SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- At a ceremony Tuesday afternoon, Mayor James Mueller declared the renaming of Friendship Park owned by Mutual Homes in honor of Bernice Freeman.

The ceremony, which would mark Freeman’s 83 birthday, was attended by a crowd of a couple dozen people, including Freeman’s son and two daughters.

“The community here [is gathered] together to remember and to recognize [Freeman’s] achievements and as a symbol of hope moving forward, of bringing our community together and making sure that South Bend continues moving forward,” Mueller said.

Freeman, who died in 2023, was a lifelong community servant leader who devoted her life to empowering others, especially those within the African American community, according to the City of South Bend.

In 1984, Freeman began helping people gain basic educational skills and achieve their GEDs with the Opportunities Industrialization Center of America. She also advocated for residents in the co-op programs at Mutual Homes and assisted residents with utilities through Team Heat while working with the South Bend Heritage Foundation.

“[The park] is a special place,” Mueller said. “It's by where a lot of the work that Bernice did.”

During her life, Freeman received many awards including the Martin Luther King Drum Major for Justice Award in 1998 and the South Bend Key to the City presented to her by Mueller in 2019.

In 2023, Freeman’s legacy was honored with the Sojourner Truth Award, the “Ain’t I A Woman” Award and the Black Expo’s Kwanzaa Honoring the Elders Award.

“Being able to have family is truly important, and I believe family is community,” said Jordan Gathers, the Executive Director of South Bend Venues, Parks, and Arts. “As you can see, the community showed up and showed out today."