Sip, sip hooray!
Unwind and uncork with us! Our beloved Summer Wine Social returns on June 25th, and you're invited! Join us for an evening of tasting delectable wines with paired bites from local vendors and a raffle fit for any wine aficionado. Early bird and VIP tickets available. Purchase tickets and learn more here.
Cerise’s Story: When Healthy Food Becomes Non-Negotiable
Most of us understand how eating quality, nutrient dense food impacts our bodies but how many actually follow through and make it a priority? With busy lives and increasing costs, it can be difficult to prioritize healthy eating. For folks on a limited income, it easily becomes inaccessible. But for Cerise, it’s non-negotiable.
“I’m eating to live instead of living to eat.”
Months ago we shared a part of Cerise’s story – a 66-year-old retired teacher who makes the journey to Common Pantry from the South Side of Chicago. After being hit by a car on two separate occasions nearly 10 years ago, Cerise became disabled. More recently, Cerise was diagnosed with MS.
When she retired, her income changed drastically overnight; she once made $80,000 a year and now lives off of about $22,000. After subtracting her rent, utilities, bills and medical expenses, Cerise doesn’t have much leftover to buy food. Before losing her SNAP benefits last year, Cerise only received $12 in SNAP benefits a month.
Cerise relies on food pantries to eat, but often needed to go to multiple pantries to fill her fridge. With limited options and choices, she took what she could get. And when she did go grocery shopping, she was forced to choose convenience and affordability over health - buying whatever was the cheapest instead of making a meal herself.
“People want to eat good, it’s just not affordable”
During this time, Cerise never felt like she could focus on healthy eating. It was inconvenient, required too much work that she physically couldn’t always do, and ultimately didn’t feel like it was worth the trouble. When she eventually did need to make changes to her diet, she felt that nutrient dense foods were still inaccessible. She was struggling to get the basics, how would she get anything else?
While visiting a local pet food pantry, Cerise learned about Common Pantry from someone in line. When she heard about the quality of food and the overall experience, she knew she had to come. Since then, Cerise’s life has changed for the better.
Before, Cerise had to take what was given. Now at Common Pantry, she can choose the variety of foods her diet requires - all in one shop. She has access to nutrient dense, fresh foods that were once unattainable and can finally prioritize her health.
Cerise initially only came to Common Pantry for our grocery distribution and weekly hot lunch. She has since begun attending our monthly cooking classes and connecting with Morgan, our Registered Dietitian. She has been able to incorporate what she’s learned and the recipes taught into her daily life.
“It is really making a difference in my choices, and I can feel it in my body. When you eat something that is processed, that takes your body so long to break down versus eating something that has fiber, grains, and the nutrients you need.”
Today, Cerise’s health looks very different. Using the quality food and guidance she has received from Common Pantry, she has been able to reverse her pre-diabetic diagnosis, stabilize her blood pressure, lose weight, and regulate her digestion.
“I made a transition that is causing me to live longer and healthier”
Beyond being able to make strides in her health goals and gaining access to nutritious foods, Cerise has gained so much more. The person who first told her about Common Pantry? She’s become one of Cerise’s close friends, often coordinating their visits to Common Pantry together to catch up and connect. As time has passed, they have met new people, growing their circle and creating long-standing friendships.
When we launched our nutrition program it was to provide access to healthy eating, bridge the gap on the foods we eat and their related benefits, and help guests make changes to their diets if needed. Now, we know that our program is making significant impacts on people’s lives and Cerise is just one of many.
Thanks to a generous donor, any donation made during the month of April will be matched up to $10,000, doubling your impact. Give today to support our guests and allow them to thrive.
Monthly Cooking Classes
As a part of our nutrition program, we will be offering monthly cooking classes led by our Registered Dietitian.
Each month there will be a new recipe demoed where you can learn some nutrition tips and a new dish that you can make with ingredients from the pantry.
For each class you can expect to get a live cooking demo, nutrition tips from a registered dietitian and one bag of produce and recipe card from the class that you can take home with you. No registration is needed before coming.
Time & Location:
- 11:30am-12:45pm
- 3908 N Lincoln Ave
2026 Schedule:
- April 16
- May 21
- June 18
- July 16
Out of options & finding support
This year has been challenging for families and individuals. Bills unexpectedly increased, food prices stayed high, and housing costs became unmanageable. More than ever before, people are turning to Common Pantry for the first time and depending on us for services. The underlying reason: they had no other option.
Budgets are being stretched thin to make ends meet, then sometimes the unexpected happens.
