul does takeout, where you can get pizza and fries.

How I help people find jobs:

Every single industry here is hiring; there are 50 nursing positions available right now in one local health care system alone. There’s opportunity for anyone looking to enter or further a career, whether medical professionals, accountants, tradesmen, or anything in between. The shortage of people works in our favor, because there’s minimal competition.

We might not have:

All the amenities of a large frum community (shops that sell customized tzniyusdig clothes, seforim stores, a lot of restaurants).

But we do have:

Everything you need (an eiruv, mikveh, chinuch opportunities, shuls).

How we spend our summers:

There’s a local day camp for younger kids for the first half. In August, many people travel, visit family or take short vacations. South Haven, which is like the mountains of the Midwest, is only 45 minutes away. Many people stay local and do day trips, visit parks, zoos, farms, and more — there’s plenty to do here.

Distance from the Tristate area:  Twelve hours by car. By plane you need a connecting flight from either Detroit or Chicago — except during college football season, when there’s a direct flight from Newark. (That’s when Notre Dame alumni from the East Coast all want to come to South Bend, and they have no trouble filling up planes.)

Expected community growth: 

I’d love to see more people moving here, because that automatically means more opportunity, that South Bend would become more viable to established national organizations—to have an Aish branch, to have a Tomchei Shabbos. We’d welcome whatever community growth initiatives would come with an increased frum population: restaurants, shopping opportunities, stores that sell Jewish supplies, Jewish-owned businesses. The more people who live here, the better we can create a good working environment and frum business community.

The biggest challenge living here is:

Not being able to get sushi.

Weather: 

We get all four seasons. It’s not too crazy, relatively speaking — we don’t get the standard Midwestern weather, because weather systems are blocked by Lake Michigan. We do get snow, rain, and wind, but it’s temperate.

Don’t move here if:

You’re not planning to work. When people need help, of course the community rallies around them, but we don’t have services like Tomchei Shabbos, gemachim, and free loan organizations that big communities have in abundance.