As a gesture of appreciation, Howard Brown Health held a special dinner for its volunteers on April 15.
Volunteers from across the organization—including its health clinics, Brown Elephant Resale Shops, Vernita Gray Council for Philanthropy and Broadway Youth Center—descended on Tac Quick Restaurant, 1011 W. Irving Park Rd., for a buffet of chicken wraps, pork pot stickers and skewered chicken tenders, and an ongoing raffle throughout the evening.
The event unofficially marked namesake Howard Brown’s 102nd birthday. Howard Brown Health Community Impact Officer Steven Solomon acted as host for the event. When he wasn’t dispensing raffle prizes and introducing speakers, Solomon laughingly plugged the many volunteer opportunities open for 2026.
Members of the staff at Howard Brown Health and its offshoots expressed appreciation to the volunteer staff, noting that Howard Brown Health was started by four volunteers in 1974.
CEO Travis Gayles, MD; Broadway Youth Center Director Bishop Howard; Brown Elephant store managers Jamie Dahms and Matt Talaga; Development and Planning Directors Gabi Alaniz and Dominic Ferrara; and Community Relations Directors Terra Campbell and Jerrard Walker all spoke on how the volunteers’ contributions allowed Howard Brown Health to not only expand throughout the Chicago area but become entrenched in historically underserved communities as well.
In the last year alone, volunteers at Brown Elephant Resale Stores have contributed a total of 6381 working hours, while volunteers at Broadway Youth Center have contributed 619 hours. Combining other areas in the Howard Brown network, including community relations support, development support, engineering support, quality improvement, the patient advisory council, volunteer program support, and The Vernita Gray Council for Philanthropy, a total of 11,489 hours were contributed by volunteers.
