Love That Saved My Life 

For many young people, love first shows up as safety, a place where fear finally stops following you through the door. 

For Leora, love began the night she decided she could not survive where she was any longer. 

At 24, her life felt unstable in every direction. After moving frequently and losing housing with her mother, Leora found herself without a safe place to live. With nowhere else to go, she stayed with an abusive partner. 

Over time, Leora says the abuse wore down her confidence and sense of self. The situation escalated until one violent incident left her injured and afraid for her life. 

“I almost literally died,” she said. 

That night, she prayed for a way out. 

The next day, still recovering, she began searching for options. She visited a Job Corps orientation hoping to start working immediately but was told she would have to wade through the long process of application and placement. The idea of returning to the environment she had just escaped felt unbearable. 

“I can’t go back,” she remembered thinking. “I want to change my life today.” 

Escaping Abuse and Finding Safety at Covenant House 

A staff member helped her search for alternatives and connected her with Covenant House New York’s Bridge House transitional housing program. Leora hesitated at first. She spent hours deciding whether to go. 

Then she made the choice that changed everything. 

She showed up that evening. 

What she remembers most about walking through the doors was relief. 

“It was clean. It was safe. And they fed me,” she said. “I was starving.” 

That first night marked the beginning of stability she hadn’t experienced in years. 

Leora says Covenant House gave her housing, structure, and expectations, something she initially struggled with. Adjusting to curfews and accountability felt difficult at first, especially as a young adult used to navigating life on her own. 

But she quickly realized the structure wasn’t punishment. It was support. 

How Structure and Accountability Helped Leora Start Over 

She refocused, distanced herself from distractions, and began participating in career readiness programs. She enrolled in job training, committed herself to personal growth, and started building routines centered on her future instead of survival. 

Within weeks, staff encouraged her to apply to become a youth ambassador. As part of the application, she was asked to write about the life she wanted to create. 

She wrote about becoming an entrepreneur and about independence and stability. 

For the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to imagine a future. 

In just eight months, Leora transformed her trajectory. As she approached her 25th birthday — when she would age out of the program — she worked closely with staff to secure permanent housing. She viewed a one-bedroom apartment in June and signed the lease soon after. 

She turned 25 at Bridge House and moved into her own home weeks later.  

“If I never went there,” she said, “I probably would be dead. Or still lost.” 

Leora’s New Purpose 

Today, Leora shares her story publicly as a Covenant House youth ambassador, speaking to donors, policymakers, and other young people experiencing homelessness.  

She also mentors young people who reach out to her online, helping them understand what Covenant House offers and what it takes to succeed there. 

Leora describes her work not as a job, but as gratitude in action. She speaks because she knows firsthand how powerful support can be when someone is ready to rebuild. 

Her advice is honest: healing requires focus, accountability, and readiness for change. 

“I had to really want better for myself,” she said. 

She also speaks because she understands something many people don’t see, that people who appear strong are often carrying invisible battles. 

“Some of us are really battling with ourselves,” she said. “You would never be able to tell because we’re smiling every day.” 

This February, her story offers a broader understanding of love. As something not defined by romance, but as something that restores dignity. 

Love looked like safety, support, and eventually, love looked like believing she deserved a future. 

Now, Leora helps others believe the same.