August 12, 2024

Mercy Home recently threw open its doors for our second annual Mercy Fest.

Hosted by our Community Care program, Mercy Fest is a summer festival for our young people, former residents and their families, and our Friends First mentors and mentees.

“Mercy Fest’s objective is to bring the whole Mercy community together for fellowship, awareness of resources in the community, and to encourage people to stay connected to the Home,” Daniel Nelson, the vice president of Community Care, said. “I believe [this year’s] Mercy Fest was a huge success in hitting all these marks. More importantly, we collectively created an environment where everyone felt like they belonged.”

Over 450 people enjoyed an afternoon of fun, food, and fellowship.

Mercy Home President and CEO Fr. Scott Donahue opened the event with a quick reflection and a prayer. Decked out in a pineapple shirt, he explained the meaning behind the tropical fruit.

“The pineapple is a sign of welcome and a sign of hospitality,” he said. “I want everyone to know how welcome you are [at Mercy Home] and I know you’re going to enjoy wonderful hospitality.”

Guests dined on hot dogs and burgers straight off the grill, tacos from Jarabe, plant-based food from Plant Based City, chips, popcorn, and cotton candy. Our friends at Butch McGuire’s generously donated the hot dogs, hamburgers, and buns and Reyes Coca Cola Bottling provided pop, juice, and water.

The youngest attendees enjoyed bounce houses, carnival games, airbrush tattoos, face painting, balloon art, slime making, crafts, and more. A highlight of the afternoon was when our friends at Chicago Fire Department brought a fire truck for the younger children to tour. Current residents from our girls home helped emcee the event and passed out gift cards as raffle prizes. Their energy and enthusiasm kept the party going all afternoon.

Tables stacked with donated items also ensured that all our members and their families will have everything they need when they go back to school this fall. Our members received items like backpacks, school supplies, board games, and more.

We also welcomed a number of our community partners to this event who provided attendees with more information on their services, how they can support our families, and even handed out some swag. The City of Chicago CityKey was also on hand to print out IDs for individuals in need. The presence of all these partners was invaluable, and we could not be more thankful for their support of our mission!

“It was so exciting watching all our constituents come together for our second annual Mercy Fest,” Ashley Monroe Turner, Community Care coordinator who helped plan the event, said. “We were even able to see former coworkers come back and help out with the event.”

The event truly was a team effort and would not have been possible without the hard work of our coworkers, volunteers, and supporters. We are thankful to volunteers and supporters from the Chicago White Sox, UPS, AArete, and Google. An additional thank you to AArete for donating school supplies and Rimini Street for donating backpacks. This event wouldn’t have been a success without you!

The commitment of volunteers like our friends at UPS really captures the entire point of this event—everyone working together to help our young people and their families.

“Mercy Fest was a true reflection of the whole Mercy Home family coming together to have a great time and create an environment where all feel like they belong,” Nelson said.

And now that this year’s event is over, excitement is already building around next year’s event.

“We are looking forward to next year’s fest and the memories it will create,” Monroe Turner said.

In addition to this new annual summer gathering, our Community Care program also invites former residents and families as well as Friends First mentoring program participants, to an annual Christmas celebration in December. It’s just another way that the program helps keep our Mercy Home family connected.