Crisis Care Information

About Covenant House's Homeless Shelter in New York

Covenant House’s homeless shelter in New York began more than 40 years ago when six young runaways were given shelter from a snowstorm, in the lower east side of Manhattan. Our young people come from all five New Your City boroughs (as well as other regions across the country), both male and female, and they reflect many races and ethnic/religious heritages. Many of our young people self-identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, or Questioning (LGBTQ) and many are young moms, with precious babies who have nowhere else to turn. We serve our LGBTQ youth and our moms as we do everyone: without judgment or bias; with love and celebration of who they are.

Our New York homeless shelter works with young people as soon as they arrive at our front door, regardless of the reasons that brought them to us. Whether they are running away from home, were thrown out by a family member, or are coming in from the subways or the streets, homeless kids have a place at our New York homeless shelter - no questions asked. Covenant House New York serves over 400 homeless youth daily.

Year Founded: 1972

Number of Beds: 360

Youth Served Every Year: 2015

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House Alaska has almost 3 decades of experience in providing shelter and counseling to homeless and at-risk youth. Our sole purpose is to be available to help youth in crisis 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Our main programs are designed to meet the basic needs of youth in crisis, while also providing the needed support to become healthy, self-sufficient, and contributing members of our community. With locations in 31 cities across the country and abroad, Covenant House Alaska and International aims to help as many homeless and at-risk kids as possible to build a self-sustaining future. 

Year Founded: 1988

Number of Beds: 96

Youth Served Every Year: 2331

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit agency whose mission is to reach out to at-risk homeless youth living on the streets and offer them hope and opportunities to turn their lives around. We help abused or neglected youth who have nowhere else to go. A large number have been thrown out of their homes while others have aged out or left the foster care system with no family, no support, and no one to turn to. We serve all homeless youth and at-risk youth between the ages of 18 to 21 with "immediacy, absolute respect and unconditional love." We don't just help youths get off the streets and away from at-risk situations, but help them so that they can stay off the streets for good.

Our campuses in Los Angeles and the Bay Area offer food, shelter, clothing and counseling. Depending on need, a youth may also receive medical care, legal assistance, educational resources, job training and referrals. Our campuses are open 7 days a week, 365 days a year. All services are provided free of charge.

Year Founded: 1988

Number of Beds: 124

Youth Served Every Year: 1041

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit agency whose mission is to reach out to at-risk homeless youth living on the streets and offer them hope and opportunities to turn their lives around. We help abused or neglected youth who have nowhere else to go. A large number have been thrown out of their homes while others have aged out or left the foster care system with no family, no support, and no one to turn to. We serve all homeless youth and at-risk youth between the ages of 18 to 21 with "immediacy, absolute respect and unconditional love." We don't just help youths get off the streets and away from at-risk situations, but help them so that they can stay off the streets for good.

Our campuses in Los Angeles and the Bay Area offer food, shelter, clothing and counseling. Depending on need, a youth may also receive medical care, legal assistance, educational resources, job training and referrals. Our campuses are open 7 days a week, 365 days a year. All services are provided free of charge.

Year Founded: 1988

Number of Beds: 124

Youth Served Every Year: 1041

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House Florida has played a role in homeless youth advocacy since 1982. Our Fort Lauderdale homeless shelter has opened its doors to homeless and at-risk teens since 1985, offering crisis counseling and shelter to young people in need. Today, Covenant House Florida continues to fulfill its mission by providing shelter and support to the homeless youth of Fort Lauderdale.

Year Founded: 1982

Number of Beds: 164

Youth Served Every Year: 2303

Crisis Care Information

Homeless kids and teenagers in Orlando come to our Covenant House homeless shelter from a broad range of backgrounds. Young people, particularly those that have lived through homelessness, often feel powerless to control the outcome of their future. With the help of volunteers and strategic outreach, Covenant House Orlando aims to take advantage of every opportunity to support young people in need. 

No matter where they have been or how far they have come, the kids under the care of our homeless shelter in Orlando, FL can hope to receive help in building an independent, optimistic, and self-sustaining future. 

According to the core values of Covenant House International, volunteers and staff at our Orlando, FL homeless shelter first address the immediate, basic human needs of at-risk teens and youth, providing sanctuary and crisis care. Over time, representatives of Covenant House Orlando teach and uphold values such as communication, structure, and choice to young people under their care. 
 

