Prince Finds His Footing at Covenant House Texas

On his first day at Covenant House Texas, Prince didn't get a bed.

The overnight program worked on a raffle then, and his name wasn't drawn. Staff explained how it worked. Young people who had been there a while answered his questions. And when the evening ended, Prince gathered his things and walked back out to the streets of Houston, where he had a small setup and a routine he had learned to survive by.

Most people would name that night a low point, but Prince remembers it differently.

"What I mostly felt was hopeful," he said. “I knew I was going to come back."

So, he did. The next day, his luck turned. He got a bed, a warm meal, and "some decent food instead of the junk I was eating before.”

A Sister's Word

Prince never expected to need a shelter. He was a student at Texas State University studying communication design, living on campus, working toward a degree in a field he loved. But when campus housing became something he could no longer afford, the floor gave way quickly. He moved out, switched to online classes, and looked around for a safety net that wasn't there. Much of his family had moved back to Nigeria. There was no couch to land on, no spare room waiting.

There was, however, his sister.

She had arrived at Covenant House before him, after a difficult season at home, and when Prince learned she was staying at a shelter, his first reaction was worry. Then he watched what happened. She was safe and supported. She told him the truth about the place, and her word was enough.

"I started asking my sister what Covenant House was like," he said. When summer came and his options ran out, he knew where to go.

That is often how a young person finds their way through our doors, at Covenant House Texas and at sites across the federation's 34 locations in five countries, through the voice of someone who has lived it. Prince trusted his sister. Now other young people trust Prince.

Staying the Course

Getting into the Houston shelter’s short-term housing took patience. Prince returned day after day, through the raffle process, waiting for a spot in the Safe Haven program. Staff had told him that if he stayed focused and steady, he would get there.

Covenant House never turns a young person away when there is space and it is safe to house them. In those days, space was the limit, which is why nights like Prince's first happened at all. Covenant House Texas has since moved into a new facility with more beds, so that fewer young people have to walk back out the door and wait for their name to be called.

"Even though some days they didn't let me stay, I knew I was going to get in," he said. "I was looking forward to that."

He also found his people. In those early weeks, Prince connected with other young residents who were working toward their own goals, including one friend who helped him stay motivated when the waiting wore on him.

"The people you hang around with form who you are," Prince said. "Keeping productive people around me got me to stay on track. I'm thankful to them for that."

The First Intern

Once Prince moved into housing, he started visiting the employment resources available to residents. He mentioned his college coursework. He mentioned design. And the timing turned out to be remarkable. Covenant House Texas was building something new, and Prince became the site's first resident intern, joining the social media team.

The work called on skills he had been sharpening his whole life. His father had him and his sister drawing from the time they were small, and by elementary school Prince was making his own comic books and selling them to classmates. He still makes comics today. He does graphic design, 3D modeling, even coding. For the internship, he leaned on his editing and Photoshop skills and picked up photography along the way, one more tool in the kit.

He is two semesters from graduation now, with his sights set on a career in graphic design or software engineering. Just behind that career goal is his dream of starting a printing business of his own, making books and comics for a living.

In His Own Words

When asked what he would say to another young person facing homelessness, Prince didn't hesitate.

"If you want to be helped and you come to Covenant House, they will get you where you need to be, as long as you focus on your goals," he said. He rattled off the practical things that mattered to him like good food, an on-site health clinic, staff who help residents find work and save money. "Stay here, live here for a bit, save your money up, and you'll be on your feet before long."

And to the concern he sometimes hears from other young people, that a shelter means strict rules and someone clocking your every move, his answer was simple: talk to your case manager. Communicate. The structure exists to steady you, not to hold you back.

Prince had a message for supporters, too. As an intern, he has seen a side of Covenant House most residents never do, sitting in on meetings where staff coordinate volunteers and plan for the year ahead.

"Without them, there wouldn't really be a Covenant House," he said of the donors and volunteers who sustain the work. "That helps all the residents here, keeping this place afloat. I can say thank you, for me and the rest of the residents."

His sister is still at Covenant House, and she's doing great. Prince is finishing his degree, building his portfolio, and drawing his future. The young man who walked back to the street on his first night, hopeful anyway, turned out to be exactly right about what was coming.

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Learn how Covenant House is working to end youth homelessness and support young people like Prince on their path forward: The Journey Home