In a wonderful act of kindness, our friends at Swish House and 360 Soles raised $5,000 to give every boy and girl at Mercy Home brand new pair of basketball shoes for Christmas.  

“There’s no better place to make a difference in Chicagoland than this place,” said Jonathan Dues, Swish House co-founder.

In 2015, Swish House began its mission of giving people in the community an opportunity to reap the benefits of basketball, mentally and physically. Since then, Swish House and Mercy Home have run numerous clinics, workouts, and games to energize our kids and use basketball as a therapeutic source of their healing. This year, Dues reached out to his network of supporters and investors in order to raise the funds necessary to accomplish this Christmas miracle for kids at Mercy Home. 

This shoe drive wasn’t the first of its kind, though. After successfully pulling off the incredible feat of giving each child at Mercy Home a new pair of shoes in 2020, Swish House partnered with 360 Soles founder Tyrone Jordan, who was once again instrumental in bringing holiday cheer to our boys and girls. 360 Soles is Jordan’s passion project, a sneaker resale brand that amasses a collection of hundreds of unique sneakers that he not only sells but gives away to those in need.  

“We decided to do a shoe drive donation in 2020 and it was very fulfilling for us,” Jordan said.

This year, when Dues reached out to repeat the event’s success, Jordan didn’t need much convincing.

“He reached out and asked if I’d like to do the shoe drive again, and I said ‘100 percent,’” Jordan recalled.

Together, Swish House and 360 Soles were able to repeat their success in 2022.  

“We were able to raise $5,000 to ensure that all 100 kids here at Mercy Home get a new pair of basketball shoes for Christmas,” Dues said.

The shoes were delivered last week, much to our kids’ excitement. Adding to their joy, each child was able to hand select the pair they wanted, with brands ranging from Nike to New Balance to Adidas.  

The holidays can be a difficult time for many of our young people, so that is why we are especially grateful for the friendships we have in Swish House and 360 Soles, and for their incredible generosity. Thanks to them, our kids can quite literally walk more confidently towards their goals of hope and healing—in style.

“Thank you to every friend and every colleague that donated to make this happen. It’s the coolest thing we’ve done this year in my opinion,” Dues said.