It was in 1934, just down the road from Mercy Home in the South Loop, that Raymond Wicklander founded Wicklander Printing Corp. It wasn’t just the proximity of his business that connected him to Mercy Home, however. He and his wife, Callista, were good friends of late Mercy Home president Fr. Jim Close. And one of their first gifts to the Home was a printing press they donated to The Mission Press, Mercy Home’s full-service printing and marketing resource.

Though Raymond and Callista are no longer with us, their legacy of generosity continues to this day. The Wicklander Family Foundation was founded in their honor in 2005, providing financial support to education, religious, and medical research non-profit organizations throughout Chicagoland. And one of the organizations The Wicklander Family Foundation first supported was Mercy Home.

“Mercy Home is a strong organization,” said Laura Wicklander West, granddaughter of Raymond and Callista.

“There’s strong leadership, really dedicated employees, and a mission that’s doing good work and making a noticeable impact in the lives of kids. So that kind of checks all the boxes for us.”

For more than a decade, The Wicklander Family Foundation has generously supported different components of our Home. One such component is our academic and vocational guidance and resources programming.

“Education is a strong interest of the foundation,” West said. “Mercy Home’s commitment to providing kids not only with tuition, but also the educational structure and support at the Home is definitely a key.”

If it seems West knows a thing or two about our mission, it’s because she does. When The Wicklander Family Foundation was founded in 2005, West was completing a year of service in our MercyWorks program. She went on to work in our advancement department, was instrumental in starting our Associate Board, and still serves as a member of our Leader Council today.

With an intimate connection to the Home, West was able to identify programs at Mercy Home that align with the values of her grandparents. And since the mission of the Catholic church and helping others meant so much to Raymond and Callista, it is no surprise that our Spiritual Development program is something the foundation supports.

“Regardless of your religion, I think the family really understands and respects the value of bringing in a spiritual component,” West said. “It’s beneficial to someone being very well-rounded, and a little more centered, and able to handle a lot of the curveballs that these kids get in life.”

Today, The Wicklander Family foundation is family operated – a conglomeration of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandchildren. This was important to Callista. When she started the foundation, she wanted it to be more than a way of giving back to others. She wanted it to be something that helped her family stay close. And for West, The Wicklander Family Foundation allows her to carry on the charitable legacy of her grandparents.

“To whom much is given, much is expected – that was their general philosophy,” West said. “And we still love the idea of really going out and finding organizations that are doing good work for those in need.”

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