A Life-Changing Decision
“Should I knock or not?” That’s the question Edwin asked himself as he stood under a scorching sun before the gate at Covenant House Mexico. He’d arrived in the Mexican capital in the wee hours of the morning — alone, by bus, from a city 300 miles away.
“Honestly, I was scared to knock,” Edwin says now. “I didn’t know what to do. Should I enter or stay outside? I finally dared to knock, and they opened up.”
And that decision, four years ago, when Edwin was just 16 years old, changed the course of his life.
The Covenant House Mexico staff immediately sprang into action. It looked like chaos to him, so many people moving into place to welcome and accommodate him. Virtually all our residents in Mexico are referred to us by the government’s department for families, so Edwin’s decision to seek us out was extraordinary. But our staff was ready.
“I remember the very first thing they asked me was, ‘Have you eaten?’ I hadn’t, so right away they brought me a plate of hot food — a soup of chicken and rice,” he recalls. “I remember because I really love chicken legs and thighs, and this was thighs.”
Afterward, our Covenant House Mexico staff guided him through the necessary paperwork and arranged visits for him with our legal team, medical team, and psychologists.
When evening came, Edwin was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. “What am I doing here?” he asked himself. He had expected to stay a single night and move on — like in a conventional shelter. But Covenant House is so much more, as Edwin discovered.
A Family Restored
Today, Edwin has engaged with all the programs, services, and opportunities he could at Covenant House Mexico.
With support from our mental health team, he says, “I managed to overcome some things I brought from my past.” That included repairing the rift with his parents that led him to leave home in the middle of the night.
“They helped me find the strength to fix things with my family. The psychological work we did together encouraged me to speak with my family clearly and honestly. For two years now, we’ve been getting along really well,” he says.
“I feel very happy about that,” Edwin adds. “I never thought we could be like this. When I left the house, I felt like I was leaving everything behind. But from the moment I found the courage to talk to my parents, it’s all been good. I can talk to them now with total confidence. If I’m having a bad day, I can tell them. If I have a problem at work, I can tell them. I can rely on them, now, like never before.”
Edwin Owns His Future
Our staff at Covenant House Mexico also helped Edwin finish school, something that was very important to him. And not only that but today, he is also applying for college, where he intends to study agronomy and learn to cultivate his own land.
Besides his academic classes, Edwin took vocational and life skills courses, like resume writing, barista, cooking, and tailoring. While he didn’t choose to go into tailoring as a profession, he proudly wears the suit he made and is able to adjust his own clothes for length or fit.
Edwin moved out of our residence and now lives in an apartment on his own. He is engaged in our independent living program. It was very important to him to continue with Covenant House Mexico through this program.
“I wanted to continue to better myself,” he says, “because I think I can do more. I know I can still grow more, and with the support of Covenant House Mexico, I feel like I’m doing really well.”
Giving Back: Supporting Other Youth to Build Their Future
Edwin isn’t only working on his independence; he has become a leader at Covenant House Mexico — and in our federation. Earlier this year, he was named a delegate to the Covenant House International Youth Congress.
The IYC brings together residents and former residents of our programs in 34 cities across five countries. With their lived experience of both the hardships that brought them to our doors and the unconditional love and relentless support they’ve received at Covenant House, each two-year cohort of youth will help our federation evaluate and design programs and services that effectively support their peers and those who come after.
“I feel like we in the IYC understand each other, and I have a lot of hopes and expectations for the youth congress,” Edwin says. “I’m really happy to participate.”
He adds. “I feel like I’m giving something or returning something that Covenant House gave to me when I needed it. I feel like I’m helping the other youth and the staff.”
Looking back on his years at Covenant House Mexico, Edwin says he sometimes wonders whether there might be an alternate universe, one where he doesn’t knock on our door and everything that follows looks different.
It’s a fleeting thought, though, because he is exactly where he wants to be, thanks to a simple, yet very bold decision and the joyful, hopeful life he enjoys because of it.
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Covenant House has programs in 34 cities across five countries: the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The children and youth at our Latin America sites are the youngest across our federation, at just 12 to 18 years old.
Your donation is the most immediate and impactful way to support Covenant House’s work in Latin America.