Building Bridges of Compassion: Celebrating Solu’s Good Deeds
Solu’s commitment to empathy, action, and cross‑community connection reflects the best of what local leadership can achieve
Solu, a Chicago-based Orthodox Jewish organization dedicated to service, dignity, and cross‑community connection, continues to demonstrate what compassionate, locally-rooted leadership can achieve across the region.
Founded by Rabbi Ari Hart, Solu empowers volunteers to take meaningful action that meets urgent needs while building bridges across lines of difference.
“Solu means ‘make a path,’” shared Solu Executive Director Hody Nemes. “We build paths from our community to others, and we build those paths through service.”
Learn more about Solu’s mission and efforts in a previous Walder Foundation profile of the organization.
In 2025, two standout initiatives illustrated Solu’s unique model of showing up for neighbors with humility, partnership, and heart.
Hersh’s Fridge: A 24/7 Community Resource for Anyone in Need
Solu launched Hersh’s Fridge, the nation’s first 24‑hour kosher community fridge, in 2025 in Skokie, IL. The fridge provides dignified, barrier‑free access to food and beverages for Jewish and non-Jewish Chicagoland residents facing hunger.
The community fridge was established in memory of Hersh Goldberg‑Polin, son of Chicago natives Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin. Hersh was attending a music festival when his left arm was blown off and he was abducted during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. He was subsequently held hostage by Hamas, who murdered him in captivity. His body was recovered from a tunnel in Rafah in the Gaza Strip in August 2024.
Hersh’s parents described him as very curious and a gifted listener. He was known to advocate for increasing connection and understanding in the world; the community fridge provides tribute to him and embodies his values.
As SNAP benefits shrink, food prices rise, and some families face immigration-related fears that limit their ability to work, neighbors have come to rely on the fridge.
“Demand for food has been sky-high, but so has the community’s support,” shares Nemes. “An army of Jewish volunteers has adopted the fridge and keeps it stocked. And news organizations (NBC Chicago and the Times of Israel) have spread our story far and wide, telling hundreds of thousands of people across our region Hersh’s story and what the Jewish community is all about.”
A Partnership Grown from Crisis into Community
In October 2025, Solu was honored with the Sr. Margaret Traxler Award for Humanitarian Work from Margaret’s Village, a Chicago South Side organization serving women, children, and seniors. The recognition reflects a partnership that began not with formal planning, but with urgent need.
Solu Executive Director Hody Nemes accepts Sr. Margaret Traxler Award for Humanitarian Work from Margaret Village Board Chair Nandita Pinisetti
Photo Credit: Marion Edwards
After tornadoes swept through Chicago in July 2024, Solu volunteers mobilized almost immediately, providing meals for 50 women and children at Margaret’s Village’s women’s shelter. What started as a crisis response quickly evolved into a deep, reciprocal relationship sustained through shared service and friendship.
Solu volunteers soon expanded their support:
Teens restored and cleaned the shelter’s outdoor spaces
Families delivered warm clothing, holiday gifts, and sufganiyot (doughnuts) to children over the holidays
Shelter leaders attended Shabbos services with Solu in Skokie
Twelve-year-old volunteer Yafa Gryka collected a full year’s supply of toilet paper for the shelter
On Tisha b’Av 2025, Solu volunteers assembled two years’ worth of personal‑care “shower kits” for residents
Solu volunteers, alongside Executive Director Hody Nemes, provide yard clean-up support in Chicago neighborhood of Englewood.
Photo credit: Solu/Noah Mishkin
“When Solu commits to building a relationship, we commit for the long haul,” shared Nemes. “Margaret’s Village’s leaders have been bowled over by how often this eager group of religious Jews has “shown up” in Englewood to help. The gap between Skokie and Englewood can seem large. But because of the bridge we’re building with Margaret’s Village – and other groups, like Bright Star Community Outreach and Southside Blooms – the gap is getting smaller.”
This partnership, with its mutual exchanges, shared learning, and friendships, has become a model for how Chicago communities can show up for one another in moments of both crisis and calm.
As Solu deepens its partnerships and continues to innovate in meeting community needs, we look forward to witnessing the ripple effects of their work across Chicago.
Stay engaged with efforts from our Jewish Life program area: walderfoundation.org/jewish-life
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