CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Chi Care’s mission is simple- provide warm meals, water, and basic human needs for people experiencing homelessness throughout Chicagoland. The mobile team of the 501c3 Nonprofit meets the unsheltered where they are.
“I wanted to be hands-on, on the street, I wanted to hand someone a meal, I wanted to hand somebody a tent or a heater, a coat, gloves,” said Asif Iqbal, one of the three founding members of Chi Care, which began in March of 2020, delivering meals with the help of youth from his mosque.
“My friends wanted to do it on a bigger level, so we started Chi Care,” Iqbal recalled.
The founders approached their local KFC, who donated about 75 meals a month, then Chi Care volunteers traveled to the West Side in Iqbal’s Honda Accord, delivering the meals to anyone that appeared hungry.
Word spread of Chi Care’s deeds and the team, with the help of community donations, purchased their first official Chi Care van. Iqbal said a second van came after a doctor joined the Chi Care team on a ride along.
“The doctor was just amazed at everything we did, and later on that night, he gave us a $30,000 check to buy another vehicle,” Iqbal said.
A small route that started out serving the West Side has grown to Chi Care now purchasing more than 750 meals every Sunday at cost from a number of local restaurants. Iqbal said they distribute out meals all over the city, including routes downtown, on Lower Wacker, Chinatown and, just added, the South Side.
“We change people’s lives by just coming to them on a weekly basis,” said Iqbal.
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