Mercy in Action Stories

Empowering Mothers and Families

Starting the School Year Strong After Finding Stable Housing

After I pay the rent on the first, I’ll start shopping for school clothes and school supplies. I’m praying and putting it all in...

Empowering Mothers and Families

Empowering single parents to achieve self-sufficiency

Catholic Charities’ Family Self-Sufficiency Program supports single parents from low-income households as they advance their career, housing, and financial goals and work toward long-term...

Empowering Families

Empowering the community with mental health resources

Faced with numerous barriers to mental and behavioral healthcare access, residents in a cluster of neighborhoods on Chicago’s west side impacted by high rates...

For those who have nowhere else to turn, Catholic Charities shares hope 

“They didn’t judge me for who I am. And that showed me that no matter what goes on in my life, I can always...

Immediate Needs

The Shared Table expands to the south suburbs 

A volunteer serves guests coffee at Catholic Charities’ new community meal program at Lord of Mercy Catholic Church in Harvey, Illinois. The guests began...

Stable Housing, Stable Families

Hope and home: New Hope Apartments 

After Kay* fled an unhealthy relationship, she and four of her children, then ages five months to 15 years, moved in with her sister....

Empowering Mothers and Families

LOSS community finds and offers support at annual brunch 

Sometimes somber, sometimes tearful, the 2025 Blossoms of Hope Brunch on April 27 was a time to remember loved ones lost to suicide, celebrate...

Empowering Mothers and Families

WIC Grocery’s Mobile Market launches on Chicago’s west side 

Marlisa, who is pregnant with her first child, works at a daycare near the WIC Grocery Mobile Market clinic at Sinai Community Institute. She...

Empowering Mothers and Families

Lessons in wisdom and grace

Gwendolyn “Dream” Milton with a shopper at Catholic Charities’ WIC Grocery store in Chicago’s South Chicago neighborhood. “When I meet parents who are overwhelmed,...

Empowering Mothers and Families

Helping domestic violence survivors ‘get hooked’ on knitting 

The House of the Good Shepherd Women’s Board members Tina Abello (left) and Valerie Dolasin host a weekly knitting club, providing comfort to domestic...