By Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr. and Dr. Brittany Wells
Originally published in The Triibe on November 26, 2025. Read in on their website here.
On Nov. 22, the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender did something most people don’t expect — we handed out groceries.
Since Nov. 1, families across Cook County and the entire U.S. have been shut out of their full SNAP benefits. People who were already stretched thin suddenly can’t afford groceries. Parents are skipping meals. Elders are choosing between food and prescriptions. Neighbors are trying to figure out how to ask for help without feeling ashamed. All just in time for the holidays.
Many of these folks and their families are the same ones we defend in court. But they are more than our clients — they are our community.
Some may ask why the public defender’s office is running a community food drive. However, the answer is simple: justice doesn’t start or stop at the courthouse door.
Food insecurity doesn’t just hurt families. It creates instability in the home and community that pushes people closer to the criminal legal system. When people’s basic needs are ignored, their likelihood of contact with the system increases. That isn’t theory; the research is clear.
Too often, government agencies work in silos, providing services only within rigid boundaries. Our office rejects that model. When federal government support for already-fragile households was halted, we had a choice: watch the fallout or intervene. We chose to intervene. Staff across every corner of our office have collected non-perishable food items over the past two weeks, and volunteers are assembling grocery packages to be distributed at our two new community offices.
More than just creating a need for a food drive, this moment underscores why we created the Freedom Defense Centers in Roseland and Austin: to support the network of care around our clients — legal resources, housing support, reintegration tools, Know Your Rights programming, attorney office hours, youth development, community partnerships, and, when necessary, direct assistance like a community food giveaway.
Unfortunately, social barriers, food insecurity, and mental health issues can also drive people into a system that doesn’t address the underlying issues that drive them there. In addition to our community-based centers, we have also launched a Client Support Services Department to assess our clients’ needs and provide tailored recommendations that adequately addresses those needs. We are committed to meeting our clients where they are and helping with what they need to realize better outcomes.
People often assume that public defenders only appear when someone is in legal trouble. But we recognize that hunger is trouble. Losing public benefits is trouble. Trying to survive without a safety net is trouble. And these troubles can lead to circumstances that ultimately leave people in need of a public defender. We are not waiting for people to get arrested before we care about their well-being. The legal system sees people at their lowest moments. Our Freedom Defense Centers were created to walk alongside our communities.
This is not charity; it is harm reduction. If we want safer and stronger communities, we cannot only show up when a harm is alleged. We must show up when the conditions that lead to instability take hold. And we must back individual endeavors like this with structural prevention. Communities shouldn’t be paying top dollar for losing solutions, but often that’s what we’re stuck with in the criminal legal system.
On Saturday, we distributed 100 bags of groceries, 25 bags of personal care items for women, and 25 bags of infant items at our Freedom Defense Center of Roseland. At the Freedom Defense Center of Austin, we partnered with the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation and the Greater Chicago Food Depository and distributed 350 boxes of food. We heard directly from people just how great the need is, and our office is all the better for coming out of the courtroom and going into the community.
Because our belief is simple: justice should not be sought only in court; it should happen on the block, in the neighborhood, and in everyday life. That is why we came out of the courtroom and into the community. And that is why we will keep showing up.