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Nikki Will Stein’s early exposure to the carceral system came from the stories told at home growing up in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Her father was a federal judge who wanted to know the people’s experience after their cases left the courtroom.
“He had a very strong commitment to how people were treated and where they were sent,” Stein says. “His law clerks had to go visit some of the federal facilities. So I always had a sense that people who were sent to prison had the right – and should have the expectation – to be treated well.”
Feeling the same about the re-entry process, Stein learned about Saint Leonard’s Ministries about three decades ago.
“I was very taken with the Saint Leonard’s mindset and approach,” she says.
As the founding Executive Director of the Polk Bros. Foundation from 1989-2012 and a former Saint Leonard’s Ministries board member who served for a quarter-century, Stein has been a longtime advocate, grant source, and supporter of our work. On October 15, we will honor Stein with the Founders Award at the Heart of Saint Leonard’s: A Night of Fellowship.
“It’s an incredible honor I didn’t see coming,” Stein says. “Saint Leonard’s is such a special place, and that’s why it’s such an honor to be honored.”
Supporting the mission of Saint Leonard’s is a family affair, as Stein’s husband Fred is a longtime volunteer and her two sons are donors.
“I just believe very strongly that people ought to be able to learn from their mistakes – not to be solely punished because of their mistakes. Whenever I talk to people about Saint Leonard’s, I go right to their low recidivism rates and say ‘How could you not support an organization that has this track record with helping people move forward?’”
She also appreciates that 50 percent of the staff are Saint Leonard’s alumni.
“That is an incredibly important statement,” she says about programs guided by people who share the lived experience of the people they serve.
Reflecting on her life’s work, Stein remembers the dedicated people whose community organizations qualified for the grants that the Polk Bros. distributed.
“I loved going all throughout the city,” she says, “and meeting people who were so dedicated to a broad range of work to make Chicago better for its residents.”
Thank you, Nikki, for your tireless support of Saint Leonard’s Ministries and the City of Chicago. You helped more people than you will ever know.
