Skip to main content

Search

Main navigation

  • Learn
    • About Us
    • Accountability
    • Leadership
    • Board of Directors
    • The Issues
    • Locations
    • Casa Alianza
    • Newsroom
  • Our Impact
    • Continuum of Care
    • Advocacy
    • Our Strategy
    • Meet Our Kids
  • Take Action
    • Sign Up
    • Fundraise
    • Careers

Secondary Navigation

  • Sleep Out
  • Get Help
  • Donate

Newsroom

Follow us

50 years
Covenant House
Opening Doors For Homeless & Trafficked Youth

Desktop Menu

  • Learn
    • About Us
    • Accountability
    • Leadership
    • Board of Directors
    • The Issues
    • Locations
    • Casa Alianza
    • Newsroom
  • Our Impact
    • Continuum of Care
    • Advocacy
    • Our Strategy
    • Meet Our Kids
  • Take Action
    • Ways to Give
    • Fundraise
    • Sign Up
    • Careers
Donate Now

Secondary Navigation

Donate Now Donate
  • Sleep Out
  • Get Help
  • Donate

FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU

  • Anchorage, Alaska
  • Berkeley, California
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Oakland, California
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
  • Orlando, Florida
  • Atlanta, Georgia
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • St. Louis, Missouri
  • Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Asbury Park, New Jersey
  • Camden, New Jersey
  • Elizabeth, New Jersey
  • Jersey City, New Jersey
  • Montclair, New Jersey
  • Newark, New Jersey
  • New York, New York
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • York, Pennsylvania
  • Houston, Texas
  • Vancouver, Canada
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Mexico City, Mexico
  • Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • Tegucigalpa, Honduras
  • Managua, Nicaragua

"I Feel Like New"

 

Donate now to help kids like Celeste

 

When Celeste came to Casa Alianza Nicaragua—as Covenant House is known in the Central American country—she was 18, alone, and pregnant.

“My life was so lonely,” Celeste, now 20, remembers. “It was hard to adapt to my reality of pregnancy and then motherhood.” At that time, Celeste had no life plan and, without the support of her parents, she had no idea how to build one.

“At Casa Alianza I learned to have confidence in myself,” she says. “I had so many opportunities to study. I learned things like sewing, reception, cashier, accounting, and marketing. I managed to set goals for myself that I continue to reach today.”

While Celeste was studying sewing, she participated in a contest to come up with the best business plan for a micro business. And she won! “The prize was $800 in primary materials and equipment for my micro business,” she says with pride. 

Now her life is on a solid track, and although her country, Nicaragua, is going through a rough time, Celeste is unstoppable. After almost two years at Casa Alianza Nicaragua, she now rents her own home, works in an ice cream shop, and has begun her first year of university studies as a public accounting and finance major. (While many universities have had to close because of the instability that has impacted the country since April, Celeste has been able to attend classes online and in person.)

“I’m excited to do an awesome job juggling my studies, my work, my efforts to get my micro business off the ground, and my responsibilities as a mother,” Celeste says. Her goal is to establish a dressmaking shop, with room for crafts like designing greeting cards and her own paintings. “I love poetry and artistic drawing. I have so many poems and drawings that I hope to share with many people very soon.”

When Celeste thinks about her life’s journey she says, “I feel like new. I’m not the same girl I was two years ago. Before, I had no plan, but now I can honestly say I have overcome many things, and my life experiences have helped me to feel more empowered.”

She still counts on support from Casa Alianza Nicaragua. “I am so grateful to God for having put me on the path to Casa Alianza,” Celeste reflects. “I don’t know how to pay back all they have done for me. Even today, as I work toward my degree and my career, they are still supporting me in many ways.”

She says, “I’m thankful, too, to all the people who contribute to Casa Alianza for all they do and, most of all, for believing in us.”

 

Donate now to help kids like Celeste​

Back to more stories
Donate
Learn
  • About Us
  • Accountability
  • Leadership
  • Board of Directors
  • The Issues
  • Locations
  • Casa Alianza
  • Newsroom
Our Impact
  • Continuum of Care
  • Advocacy
  • Our Strategy
  • Meet Our Kids
Take Action
  • Sign Up
  • Fundraise
  • Careers

Covenant House builds a bridge to hope for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking through unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support. Our doors are open 24/7 in 33 cities across six countries and our high-quality programs are designed to empower young people to rise and overcome adversity, today and in the future.

Covenant House is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization;
(EIN/Tax ID number: 13-2725416 DUNS number: 07-520-9411).
461 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY‎ 10001 | 800-388-3888‎ | Email us info@covenanthouse.org
Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Stay Informed
  • Gift Catalog
  • Give Monthly
  • Sitemap