Evicted from her Aurora apartment last year and now living at Hesed House, Constance Koeberl is not sure if she will ever get out of the hole she now finds herself in at age 69.
Still, the shy, soft-spoken woman with the vibrant blue eyes and kind face, insisted she had so much to be grateful for.
Losing her home, Koeberl told me, freed her from a toxic relationship she otherwise might not have left, and part of the reason her situation now “can be overwhelming,” Koeberl added, is because of the emotional and spiritual support that is helping to nourish her damaged self-esteem.
Feeding both her body and soul includes the healthy home-cooked meal Koeberl was enjoying Thursday afternoon in the community room at Not Forgotten Ministries on Fifth Street in Aurora.
“This beats being in the cold,” said Koeberl in between smiles and bites of pot roast. “I do appreciate this so much.”
Koeberl was among a group from Hesed House being served a hearty lunch at the Mother’s Touch Kitchen, a new outreach on Aurora’s East Side that not only provides a delicious and nutritious meal every week to those who are homeless or living on meager incomes, it offers fellowship before and after lunch.
That comes not just through the smiles and laughter of games and activities but also through the tears of emotional testimonials.
“This is not your regular soup kitchen,” insisted Sherry Spears, who began this ministry a month ago as a way of honoring her late mother Annie Spears, who was known for her community involvement that often included opening her home in subsidized housing to those in need of a good meal or loving embrace.
After a serious shoulder injury derailed her career as a care technician with cardiac patients at Edward Hospital in 2020, Sherry Spears said that rather than “sit around hurt and feeling sorry for myself,” she knew she “had to do something for others.” And she kept going back to the idea of bringing that special “mother’s touch” to others.
Comfort food, she decided. Not just canned soups and sandwiches but delicious, nutritious dishes because “when you enjoy a good meal from your mom, you feel more empowered.”
It was a Sunday morning soon after that idea came into focus Spears was driving on North Avenue “and something told me to turn left.” Which is how she found herself at a service at Not Forgotten Ministries, where Pastor Sheila Teague welcomed her and her vision with open arms.
Her next call, said Spears, was to fellow community activist Jerald Harris, who since his release from prison for armed robbery almost a decade ago has become known not only for his mentoring and outreach organization On the Move, but also for his prison and jail ministry that includes working with Chicago Peace Organization.
Harris also has created two successful businesses, one of which happens to include catering. So it’s no surprise he’s an excellent cook, a talent he inherited from his late mother Francine, he told me, and his years spent behind bars cooking for prison officers.
So donning his black chef’s hat and red jacket for this new culinary ministry was a natural to Harris, who now spends Thursday mornings preparing what he describes as a “five-star healthy meal” in the church kitchen for at least 40 people.
This week when I stopped by the guests, which included a couple of children and a few school bus monitors still in their yellow vests, were not only being served pot roast but also fresh broccoli and corn on the cob, king-size biscuits like the ones at Red Lobster, where Harris once worked, and a cabbage dish I personally tasted and declare the best I’ve ever eaten.
The fresh produce Harris uses, as well as drinks, desserts and snacks, is donated by the church. And the food is served from noon until 2 p.m. – there was also bingo with gift cards handed out as prizes – for anyone who comes through the doors.
Mother’s Touch Kitchen also makes deliveries – a half dozen pot roast meals were going out on this day – to those unable to leave their homes. It also provides transportation to and from the community center, which is why Spears is “working to get a van” that would help bring as many people to the table as possible.
“We want them to feel special,” she insisted.
“They are our guests,” added Harris.
As word gets out about the food and the fellowship, both are convinced the ministry will grow, not just in numbers, insisted Spears, but in more projects or programs that mirror how “a mother’s touch can soothe.”
For Koeberl, who was beginning to open up and participate more in the fellowship on this second visit, the meal was not only “good, very good,” but she was filled with hope.
“I’ve got to take it a day at a time,” she insisted. “Everything is a blessing right now.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
