Last school year, the Chicago Chapter of Blessings began a unique program to feed the children living at the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) Dearborn Homes, a sister program to the already existing Blessings program at Cabrini Green Homes. These children attend local schools but turn to their local CHA staff for after-school programming and support. We feed 100 children at the Dearborn Homes and 86 at the Cabrini Green Homes.

The impact was felt immediately. In the words of Millicent Jackson, Blessings site contact,

“The food items being provided from Blessings in a Backpack to the youth of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Dearborn Homes provide essential nutrients to help children function daily and gain opportunities to have a brighter future.”

These programs demonstrate the flexibility and utility of the Blessings program. In Chicago, we are thrilled to go where the hungry children live so that there are no barriers to receiving the life-changing weekend food that Blessings provides. Amy Nieman and Kristine Prugh, two local volunteers, brought these programs to us.

According to Amy, “The Cabrini program is facilitated by the wonderful staff at YWCA FamilyWorks, who also run a sister program at Dearborn Homes on Chicago’s South Side. We submitted a proposal to the Chicago Chapter’s Board and were awarded a generous grant to launch the program. With these funds and donations from corporate packing events, we’ve provided meals for 200 children at least twice a month this year.”