Whether it be accessing groceries to stock their fridge and pantry, receiving critical social services to get their life back on track or making an impact on their health goals, Common Pantry has helped thousands of families and individuals so far this year overcome obstacles and find stability.
Here are some of their stories.
“BEYOND JUST FOOD”
Adrianna is a mom of seven, with another on the way, living on the South Side of Chicago. For her current family of nine, Adrianna relies on SNAP to put food on their table and keep her family fed, never needing to go to a food pantry. While she could make due with SNAP, Adrianna and her husband couldn’t keep up with their other bills as the cost of living continued to rise.
Eventually, her electricity was at risk of being turned off and Adrianna had exhausted all her options. She had called many organizations whose missions are to help in these situations but kept getting the run around. Phone call, after phone call without resolve, she decided to reach out to Common Pantry as her last resort.
Adrianna had only visited Common Pantry a few months prior, when she got connected with Abby to get clothes for her kids. After receiving help when she needed it, Adrianna knew she could depend on Common Pantry to help navigate the situation with her.
What many don’t know is that Common Pantry has a fund dedicated to helping families and individuals overcome obstacles to avoid a crisis and setback. For Adrianna and her family, we were able to pay half of her bill, allowing her to get on a payment plan for the remainder of what was owed.
“It really meant a lot because if it weren’t for you guys, my light would’ve been disconnected for I don’t know how long.”
“FUNCTIONALLY BROKE”
Jackie has worked as a TSA agent for 10 years, and for 44 days, she worked without receiving a paycheck due to the government shutdown.
As a Chicago native, living on the North Side, owning her house, and paying off her 2016 car this year, Jackie never imagined herself needing to come to a food pantry. Still going into work, pulling money from her retirement account, adjusting her lifestyle, and spending all her savings, she was out of ideas. She doesn’t qualify for unemployment, and with SNAP benefits being frozen at the time, she couldn’t rely on any social safety nets.
“I should not be here. I work hard. It should only be for the people who really need it. And then I became the person who really needed it. I got to the point where there is no more money.”
Halfway through the government shutdown, without seeing the end in sight, Jackie reached out to get connected to resources at Common Pantry. She was able to visit our pantry on a Tuesday evening, taking advantage of our online ordering system to choose the same high-quality food for her and her family without waiting. Jackie no longer had to worry about where her next meal would come from.
Even as the government shutdown was ending, Jackie expressed that she did not expect to be paid immediately, resulting in 3 missed paychecks and needing to make even more adjustments to get by.
“I’M EATING TO LIVE INSTEAD OF LIVING TO EAT”
Cerise has been visiting Common Pantry for nearly five years for monthly groceries, our weekly hot lunch and more recently the cooking classes as a part of our nutrition education program. She is also 66, a retired teacher, lives on the South Side of Chicago and has been disabled for almost 10 years.
Cerise had been hit by a car on two separate occasions and in recent years was diagnosed with MS. For Cerise, her health and managing her symptoms are her biggest concerns, especially when she knows her diet makes a huge impact on how she feels. Having access to fresh produce and quality food is so important for her, but prior to visiting Common Pantry, Cerise struggled to get everything she needed.
Since retiring, Cerise has depended on food pantries to eat, often needing to go to multiple pantries in order to receive the basics: milk, eggs, fresh produce, a single can of garbanzo beans. Now that Cerise comes to Common Pantry she is able to receive the variety of foods her diet requires in one shop. And with being on a fixed income and until recently, only receiving $12 in SNAP benefits a month, access to nutrient dense, fresh food is life-changing for her.
“I don’t have the money for food. You pay your mortgage, you pay your assessment. I’m on a payment plan for my light bill. If I didn’t have good health insurance, I wouldn’t even be able to buy my prescriptions. But it’s a lifesaver for me to be able to have food and quality food that you can enjoy. If it didn’t exist. I don’t know what I would do.”
Despite the difficulties Adrianna, Jackie and Cerise have gone through, they all know they can depend on Common Pantry for nutrient-dense food and critical resources, provided with dignity.
These stories represent just some of the situations our other guests are facing. Through it all, Common Pantry is here as a resource to provide vital services, helping our neighbors find stability, overcome obstacles, and feel in control of their lives.
We can’t do this crucial work without you.
Give today to support our programs so our neighbors have what they need when the unexpected happens.
2024 Annual Impact Report
Common Pantry is proud to share our inaugural impact report for 2024. Please read through the report to learn more about the significant work and impact we made in our community last year.
