Artist’s rendering of planned Misericordia Hearts and Flour Bakery at 6130 N. Ravenswood Ave. (Photo provided)
Commuters and neighborhood residents will be able to get their fill of Misericordia’s sweet treats with the planned construction of a bakery shop and café at 6130 N. Ravenswood Ave. The site sits about a quarter-mile south of Misericordia Home, which provides a home and community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including work opportunities for its adult residents. Misericordia’s Hearts and Flour Bakery produces cookies, brownies and other treats on Misericordia’s main campus, 6300 N. Ridge Ave. Those goods are sold at Misericordia and online, as well as in the Misericordia Sweet Shop in Glenview and at farmers markets in the summer. This latest business venture will provide more job opportunities and more opportunities for the community to support Misericordia, said Misericordia’s marketing manager, Julie O’Sullivan. Having a drive-thru bakery on Ridge Avenue has been a dream of Mercy Sister Rosemary Connelly, who has led Misericordia for 50 years. Ridge Avenue becomes Ravenswood Avenue south of Misericordia. “(She) knew this would be great way to expand job opportunities and our mission within the larger community,” O’Sullivan said. The new facility will be a three-story building with a café offering bakery goods, coffee, sandwiches, cold drinks and snacks, O’Sullivan said. There will be dine-in seating and take-out as well as the drive-thru, and the café will be open early enough to cater to commuters on their way to work. Between eight and 12 Misericordia residents will work each day in the café and bakery on the first floor of the building. The second and third floors will house other enterprises, including a coffee packaging program and a program to package baked goods, among other things. “Misericordia believes that all people — disabled or not — should have the opportunity to be meaningful members of their community every day,” O’Sullivan said. “Our goal is to redefine community and to expand options and choice for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.” Misericordia hopes to start construction as soon as it can. The original projected opening date was the fall of 2021.
Sister Rosemary Connelly moving to new role at Misericordia Home After 52 years of at the helm of Misericordia Home, Mercy Sister Rosemary Connelly, 90, is taking on a new role. Father Jack Clair, who has ministered at the home for over 20 years, has been named the new president and executive director.
Celebrating 50 years of Misericordia and Sister Rosemary Connelly When Mercy Sister Rosemary Connelly walked into Misericordia Home in August of 1969, it was a facility for children up to age 6 with developmental disabilities on the South Side of Chicago.
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