MORGAN PARK — Dion’s Chicago Dream is expanding its fight to end food insecurity with another “vault” providing free fresh food to Far South Side families.
Dion Dawson, founder of Dion’s Chicago Dream, launched another Dream Vault last week at the Morgan Park Blue Door Neighborhood Center, 11840 S. Marshfield Ave. The new site will supply 25 households every day with free boxes of fresh produce provided by T. Castro Produce.
The center is one of three sites in the city operated by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Neighbors can visit the centers to access local resources and participate in health and wellness classes and workshops.
Families who live in the community and have Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois as their provider can access the free grocery program, Dawson said. Families must apply through the center, but you can also contact Dawson at contact@dionschicagodream.com for more information.
Dion’s Chicago Dream stocks the 25 wifi-enabled secure lockers with fresh food each morning. Neighbors within the program get an email or text alert that their food is ready for pickup and enter an individual code to open their locker. The vaults are cleaned overnight in preparation for another household the next day.
Dawson debuted the first Dream Vaults at Englewood’s Save A Lot, 832 W. 63rd St., while celebrating the nonprofit’s third anniversary in August. The program went on to win a 2023 Chicago Innovation Award.
The Morgan Park Dream Vault is Dawson’s second endeavor to create equitable food access and boost foot traffic in South Side businesses, he said.
“Every successful pickup is a successful entry into another great business,” Dawson said. “We have people walking into beautiful community assets and utilizing that space.”
Dawson always wanted to partner with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, he said.
The organization has donated to Dion’s Chicago Dream in the past, and he “loves and appreciates” the work they do at their neighborhood centers, Dawson said.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois members told the provider having “access to quality fresh produce was important to them,” Dawson said. Dawson united with the company and T. Castro Produce to make it happen, he said.
“The Dream Vault is all about being a beautiful asset that can be placed in an environment and activate a space in more ways than one,” Dawson said. “We’re always learning, growing and appreciating the fact that we’re doing this and activating communities that deserve these amazing assets.”
In the three years since its founding in Englewood, Dion’s Chicago Dream has served more than 500,000 pounds of fresh produce through multiple initiatives, Dawson said.
Project Dream Fridge offers free food to Englewood residents each morning. Dion’s Dream Deliveries brings 8- to 10-pound boxes of free food to neighbors’ doorsteps. The Dream Vault will now serve nearly 400 families on the South Side.
But though Dion’s Chicago Dream continues to expand, Dawson knows his work is never truly done, he said.
One in five Chicago families are experiencing food insecurity, according to the Creater Chicago Food Depository. Some pandemic-related programs created to relieve families during the global crisis ended this year.
Dawson hopes to continue partnering with companies to combat food insecurity with easy access to fresh, healthy options, he said.
Collaborating with local businesses “isn’t about hoping they give us something but more about bridging the gap between the community and businesses to make more households food secure,” Dawson said. “We can then start to build out a beautiful plethora of assets around the Chicagoland area and beyond.”
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