Order your groceries online!
Common Pantry now offers our guests the option to order their groceries ahead of time to pick up. You can order the same groceries, skip the line and save time!
To order groceries online for pickup, clients must be eligible for our services and must be registered with Common Pantry prior to ordering. Ordering groceries ahead for pick up will be counted as your monthly visit.
If you are registered, you can log in using PantryEasy anytime between Friday at 7am until Tuesday at 12pm to place your grocery order.
Click here for more information and to log in.
More Than Just Food
Addressing food insecurity can’t be about providing only food when folks who are the most vulnerable have chronic diseases at higher rates. Hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes are just some of the chronic diseases that can be prevented and managed through eating a nutrient-rich, balanced diet. But when you’re on a fixed income or don’t have a stable source of food, how do you decide between your health or your next meal?
This year, Common Pantry expanded upon our priority of providing nutritious food by launching our Nutrition Education Program, led by our Registered Dietitian. The program includes cooking classes and demos, recipe cards based on the food we provide, take home nutrition resources, ready-to-eat prepared meals, food sampling and nutrition ranking which all aims to bridge the gap between the food we eat and the benefits it can provide.
Jean, 79, is one of our many guests who has fully participated in our nutrition program since its launch in July.
“I love this cooking class. As old as I am, when they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, yes you can! Because I learned different things in just three classes.”
Jean has spent her life surrounded by food. Having grown up spending summers on farms, working most of her career in restaurants, and finding joy in cooking her own food, one could say she already knows a lot. But when we offered a class about hypertension she was able to learn about a topic that was close to home.
Jean has heart issues and had open heart surgery nearly 20 years ago. Even though the hospital provided diet and health classes, she never felt like the information applied to her and didn’t know where to turn for help.
Now, Jean knows that when she comes to one of our cooking classes, she’s guaranteed to leave with a new recipe plus information that she trusts and can work with her day-to-day life.
“They’re doing all these recipes, they’re giving a lot of helpful health information that you don’t necessarily see or hear all the time”
Jean has been coming to Common Pantry for almost 10 years, long before our nutrition program started. Having heard about the pantry from a friend, she initially came for groceries and to receive a hot meal. On a fixed income and receiving only a small amount of social security and SNAP benefits, Jean relies on Common Pantry for staples.
The older she gets, the harder it is for her to go grocery shopping and cook for herself. Jean always makes sure to visit our weekly hot lunch, because that's one less meal that she has to cook.
“When you get older, your whole world gets more limited and this is a big part of my world.”
Beyond getting food, Jean has also found a community here. With volunteers who know her name, familiar faces when she shops, and staff going above and beyond to meet her needs, Jean knows she's cared for at Common Pantry.
Jean's story is not an outlier. Among families who access food pantries in Chicago, one-third have a family member with diabetes and over half have a family member with high blood pressure. It is not enough to provide access to healthy food. We must also provide the resources and opportunities for our guests to learn the science behind food and feel empowered to lead healthy lives.
We can't do this crucial work without you.
Give today to help meet our guests where they are and provide the resources they need most.
Client Spotlight - Meet Judy
“I thought I could make it at first, but I realized I really can’t”
Judy is like thousands of Chicagoans who are struggling, surviving on only $66 in SNAP benefits every month. With 1 in 5 households facing food insecurity it’s no surprise it’s difficult to make ends meet. The differences? She’s 75, can’t work and only has her motorized scooter for transportation.
Judy is just one of the 100+ seniors who receives home delivered groceries from Common Pantry each month, while many others are on a waitlist for the vital service.
She discovered Common Pantry in 2019 when she saw our volunteers delivering groceries to neighbors. At the time, she thought she could continue as she had been: stretching her SNAP benefits, shopping the sales, eating cheaper options.
Judy had gone through some hard times throughout her life and knew how to get by. She raised her kids as a single mother, did whatever she could to earn a little extra money and knew the tricks to make food last.
Throughout the years, Judy had heard of food pantries but having had one dehumanizing experience and not being able to physically wait in line, she didn’t want to ask for help unless she really needed to.
Then, as she got older and it became more difficult to get around, she realized that moment had arrived. Her friend who would drive her to grocery stores had passed away, her kids were struggling on their own, food prices were growing and she had limited access to stores. With no other options, she decided to reach out to Common Pantry staff for help.