Year Founded: 1982

Number of Beds: 164

Youth Served Every Year: 2303

Crisis Care Information

In 2000, Covenant House Georgia opened its doors to provide shelter and services to Atlanta’s homeless and runaway youth. The guiding principle is unconditional love and a door that’s open 24/7. More than 15,000 youth have received support from CHGA since 2000. A variety of services assist our youth to self-sufficiency. Covenant House Georgia offers s 46-bed crisis shelter where youth are given the opportunity to achieve stability, work with a case manager and develop a plan for the future. Additionally, we provide unique housing and supports through our independent living programs and Rights of Passage programing. These programs are designed to help our youth to achieve their goal of living independently and self-sufficiently.

All services are free of charge.  No youth who comes to our door is ever turned away without loving help.  We are never too full to welcome them in, and we are never too busy to talk.

Year Founded: 2000

Number of Beds: 86

Youth Served Every Year: 1380

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House Michigan provides hope to homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth ages 18-24. With educational and vocational programs, as well as other support services, our homeless shelter in Detroit intends to help young adults overcome avoid and overcome obstacles on their path to a brighter future. The goal of Covenant House Michigan is to redirect young adults onto a path toward successful and independent adulthood. 

Our homeless shelter in Detroit has come to be known by young people in the area as a place they can go to build a better future and be treated with respect and unconditional love. Over 60,000 youths have been served by Covenant House Michigan since its inception in September, 1997. The mission of the Covenant House homeless shelter in Detroit, and in 30 other locations worldwide, is to create opportunities for stability and independence for homeless youth. In the spirit of open intake, services will be offered to all youth who seek help, with priority of concern and commitment to those for whom no other service is available.
 

Year Founded: 1997

Number of Beds: 109

Youth Served Every Year: 4064

Crisis Care Information

Since 1988, Covenant House Missouri has offered shelter, counseling, food, and medical care to homeless and at-risk youth in St. Louis. Our outreach and advocacy efforts reach over 4,500 kids year. At our St. Louis homeless shelter, teenagers and young adults can expect to receive support and compassion that sustains them long after their time here. With GED classes, transitional living services, and vocational counseling, Covenant House Missouri provides homeless and at-risk youth with hope for the future and skills for independent success.

Year Founded: 1988

Number of Beds: 40

Youth Served Every Year: 4935

Crisis Care Information

About Covenant House Newark

Covenant House Newark has a history of over 25 years in supporting and advocating on behalf of homeless youth. In 1989, mobile outreach began in Newark and Atlantic City, with vans offering food, clothing, counseling, and referrals for shelter to homeless youth. By 1992, homeless shelters in Newark and Atlantic City had begun operation. 

Each year, as many as 2 million youth experience a period of homelessness in the United States alone.  Across 25 years of sheltering and supporting homeless youth, our homeless shelters in New Jersey have expanded both horizontally and vertically. With the support of our corporate sponsors and partners, Covenant House Newark is able to continue its offerings in service programs, technology initiatives, and special events for fundraising and advocacy on behalf of homeless youth. 

Other charitable supporters of our homeless shelters in New Jersey collaborate with us to create opportunities for our teens to empower themselves and acquire skills that will help them in the transition to stable professional and residential environments. In the past, we have worked with organizations and corporate donors such as the Kanebridge Corporation, the William E. Simon & Sons Foundation, Aon Risk Management, and Third Point Re. 

Year Founded: 1989

Number of Beds: 186

Youth Served Every Year: 4585

Crisis Care Information

About Covenant House Atlantic City, NJ

As many as 2 million young adults and teenagers experience a period of homelessness in the U.S. each year. With locations in 31 cities across the country and abroad, Covenant House provides sanctuary and support for as many homeless and at-risk kids as our staff can reach. Covenant House Atlantic City is staffed around the clock with volunteers and professionals ready to lend a hand or an ear to a young person in need.

Covenant House NJ has a long history of supporting homeless youth with shelter, counseling, and professional resources. In 1999, Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed the New Jersey Homeless Youth Act into law at our Atlantic City homeless shelter. In addition to laying down a cornerstone in state legislative history, Covenant House Atlantic City has staff available 24/7 to provide counseling and support to at-risk teens. Our residential centers provide a safe haven for teenagers to create a base of support and enact a plan to transition to a stable living environment.
Mobile outreach to homeless teens of New Jersey began in 1989. Outreach staff travelled through homeless hubs of Atlantic City and Newark in vans and offered food, clothing, counseling, and referrals for shelter to homeless youth. By 1992, homeless shelters in Atlantic City and Newark had begun operation. 

