Every dollar you give
provides a homeless kid with
food, shelter, and support.
Imagine walking in the footsteps of a kid who has run away from home to escape years of physical abuse, or a dangerous human trafficking network, or the chaos of life with a drug-addicted parent, or a house overflowing with rage...
Julie
“My parents said they don’t want me anymore. I spent a couple nights at a friend’s house, but they said they didn’t have room either.”
“I always thought only smelly old men were homeless,” she said. “I thought I was better than that. I was so scared on the street, and so hungry, I would go to the park, then I would go to the library, to diners, any place I could find. And the whole time you don’t want to fall asleep because that is when it is the most dangerous.”
Pam, 15
Pam hadn't told any of us that she's been repeatedly beat up by her uncle and forced to act as a prostitute since she was 15.
Some traffickers just outright kidnap their victims, bringing them across international borders against their will. Others are more clever, making promises of a better life to their homeless or poverty-stricken victims. Some, like Pam’s uncle are depraved ‘family’ members looking to buy and sell the very children they have been entrusted to love and care for.
Dr. Anthony Sutton
"Since the age of 7, I witnessed him hit my mom on so many occasions that I lost count."
“Six months into my senior year of high school, I just couldn’t take it anymore, and told him he couldn’t hit my mother anymore. Before I knew it, I was looking down the barrel of a .38 caliber pistol. He told me I had two choices; I could leave on my own, or be carried out. My mother begged for me to leave and let things cool off. He told her if I came back, we all had to go."
James, 19
James joined a gang at nine. He struck out on his own, sleeping outside wherever he could, until he found Covenant House.
Under better circumstances, James would have been doing other things at nine years of age. Like sitting in a 3rd grade classroom, playing soccer with his friends, or eating dinner around a dinner table filled with conversation and laughter and people who loved him.
Instead he was dodging bullets.
Justin, 20
It was late when we pulled our Covenant House Outreach van into an alley. A dark, dangerous alley Justin called home.
Too many young people like 20-year-old Justin are living on the streets of our cities -- living in a constant state of fear, anonymous, alone. Barely living, and too often dying in alleys and streets too dark and out of sight for anyone to notice.
Jorge
Jorge’s mother was an alcoholic and drug addict. When Jorge needed her most, she left him alone to wander the streets… eventually disowning him.
Jorge’s mother was an alcoholic and drug addict. When Jorge needed her most, she left him alone to wander the streets… eventually disowning him.
Through his own determination, Jorge received a partial scholarship to college, but found that tuition isn’t the only expense of an education. Without a family to give him guidance or support, he ran out of money.
Denise, 18
When 18-year-old Denise made the decision to end her life by walking with her eyes closed onto a very busy interstate...
When 18-year-old Denise made the decision to end her life by walking with her eyes closed onto a very busy interstate – an 18-wheeler miraculously missing her by inches – she felt like the most all-alone-kid in the world.
Connie, 19
New Jersey
“I knew I deserved better. I didn’t know what better was, but it had to be slightly good—more than what I had at home.”
Meet Connie: an extraordinary young woman whose journey from childhood abuse in Texas, to teen homelessness in New Jersey and, finally, to Covenant House, tells the story of undeniable determination. With feelings of worthlessness and suicide behind her, Connie is now reaching out to other struggling youth, sharing her story and encouraging them to fight for their dreams.
Jane
Alaska
“I’m lucky I survived my rock bottom, not everyone can say that. Now I see a future beyond my bad past.”
Jane had everything going against her... including a lifetime of people who had given up on her. But with patience, love and our G.E.D. program, Covenant House offered Jane what no one else ever had—a future. Read Jane's inspiring story of courage and her extraordinary journey from an abusive home to the hard streets of Anchorage and, finally, to Covenant House.
Priscilla
New York
"I felt alone, lost, desperate, and sad. It was tough for me as a teen being homeless."
Although she was on her own, Priscilla held a job that paid for her home: a rented room. Then she lost her job. Priscilla became one of thousands of homeless teens... lost, desperate, and vulnerable.
But as a testament to her personal strength and the care of Covenant House staff, she is a recent graduate of our Rights of Passage program.
Karen, 15
Toronto
"You worry about freezing to death... you worry about being robbed and beaten up… about where you’re going to get something to eat."
Karen’s mother threw her out in the cold. At first, she stayed with friends, but after that she slept outside on a grate. She became so hungry, she stole yogurt from a store. “They didn’t chase me… they could tell I really needed it."
