An Important Step on Covenant House's Journey Home

On Oct. 1, a delegation from Covenant House heads to Capitol Hill for Hill Day, our federation's third annual day of meetings with members of Congress, their staff, and federal departments. On Hill Day, the young people we serve aren't a data point buried in a policy brief. They're in the room, telling their own stories to the people who write the laws that shape their futures.

Hill Day, which is part of an entire week of advocacy, exists because so much of what Covenant House can offer depends on decisions made in Washington. Federal law and funding influence how many beds we can keep open, how quickly a young person can move from a shelter into stable housing, and how well survivors of trafficking are legally protected once they walk through our doors.

That's why Hill Day isn't a formality for us. It's an important expression of our North Star: to end youth homelessness as we know it today, and it's a working extension of our vision for the future, The Journey Home, and its three pathways of prevention, intervention, and restoration.

This year, our delegation is carrying five priorities to Capitol Hill.

1. We're asking Congress and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to strengthen federal investment in housing and support programs for young people experiencing homelessness. An estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience a form of homelessness in the U.S. each year. Most Covenant House sites in the country constantly work at capacity, while so many more youth need a safe place to sleep. Our priorities include expanding housing options, strengthening transitional living programs, and ensuring youth have access to the services and resources they need to achieve long-term stability.

2. We're advancing our affordable-for-youth housing program, which is not the same thing as standard affordable housing. A 19-year-old leaving our care often has no credit history, no rental history, and no co-signer. Even with a housing voucher and a paycheck in hand, they can't clear a landlord's screening. This program is built to close that specific gap.

3. We're advocating for reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act and continued funding through the Victims of Crime Act. One in 5 young people experiencing homelessness in our care are survivors of human trafficking, and specialized services for them depend on this funding.

4. We're supporting reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to protect children and youth in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, where more than 80% of the young people we serve have experienced abuse or neglect, 54% have survived trafficking, and 47% have witnessed community violence. Their average age is just 14 years old.

5. We want to help Congress direct appropriations toward programs with a track record, so that communities without our decades of experience can invest in what actually works. Covenant House is the premier thought leader and advocate for youth experiencing homelessness. We have the expertise and the experience to help communities implement programs that will provide practical and effective ways to curb the growth of youth homelessness, redirecting those youth to stable, productive lives.

None of this is abstract to the young people we serve. Every priority we bring to the Hill is, at its core, part of our effort to ensure a caring and productive experience for every young person who comes to our doors seeking safety and support.

Last year, one of our residents told lawmakers, “My first time coming to Covenant House [I thought], my family’s supposed to help me. Why would these strangers, who’ve never met me before, who don’t know me, who don’t know where I’m from, help me, you know?”

Another youth added, “People think that they're going to come there [Covenant House] and they’re going to get a voucher, and it’s not like that. We have to work toward building ourselves and our lives to get where we need to be, because everything is not just handed to you.”

Hill Day is one day out of the year. But it reflects the same absolute respect and relentless support that define every hour inside our houses, just translated into a different language: appropriations, reauthorizations, and testimony.

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If you want to help Covenant House keep showing up on Capitol Hill, the best way to start is by learning more about our legislative advocacy and discovering the multiple ways you can get involved.