How chef Alan Mares helps Mercy Home for Boys & Girls | Eater Chicago

"A longstanding Catholic charity founded in 1887 that serves as a safe harbor for at-risk youth (ages 9–21) and their families, relying on donations and community partnerships to provide residential care, therapy, schooling, mentorship, financial-literacy and parenting support. During the pandemic the organization closed campuses to visitors, moved many AfterCare services online under a rebranded CommunityCare effort, formed a Compassionate Care Task Force to prioritize immediate needs, and found new homes for roughly half of its residential youth after health inspections found dorms too crowded; from July 2019 to the last reporting year it served nearly 1,500 individuals, offered ongoing support to 428 former residents and families, and housed 138 youth across two houses. Food and the restaurant community have played a major role in crisis response: about 300 families and 570 individuals are part of the extended network that has received hundreds of grocery or meal drop-offs from local restaurants and donors (including large in-kind donations such as 1,000 pounds of pasta and sauce), helping address hunger and keep the community connected. On-site programming includes a youth kitchen where the head chef, Alan Mares—who lived at the home as a teenager and credits the program with funding his college and culinary education—now prepares fresh meals for about 60 young people and staff while teaching cooking skills, leadership and hope to residents whose lives have been disrupted by trauma or the pandemic." - Ariel Parrella-Aureli