Stability Through Connection
For Jillian Lovely, having a place to call home provides something difficult to put a price on: peace of mind. Lovely has lived in Lacasa housing for more than five years. She currently resides in an apartment managed by the organization for just over a year. Living on disability income, she stated that the affordable housing and support she receives through the group have given her a level of stability she otherwise might not have found. "It’s everything to me to be able to call something my home and be able to be comfortable in it and make it my own," Lovely said.
Having reliable internet at home removes another layer of anxiety. Through a longstanding partnership between Lacasa and Surf Internet, residents at select Lacasa properties receive fiber-optic internet service at no cost. They also maintain the option to upgrade if they need additional capacity. For residents like Lovely, connectivity is not just a form of entertainment. It acts as a necessary tool for navigating everyday life. Lovely relies on the connection for banking and completing the annual documentation required for her Section 8 housing assistance. This includes accessing and printing a year’s worth of bank statements. "I wouldn’t be able to do that without Wi-Fi," she said. "It’s something that is an absolute must."
Removing Another Barrier
Lacasa has served Elkhart County since 1970. The organization helps individuals and families build stability through affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and financial empowerment programs. Its services include free financial education and counseling, matched savings accounts, auto loans, owner-occupied home repair, and assistance with the homebuying process. "Everything Lacasa does is meant to help empower individuals and stabilize families," President and CEO Jeremy Stutsman said. That work often means identifying barriers that make daily life harder and finding community partners equipped to address them.
Internet access is one of those needs. "In today’s age, you absolutely need to have access to internet," Stutsman said. "It could be everything from filling out job applications to getting the medical attention that you need or scheduling your appointments." Surf’s partnership with Lacasa brings that access directly into residents’ homes. Another Lacasa resident, Austin Wienhoft, relies on that connectivity for everyday needs. "A lot of medical stuff is online," Wienhoft said. "It’s important to have a strong internet connection to be able to do the things that you need to do." Wienhoft is currently unable to drive while receiving treatment for seizures, making both housing support and reliable connectivity close at hand especially meaningful. "You feel safe," he said of living at Lacasa. "Everybody gets along, and just knowing that you’re safe and knowing that there are people here to help you is very, very calming."
A Partnership That Keeps Growing
Surf Internet CEO Gene Crusie’s relationship with Lacasa began in the early 1990s. He volunteered with the organization’s Help-a-House program to help restore a home for a local family. "Over the years, we’ve had many adventures together," Crusie said. "We’ve helped them connect various housing locations. It’s just been a relationship where we work together to make a difference in the community." Their work together has created benefits beyond basic connectivity. Within the past year, Lacasa submitted a major request for federal HOME funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help develop a new property. The competitive application used a scoring matrix, and Lacasa was able to include Surf as a community partner.
"Surf Internet was a big part of that," Stutsman said. "They helped get us points that we needed to win that award." The grant is one example of how the relationship between the two entities has evolved. Stutsman said Crusie and the Surf team have approached Lacasa on several occasions with a simple question: What else can we do? Those conversations have helped expand fiber connectivity to additional Lacasa buildings over time. This collaborative approach mirrors the broader shifts in public-private cooperation seen in housing authorities across the Midwest over the last decade.
Local Connections, Lasting Impact
The partnership reflects Surf’s belief in what connectivity makes possible. "One of Lacasa’s missions is to provide affordable, stable housing, and we think foundational to that is having internet connectivity," Crusie said. "It gives the residents access to the same resources that anyone else in the community would have, and therefore it levels the playing field." Stutsman sees that same potential in strong local partnerships. "I’ve seen what local partnerships can do for a community," he said. "If we ever run into an issue here at Lacasa, there’s going to be somebody out in the community like Gene that’s willing to step up and say, ‘Hey, we got your back. Let’s figure this out.'"
And for residents, the impact is much more personal. Wienhoft summed it up simply: "If you want reliable people and you want reliable internet, you want Lacasa and you want Surf." As both organizations move forward, the focus remains on closing the digital divide for those in Elkhart County who need it most. The model suggests that when local service providers prioritize social outcomes, the surrounding community benefits in measurable ways. Observers should watch for similar initiatives as other regional providers evaluate the success of this model in housing sectors.