Partnership with Potbelly Leads to Job Opportunities

October 23, 2025

Earlier this year, while walking to pick up his son from school, Community Care Director of Vocational Training and Placement Ian McBride stumbled upon Saribeth Salgado, a neighbor he’d never met before.

McBride learned that Salgado is the District Manager of numerous Potbelly restaurants, primarily in the downtown Chicago area.

That chance encounter led to the beginning of a partnership between Mercy Home and Potbelly that began in July, when two of our young people gave Potbelly employees a tour of our West Loop Campus. McBride felt that it could be the ideal partnership. The restaurant that isn’t too far away, has a variety of locations across the city, and is not unfamiliar to many of our young people. That same July day, McBride discussed the possibility of Potbelly presenting to our young people about the keys to getting hired.

When I said we were looking for a presentation, they asked a lot of questions about what we were looking for,” McBride said. “They were super receptive and also let me know which of her stores were hiring.”

Two months later, representatives from Potbelly spoke to 16 of our former and current young people on a day off for Chicago Public Schools. The presentation allowed our young adults in residential programs to hear directly from an employer and hear about skills that they look for in candidates and how transferable those skills are outside of Potbelly.

“I learned how to apply to Potbelly and how to communicate if it’s a customer’s first time going to Potbelly,” said Shawn, a young person who lives at Mercy Home.

While Shawn is unsure if he will apply right now, he learned that the skills Potbelly looks for, like teamwork, positive communication, time management, and professionalism, can also apply to his future academic and career endeavors.

McBride said that this was an ideal setup for an employment partnership.

“Our folks need jobs,” he said. “They often [are still learning professional] skills. Potbelly is really focused on the customer experience, and you can take that a lot of different places.”

Not only did the representatives from Potbelly speak to our young people, they also organized interactive activities that simulated providing great high-energy customer service to each other.

“They did such a thoughtful job presenting to our young people,” McBride said. “They met them where they were at. They did a tremendous job of making it engaging, fun, interactive, and keeping most people’s attention. It also gave Potbelly an opportunity to get in front of a large group of our young people.”

Since the first meeting in July, two of Mercy Home’s residents have been hired by Potbelly and others are currently in the interview process. Dylon, a young resident of the Home, was hired by Potbelly this summer and said that he enjoys the fast-paced environment.

“I’m so thankful for everyone that recommended me,” he said. “I wanted to make money because I want to be independent. That’s what I’m working toward at Mercy Home.”

While this partnership is still growing, McBride hopes that it will mean employment and career learning possibilities for more of our young people in the future.

“I just wanted to get (our kids) exposure,” he said. “We’ve got to show them each rung of the latter that they’ve got to climb. It was a practical exposure to what work looks like. That’s the essence of what we’re trying to help our young people do. There’s so many jobs out there but we’ve got to show them how to get started.”