Emanuel
"Emanuel was forced to sleep in an attic with no heat. When our Outreach Team picked him up, his toes were frostbitten."
There are thousands of homeless kids wandering the streets. They are hungry, cold, and terrified when night falls. No one would have thought Emanuel was one of these kids. No one ever saw him sleeping on a park bench, or huddled in a doorway of an abandoned building. That’s because Emanuel had a home to go to each night... but no one knew what horrors awaited him inside his house.
Kathy
New York
"Kathy came to our front door dressed in dirty rags and clutching a little paint can to her chest.."
Kathy came to our front door dressed in dirty rags and clutching a little aluminum paint can to her chest. From the second she stepped into our shelter, she mystified us. Whatever she did, wherever she went, the paint can never left her grasp.
Daniel, 16
Michigan
“I’m not really like this. I was always a preppy guy… just wait until it’s time for me to leave. I’m going to get a haircut….”
Once homeless and mourning the loss of his mother, Daniel hit rock bottom. But with love and support from Covenant House, he was finally able to see that there is an opportunity for a better life.
Ana
"I genuinely just don't have someone who cares."
When Ana's parents shut the door behind her, they left their daughter alone and abandoned in the world. She snuck into an office building and spent three nights sleeping in a cold stairwell... nothing but a light jacket separated her from the cold concrete.
Antione, 18
"I don't have to worry about where I'm going to sleep... about someone coming up and beating me or raping me."
Curling up between gravestones, Antoine spent many a night in the cemetery trying to stay warm and get some sleep. But then he called the Nineline and found immediate assistance – and now his life is on a better track...
Perry
“I lived with my father and my grandmother, but there were always all these arguments… so I ended up here.”
He’s a musical prodigy. A self-taught genius. A one in a million. And he’s a homeless kid.
Months ago Perry was living in a car, dreaming of simple things you and I take for granted. Now, his dreams are as big and bright as the heavens.
Sam, 17
"I told my mom we'd still make it, and I took care of her. I stopped going to school so I could help her. I did my best. But it wasn’t enough. "
First his father died, then his beloved mother… and without any other relatives, Sam felt that his life was over. At 17, everything he ever knew – his family, security, sense of belonging – was suddenly gone. Desperation and fear took over, and the only option he could see before him was to turn to the streets.
Alexis
“The Covenant House staff helped me with my goals and I think anyone looking for help could go far here.”
Joey
“I stayed in baseball dugouts, abandoned warehouses, boxes sometimes. I remember staying under a bridge then too. I did okay, mostly.”
Ada, 20
“I found a place where I could interact with people who made me feel like a better person, people who have goals and know where they want to go.”
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Joe, 14
“If I can help the kids in my practice half as well as I was helped by Covenant House, I will consider myself successful.”
Mark
“Covenant House is different than other shelters. It’s like a home. There are lots of ‘parents’ here….”
Michelle, 15
Michelle was not only a victim of an abusive family and teen homelessness, she was also caught in a human trafficking network….
Taquan, 19
“I’ve been in DYFS (Department of Youth and Family Services) since I was two. I went from home to home and eventually become homeless....”
Katie
Stuck in an abusive relationship, Katie knew she had to break the cycle of violence… and she knew Covenant House could help her do it.
Jodie
“She was so mad she took this thing of hot oil she was frying something in and she just threw it at me… you can see where it cooked me.”
Wesley
When military officials pulled his records, they discovered he listed Covenant House as his residence... we were the only family he had.
Sakina
“College was my goal. I never imagined that I would end up homeless on the streets, but unfortunately that’s what happened.”
Terrance
After his mom died, Terrance became homeless, dropped out of school, and then lost the chance to be a part of his infant son’s life.
Matt, 16
“The kids sit there and listen to me, and shake my hand. That’s the best I could do in life, to give the message of hope to other kids.”
Paul
“I hadn't eaten for a week and a half… I was starving. Here I could eat. I was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers, but here I was warm."
Vivian, 35
She arrived at Covenant House needing help, and ended up a vital part of the very mentoring program that helped her turn her life around.
Aren
“Without Covenant House, I wouldn't be where I am now. I'd probably be on the streets… or even dead.”
Mike
Gwen
“There is nothing like the transformation that happens when a young man or woman puts on a suit for the first time.”