Since she joined home delivery, the groceries Judy receives each month have changed her life immensely. She has variety in her diet, now having reliable access to fresh produce, eggs and meat and not being forced to only eat canned vegetables or boxed mac and cheese. She can splurge to buy cereal every so often because she knows she’ll get milk. She is able to plan ahead for meals and enjoy her food.
She no longer has to carry the mental burden of not knowing what she is going to eat or how she’s going to afford food. Instead she can focus on spending time with her kids and grandchildren and taking care of her pet pa
rrot, Charlie.
Beyond receiving food and relieving stress, what Judy values the most from our home delivery program are the special touches that make her feel cared for. From the cards and crafts she receives from Common Kids to the smiling faces of our volunteers going above and beyond, Judy can tell that everything comes from the heart.
“It’s such a good feeling to have that to look forward to, not just for the food but being treated so well, being treated like you’re somebody. It really makes the difference in how you think of yourself”
Hunger and food insecurity have been on the rise in Chicago. For months, we have had long lines. We see new faces daily and an ever growing waitlist to join home delivery. As we settled in our new home, we increased our programming to offer another grocery distribution to meet the demand, but we need your support. Since the start of 2024, Common Pantry has increased emergency groceries by 55% - serving over 1,000 families a month- with no end in sight.
Click here to give today to help our neighbors like Judy, who beyond receiving food, had her hope restored.
New Tuesday Distribution Hours
Starting February 6, 2024 we will offer Tuesday distribution hours from 4-6pm. Guests can receive a pre-packed, to-go set of groceries. This will be a faster option than our full client-choice distributions on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Grocery distribution on Wednesdays and Thursdays will remain as client-choice.
No sign-up or pre-registration required and this is included in the monthly allotment of groceries.
Client Spotlight- Meet Charles
Charles, a Chicagoan since the age of 2, a northsider since 2007, and a part of the Common Pantry community since 2017.
Charles first came to Common Pantry when he was experiencing homelessness, living on the streets and staying at shelters. He heard about Common Pantry from others as being a place that was more than just food. It was a place where he could escape to and receive much needed help. From receiving help to obtain a state ID, to using the phone to stay on top of job opportunities, to finding a community that he looks at like his family. He came here for just a hot meal, but ended up finding so much more.
Charles was able to find housing and stability that improved his life greatly. He continued to rely on the pantry for monthly groceries and camaraderie. But during Covid, Charles found himself facing serious health issues involving his diabetes. He went to the hospital to deal with initial complications and ended up learning the extent of his situation that led to him making the decision to amputate his leg.
He stayed in the hospital for a few months afterwards to heal and learn how to live without two legs. He was used to walking anywhere he needed to be. Suddenly, he was in pain and struggling to adapt to his new normal. There were even times when Charles would wake up and fall out of bed, thinking he had two good legs.
During this time, the Common Pantry team had no idea what was happening. They asked around to see if anyone had heard from him or had seen him, but no one had. The entire team hoped for the best and that they would see his smiling face soon.
Months later and when Charles was fully recovered, he was able to make his way back to the pantry and was welcomed with open arms.
With it now being over a year since he was in the hospital, Charles can drive his “lexus” (aka what he calls his wheelchair) like a bus, being able to laugh anytime there is a bump or stumble.
He continues to receive groceries and social services at Common Pantry, though now it looks a little different. He was once able to walk in, receive a hot meal and pick up his monthly groceries and now he has to make two buses and wait outside as there are stairs at every entrance preventing Charles from ever coming inside. He is also now working with Abby, our Licensed Clinical Social Worker, to apply for the accessibility resources he needs.
Beyond all the services he has received throughout the years, what Charles really values is that he is truly heard. He knows that when he wants to talk and vent about challenges that there will always be someone willing to listen and give positive feedback to help carry him through the day. Charles knows that Common Pantry really cares.
It’s no surprise that Charles is excited for us to move to our new home at 3908 N. Lincoln Ave. He will once again be able to come inside with ease. No steps or stairs involved. Charles will be able to roll right in the pantry to receive the same services.
Charles isn’t Common Pantry’s only guest who is in a wheelchair or has mobility issues. The majority (75%) of our guests use a cart, cane, wheelchair or similar devices that creates greater stress when trying to gain access to food. While Common Pantry is dedicated to breaking down barriers to accessing food, we know we can’t fully do that in our current home. We are excited and look forward to our move this summer, knowing that mobility will no longer be a factor to receive services. Everyone will be able to receive the same services with greater accessibility.
Give today to support our mission and to help our guests like Charles who beyond receiving food, found his second home. CLICK HERE TO DONATE
