Mentorship for good: Brady Soenen ’26

Story written by Grace Odmark ’26

During his time at Notre Dame, Brady Soenen ’26 has participated in a wide range of service opportunities with the University and local nonprofits. In doing so, Brady has grown in meaningful relationships with those he serves and learn about the needs of those experiencing homelessness in the South Bend community.

Brady Soenen is a senior from Woodbury, Minnesota, and is a former resident of Dillon Hall. Brady is a science preprofessional studies major with minors in global health and compassionate care in medicine. His first involvement in a service project through Notre Dame was during his freshman year. Brady and 11 other students traveled to Trujillo, Honduras, as part of Campus Ministry’s Spring Break Immersion Trip. While there, Brady and the other students spent time playing with kids, working on construction projects for the orphanage, and helping with English classes at the school.

After returning to campus, Brady sought out other opportunities to serve the South Bend community. He became involved with Mercy Works, a program through Notre Dame Campus Ministry that connects students with local organizations seeking weekly volunteers. He spent that semester volunteering once a week at the South Bend Center for the Homeless.

“In my service, I’ve been able to witness how people love one another and how I get this opportunity to love them. It’s been an experience that I certainly hadn’t had before I came to Notre Dame or before I started meeting people in South Bend.”

During the spring semester that year, Brady became involved with Place to Be Me, where he still serves once a week. While at Place to Be Me, a nonprofit organization for children with special needs to learn and grow together, Brady pairs up one-on-one or with a group of kids in various weekly activities, such as visiting the pumpkin patch, engaging in arts and crafts, or watching a movie together.

Going into his junior year, Brady became the Mercy Works Anchor Intern at Campus Ministry. In this role, he helped coordinate the service opportunities for Mercy Works, with a specific focus on planning one-time service events in partnership with dorms and other student organizations. The events he planned helped expose students to service opportunities in the community and prompted them to become involved with Mercy Works in future semesters, continuing their service.

While attending a city council meeting as part of his role as a Campus Ministry intern, Brady learned about Motels4Now, a housing-first homeless shelter in South Bend. Inspired by their mission, Brady is now helping those living at Motels4Now to clean rooms, move items, or even assisting residents as they move from the temporary housing at Motels4Now to permanent housing.

“As a Mercy Works intern, I got to meet a lot of people in South Bend and experience all the different projects people were working on to support those in need in our community.”

During one such event at Transformation Ministries, an organization seeking to connect South Bend families with community members in a positive and supportive way, Brady was approached by the program director, who encouraged him to consider joining their mentorship program, Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI). As a mentor in the program, Brady mentors a local sixth-grade student. Together, they participate in programming once a week, during which they eat dinner, pray, and play in the gym together before spending the final 45 minutes discussing various life issues and the Bible. Additionally, they meet one-on-one for mentorship time a couple of times a month.

“I’ve enjoyed meeting new people from different backgrounds. At the three places where I’m currently helping, I interact with people from diverse backgrounds who have shared their varied experiences with me. They’re all different from me and the way I grew up, which has been incredibly eye-opening and rewarding each time I get to interact with them.”

Expanding upon his work at Motels4Now, Brady is conducting research on street medicine through involvement in one of Motels4Now’s programs, which will culminate in his capstone project next semester. Brady investigates factors that may motivate individuals experiencing homelessness to accept or reject street medicine care. In doing this, he helps patients be seen by the doctors if they request help, and next semester, he hopes to begin interviewing residents of Motels4Now about their experiences with the street medicine program. 

“Volunteering at Motels4Now has allowed me to meet and talk to amazing people… It’s people who are experiencing the lowest of lows and pushed to the side by society, but they’re amazing people, and I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to get to know them.”

After graduating, Brady plans to take a gap year before applying to medical schools, during which he will be in Madison, Wisconsin, and hopes to work as an EMT or a medical scribe. Motivated by his time at Motels4Now and his capstone research, Brady is considering pursuing a Master’s Degree in public health. He hopes to one day work in pediatrics, which was partially inspired by the time that he has spent working with kids at Place to Be Me. Once he’s a doctor, Brady is interested in providing medical care through Medical Brigades and assisting in street medicine programs if they are offered in the areas where he eventually lives.

Brady’s experiences with Campus Ministry are made possible because of the generosity and support from members of the Notre Dame family, who empower Notre Dame students to act as a force for good in the South Bend community and beyond.