Community Care Easter Egg Hunt Provides a Place of Belonging

April 24, 2025

As part of Mercy Home’s Easter celebrations, dozens of Community Care members gathered in the Mercy Home soccer building for their third annual Easter Egg Hunt.  

The day began with a catered lunch of pizza and pasta. Families ate together, former residents caught up with each other, and kids ran all over the field playing tag.  

“For a lot of people, Mercy Home can be a big part of their community,” Community Care Clinical Director Susan Hackney said. “We like to make sure that there’s opportunities for members to gather and be around people that they know. They know it is a safe space where they can be themselves.” 

After lunch, former youth and current Community Care member Terry dressed up as the Easter bunny, much to the joy of all the children. He took photos with the kids, gave out warm hugs, and passed out Easter eggs to some of the younger children.  

“Seeing a youth that I knew when he was 15 now entertaining the kids in his 30s was really sweet,” Hackney said.  

Boys and girls of all ages raced through our indoor soccer facility collecting multi-colored eggs stuffed with candy, piling as many as they could into their baskets. Some kids found golden eggs that could be redeemed for bigger prizes.  

Celebrations like this one are a vital piece of Community Care’s work at the Home and in the community. The program provides former residents with a variety of resources they need to be successful. This event not only provides a fun kick-off to the spring season, but it also gives families the opportunity to have somewhere to celebrate the holidays.   

The Easter event was a true community affair. Not only were there coworkers and former residents with their families at the Easter event, but members of the Friends First mentorship program also spent time with each other.  

“Friends First is often, other than these events, pretty separate,” Hackney said. “So, it was nice to see them take advantage of this.” 

At the end of the afternoon, the children lined up to pick out toys from an organized array of donations set up at the back of the building.  

“It kind of felt like Christmas Junior,” Hackney said of the young participants’ excitement. “It was fun for the kids to go bananas in the Easter egg hunt and then getting toys, which I’m sure they didn’t expect.”  

Earlier in the week, the Ambassadors of Mercy board packed Easter meal kits for Community Care members to take home for their families. These were also passed out at the egg hunt.

“A sense of belonging is one of our outcomes in Community Care,” Hackney said. “It’s always nice to see different people come from far away to spend time at Mercy Home.” 

Thank you to all our coworkers and board members who worked hard to make all of our Easter celebrations a tremendous success!