Outreach bus spreading holiday cheer to communities in need

Juan Roca spent his 52nd birthday doing exactly what he wanted — helping spread holiday cheer to those in need.

"I can celebrate with my family another day," Roca said. "This is where I want to be. I’m needed here more."

Roca, along with other volunteers of the Night Ministry, gathered Wednesday at the corner of 54th and Halsted in Back of the Yards to pass out warm meals, hot chocolate and stockings full of goodies to unhoused community members.

The Night Ministry, headquartered in Bucktown, provides support and services to unhoused community members.

Roca, the manager of outreach operations, said he inherited his love for helping those in need from his mother who used to pass out warm meals to the unhoused in Peru.

He started working for the Night Ministry in 2019 and said the work he's been able to do has been "fulfilling."

"I used to work in a church helping students, but I was stuck in an office," Roca said. "I wanted to do more. I wanted to be out in the street helping those in need. I love getting to know the people in these communities."

The Night Ministry outreach bus makes weekly stops in several neighborhoods on the Lower West and South sides to hand out meals and provide other services. But during the holidays the group makes their stops a little more special.

Every year,Night Ministry volunteers pass out stockings filled with hats, gloves, personal hygiene kits and other necessary items as a gift to residents in need.

"During the holidays we want to celebrate the season with the folks that we serve," said Burke Patten, communications manager at the Night Ministry. "The stockings are a way to show folks that we care."

A chorus of "thank yous" and "Merry Christmases" were heard from the men, women and kids who lined up to receive their gifts. Kids were also given small toys to take with them.

Patten said the team hoped to pass out more than 370 stockings. About 60 were handed out at their stop in Back of the Yards.

"This could be their only meal of the day, we don’t know," Roca said. "But we’re grateful to be able to help. We want them to feel important, because they are."

Linet Babu Varghese, 20, started volunteering Monday, and for three days she's driven from her home in suburban Des Plaines to hop on the outreach bus.

"I wanted to focus on helping the unhoused," Varghese said. "I think it's a community that is often overlooked. I've loved getting to know the people who stop by."