September 14, 2017

As we celebrate our anniversary with a Mass and reception at Mercy Home this Sunday, we now complete our weekly look back on 130 years of Mercy Home History. We hope you have enjoyed traveling through the decades with us.

But we’re not done just yet.

We will continue to post stories from our archives on our website throughout the remainder of the year. And this series still has one more decade left–the decade not quite completed. The 2010s have been another a period of growth and notable accomplishments that will be among the many others from our 130-year history that we will honor at our event this Sunday

Since 2010, for example, we opened a spacious new dining hall at our West Loop Campus that allows all of our kids to enjoy daily meals together, as well as special occasions and holiday meals. We opened a supportive housing program for former residents to help them make a successful transition to permanent independence. We’ve expanded the size and support of our largest program, AfterCare to help former residents thrive long after they have left our home. And we’ve revised our therapeutic model of care to provide the best trauma-informed care to children who come to us with complex needs.

As we have reflected on this mission’s many blessed years, we want to share some reflections of our President, Fr. Scott Donahue, who wrote a book about the miracles that he has witnessed at Mercy Home since coming to work with our young people in 1990. Published in 2016, Years of Mercy is a collection of essays that detail the incredible power of love to inspire growth, hope, and change even in the most unimaginable of circumstances. The book’s title was inspired by Pope Francis’ declaration of the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy in 2016.

Years of Mercy brings readers into ten stories of children who have come to our Old Oak door seeking safety and healing after lifetimes marked by abuse, neglect, and trauma. The book reflects on the ways that your support helps open the door to God’s mercy for our kids.

See Fr. Scott talking more about his book below: