August 28, 2024

Mercy Home was again well represented at this year’s annual Bud Billiken Parade festivities and had the chance to spread the word about our mission.

The Bud Billiken Parade, the largest African American parade in the United States, has been a Chicago staple for 95 years. Watched and attended by more than one million people, the parade honors and celebrates African American culture and the start of another school year.

As they have for generations, thousands of spectators lined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to watch the marching bands, floats, dance troupes, tumblers, cheerleaders, civic organizations, celebrities, charities, politicians, and more.

In years past, Mercy Home entered a float in the parade, but for the past two years, we have focused our presence in the parade’s “It Takes a Village Festival.” The gathering in Washington Park gave participants the chance to connect with neighbors, business owners, community leaders and organizations, food, crafts and arts vendors, and more. 

“They gave us a good piece of real estate,” Monroe Turner said. “We got all the young people coming in so that they would see Mercy Home front and center.”

Monroe Turner said that Mercy Home and Defender Charities meet throughout the year, and Defender Charities typically attend Mercy Home open houses and Mercy Fest.

“Their relationship with young people is very hands-on,” Monroe Turner said. “We just want to piggyback off them to see if they had anyone to refer or if they had young people they thought would be a good fit for Mercy Home.”

After Mercy Fest earlier this summer, Monroe Turner began asking for volunteers from coworkers and our young people. This year, some of our young people handed out Mercy Home flyers, informational packets, sunglasses, and all sorts of other swag at the festival to help raise awareness about our mission.

“A lot of attendees didn’t know what Mercy Home is and what we have to offer,” Monroe Turner said.

Thankfully, the exposure that the event provided extended well beyond the park. Vice President of Community Care Daniel Nelson had the opportunity to detail the supports we provide with news anchors Joe Donlon and Audrina Sinclair during CBS2 Chicago’s special coverage of the festival. (Nelson’s interview begins at 10:16 in the clip).

Nelson discussed our mission, our encouragement of education, and our purpose at the festival. Speaking about young people who visited the tent throughout the day, Nelson said “we’re here just to let them know that if they ever find themselves in a place where they feel by themselves, that they don’t have a place to go, they can always come to mercy home for support.”

At this year’s festival, Mercy Home also promoted its Friends First mentoring program and had sign-up sheets available for interested participants. Friends First includes both community-based mentoring as well as a workplace, corporate mentoring program with one-on-one mentoring between youth from St. Malachy School and employees of two corporate sponsors, TransUnion and Faegre Drinker Law Firm. The young people, who do not live at Mercy Home, are usually referred to Friends First by their school as youth identified that could benefit from mentoring.

Community Partnerships and Marketing Manager Juan Medina plans to reach out to those who signed up, exploring with them their interest in the program. 

The festival was a great opportunity for our Admissions and Community Care teams and our young people to spread the word about Mercy Home’s role in the community.

“It was cool to see all the kids come in with their costumes on and tired but still approach our table asking about Mercy Home,” Monroe Turner said.

Thanks to all who came out and represented the best of Mercy Home to the public.