With the support of corporate sponsors and partners, Covenant House Atlantic City continues to serve homeless youth in the area with service programs, technology initiatives, special fundraising events, and legal advocacy. 
 

Year Founded: 1989

Number of Beds: 186

Youth Served Every Year: 4585

Crisis Care Information

Since opening its doors over twenty-five years ago, Covenant House New Orleans has provided a safe haven for more than 200,000 homeless, runaway, at-risk teenagers, and young adults. We seek to rebuild and reunite families whenever possible, or offer youth the opportunity and the tools they need to build healthy, independent and productive lives. Providing them with food, shelter, clothing, medical attention, individual and family counseling, educational assistance, vocational and job training,  as well as so many other life skills for them to begin healing and start building a brighter future. 

Number of Beds: 138

Youth Served Every Year: 3300

Crisis Care Information

Founded in 1999, our homeless shelter in Philadelphia joins a long-standing tradition of homeless shelters in the Covenant House network that strive to create more than a temporary home for disadvantaged youth. The Covenant House PA staff values the opportunity to help homeless youth find the confidence to forge better paths for their futures. Offering workshops and mentorship opportunities for education and career advancement, our Philadelphia homeless shelter strives to be a memorable and momentary stop on the way to a brighter future for homeless teens in Pennsylvania.

Year Founded: 1999

Number of Beds: 71

Youth Served Every Year: 2832

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House Texas provides uniquely extensive care to homeless and abandoned youth. Since 1983, our homeless shelter in Houston has offered crisis care, prevention, counseling, training, and more to young adults in need. The services available at the Covenant House Houston homeless shelter provide children with a strong foundation of resources and emotional support.  By attending to basic needs and building a long-term program of care, Covenant House Texas intends to restore childhood for abandoned and at-risk youth, and help them to set their lives on a track that’s right for them. 

Year Founded: 1983

Number of Beds: 65

Youth Served Every Year: 3198

Crisis Care Information

The Covenant House Washington story is one of promise and an over 20 year commitment to meeting the needs of homeless and disconnected young people in the Greater Washington community.  Opening its doors in 1995, Covenant House Washington ran its first Outreach Program from a small store front located at 2028 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue on the southeast end of the district. Word spread quickly about the new organization and today Covenant House Washington is the largest provider serving homeless and disconnected young people in the Greater Washington region. With particular expertise in helping some of the most struggling youth grow into independent, successful and productive adults, Covenant House Washington plays a special role in changing the lives of young people in need. Our services include emergency housing facility, street and community outreach, transitional and supportive living apartments, including one for moms and babies, workforce development training and job placement, GED and Adult Basic Education classes, a prevention services program for middle school youth and case management and childcare for the infants and toddlers of our parenting youth.

Year Founded: 1995

Number of Beds: 86

Youth Served Every Year: 725

Crisis Care Information

Year Founded: 1997

Youth Served Every Year: 1300

Crisis Care Information

Casa Alianza Nicaragua (CAN) opened in 1998 and was the fourth center in Latin America. Located in the capital of Managua, it has two residential centers and several programs that offer assistance to homeless children and teenagers in need of aid.

Maria Jose Arguello Ramos has been the national director of Casa Alianza Nicaragua since 2010. Arguello had previous experience in the Philippines and Nicaragua in the empowerment of women and children, especially with victims of trafficking and violence, and has been the president of FENICT (Federation of Therapeutic Communities in Nicaragua) since 2012.

Year Founded: 1998

Crisis Care Information

Casa Alianza Honduras (CAH) opened in 1987 and was our second center in Latin America. Located in the capital of Tegucigalpa, CAH has two residential centers and several programs that offer assistance to homeless children and teenagers in need of aid.

José Guadalupe Ruelas García has been the national director of Casa Alianza Honduras since January 2013. Ruelas García has become one of the leading national and international advocates for at-risk, trafficked and migrant youth.

Year Founded: 1987

Youth Served Every Year: 2393

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House is called "La Alianza" in Guatemala, and in 1981 was the first Covenant House site to be established in Latin America. We originally opened our doors to respond to the need for housing and protection for the thousands of Guatemalan children left homeless and abandoned during the years of repression, war and civil strife that marked that dark phase of Guatemalan history. Today, we respond to the needs of young girls and their babies at high risk.

