Mercy Home has been recognized for its historic and innovative work with children and families in crisis in an official proclamation by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The document proclaims the month of March 2020 as “Mercy Home’s March for Kids Month” in the city of Chicago and urges businesses, organizations and individuals throughout the city to work together in providing the tools that children need to build brighter futures.

Mercy Home’s March for Kids is an annual effort to raise the resources that we need to provide young people in crisis with a safe and stable home, therapy, education, job skills and other tools that help them grow into independent, successful adults. In addition to the fundraising element, however, March for Kids is also an invitation to Chicagoans to come together in exploring and providing solutions for young people in crisis.

Mercy Home’s mission to provide care today and develop potential for tomorrow is rooted deeply in the organization’s past, which dates all the way back to 1887. The mayor’s proclamation is an honor for Mercy Home, a testament the impact of our donors who provide us with 99.6% of our funding, and a call to action for people and organizations in the area to play a role in the lives of our city’s most vulnerable youth.

It also affirms that the future of Chicago depends on how well we support children and families. “Chicago’s role as an international center of commerce and culture,” the proclamation reads, “is inextricably bound with improving the health and stability of families and children from every community, and every corner of our metropolitan area, particularly children whose personal experiences place them among the most vulnerable and at-risk.”

At a recent Chicago Tribune forum to address the challenge of reaching Chicagoland’s disconnected youth, Mayor Lightfoot praised the work of organizations throughout the city like Mercy Home for providing the services youth need to succeed.

“When we are smart and intentional about the way that we interact, the way that we provide interventions and support of young people,” Lightfoot said, “they can do remarkable things.”

“When we are smart and intentional about the way that we interact, the way that we provide interventions and support of young people. They can do remarkable things.”

Lori Lightfoot, Mayor of Chicago

“I’m looking at Father Scott from Mercy Home, and they know this going back decades, that when we reach out and support our young people, even in their darkest days; if we reach out with love and support and accountability, they will turn their lives around and they will thrive.”

Mercy Home’s March for Kids has been held annually under different names, since 1996 when it was known as A Touch O’ Green. For ten years, it was known as Shamrocks for Kids before being renamed and expanded in 2014. Today, Mercy Home’s March for Kids involves significant promotion from media and corporate partners, involvement in several area parades and events, fundraisers in restaurants and other business, and hundreds of volunteers who donate their time and energy to help kids at Mercy Home.