Join me and other volunteers—mainly from Friendship United Methodist Church—as we prepare food, serve it, and speak with shelter residents at Daybreak on the third Friday and Saturday of each month in Joliet, Illinois. I’ve coordinated this program for many years. Watch a VIDEO of some of our times at Daybreak. You can learn more and find related links in the post accompanying the video.
One of the greatest things parents can give their children is a passion and vision for serving, and bringing the whole family to Daybreak is a great way to start.
My own children started with me when they were well under ten. In a newspaper article my oldest—Rick Guzman—credits this early experience with beginning a passion for solving housing problems that continues in big ways today. It’s at the center of his career.
Read that article (“Seeds of Change“) and see below for other resources. In 2016 Emmanuel House, an organization devoted to housing issues, was named one of the “Top 100 Most Innovative” social change organizations in the world. Rick and his wife Desiree started it as a living memorial to his youngest brother Bryan Emmanuel Guzman. In 2023 Rick received the Emerging Leader Award from the national Neighbor Works Network, and in 2024 The Neighbor Project, for which he serves as executive director, received a $2 million gift from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving organization.
2024 Schedule
January 19-20
February 16-17
March 15-16
April 19-20
May 17-18
June 15 and 21*
July 19-20
August 16-17
September 20-21
October 8-19
November 15-16
December 20-21
Service times:
5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for Friday dinner.
5:00 A.M. to 7:00 a.m. for Saturday breakfast.
Address: 611 Cass St. (Route 30), Joliet, IL
* Note: Our service times are usually consecutive Fridays and Saturdays. However, when the 1st of the month falls on a Saturday—as it does one to three times a year—our days split. We serve an early-Saturday breakfast first, then Friday dinner the following week.
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♦ Contact me, Richard R. Guzman, if you’d like to help.
♦ Learn more about homelessness and our work with advocate Diane Nilan HERE. In 1988 she started what became the Daybreak Shelter.
♦ Go to the main pages for Emmanuel House and for Chicago Family Directions, two organizations that also help with housing and education.
♦ See a video about Feed My Starving Children, another organization helping to feed the hungry.