Carolina Escobar Sarti has been the national director of La Alianza since 2010. Escobar Sarti is one of Guatemala's most recognized poets, authors and national newspaper columnists, who writes regularly on issues concerning human rights. She was named Ambassador for Peace by the Guatemalan president in 2011 and the Weaver of Peace by the Demos Institute in 2016.

Year Founded: 1981

Crisis Care Information

For nearly 30 years, Casa Alianza Mexico has provided care and protection for boys and girls ages 12 to 18 who have experienced social abandonment, including abuse, neglect, violence, addiction, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The rising tide of violence and instability in Mexico over recent years has made their work even more urgent, as has the ongoing influx of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America into Mexico.

Sofia Almazán has been the national director of Casa Alianza Mexico since 2002. Almazán has become one of the leading national and international advocates for at-risk, trafficked and migrant youth.

Year Founded: 1998

Youth Served Every Year: 753

Crisis Care Information

Year Founded: 1982

Crisis Care Information

Year Founded: 2017

Crisis Care Information

Crisis Care Information

YEAH! YOUTH ENGAGEMENT ADVOCACY HOUSING
A PROGRAM OF COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA

Our emergency shelter program in Berkeley, CA provides low-barrier access for youth experiencing homelessness. We provide basic necessities, offer case management and counseling, linkages to education, employment and housing, and opportunities for meaningful community involvement.

YEAH! assists homeless young people in these ways:

•  Provides relief from the stress of living on the street
•  Creates a community of friendship and mutual support
•  Encourages the identification of personal goals and the exploration of alternatives to street life

Berkeley’s homeless population is estimated to be 1,200, about 225 of whom are youth aged 18 to 25. Three quarters are male and 54% Caucasion. In interviews 85% said they are local, 73% self-reported active drug or alcohol use, 36% indicated they have mental health problems, half have not graduated from high school, and 79% have no source of income. Thirty-seven percent have lived in foster care, fifteen and a half is the average age at which they became homeless, and the average length of time they’ve been homeless is 2.5 years. Since homeless youth often keep pets for companionship, we make efforts to accommodate them.

Crisis Care Information

Crisis Care Information

About Covenant House's Homeless Shelter in Elizabeth, NJ

Covenant House has a history of over four decades in service of homeless youth. We offer shelter, counseling, and other life-changing and hopeful services to those in need, reaching over 80,000 people each year. Our homeless shelter in Elizabeth, NJ participates in Covenant House’s nationwide efforts to build a continuum of care in the lives of homeless youth. The programs and support systems at Covenant House Elizabeth are designed with the belief that every homeless and at-risk teenager under our care deserves a chance at more than just temporary shelter and care. The resources afforded to our Elizabeth, NJ homeless shelter are allocated toward the goal of securing a self-sustaining future for each pair of bright eyes that wanders into our reach.

Crisis Care Information

Like many other young adults, the teenagers that seek shelter at Covenant House do not yet have the skills needed to live independently. Across the state of New Jersey, community-based supportive housing programs by Covenant House help homeless youth learn how to break the cycle of homelessness and assimilate into an independent life.

For many homeless young adults, mental illness is the greatest obstacle to their ability to lead an independent life. In 2009, our Montclair homeless shelter opened a program called Nancy’s Place, especially for mentally ill homeless youth. In response to the special needs of this unique population, the program is staffed 24 hours a day, and offers intensive care and counseling to homeless youth living with mental illness.

Crisis Care Information

Covenant House NJ has over two decades of experience in providing shelter and counseling to homeless youth. Our programs are designed to connect homeless teens in Asbury Park and statewide to educational and professional resources, giving them the tools to succeed in an independent life. With locations in 31 cities across the country and abroad, Covenant House Asbury Park and International aims to help as many homeless and at-risk kids as possible to build a self-sustaining future. 
 

Year Founded: 2012

Crisis Care Information

Our Camden homeless shelter opened its doors in 2012, in response to an increase in homeless teenagers and young adults in key areas of New Jersey. In the years since, Outreach staff has worked tirelessly to ensure that at-risk youth on the streets of Camden have access to the resources available to help them get back on their feet. Travelling in vans and by foot, outreach staff provide food to the homeless teens that they reach, and inform them of the services that they may benefit from at Covenant House Camden.