This letter was included with a donation we received today:

Dear Friends,

My five sisters and I save the little money we have to go horseback riding three or four times a year.  We rent two horses for forty dollars for our family.  We decided to send it to you this this time for the young, homeless people to have a good Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all and may God bless you!

Sincerely yours

Felicite, 14 (last name withheld for confidentiality)
Andree-Anne, 10
Marie-Celeste, 17
Selina, 9
Honora, 6

Thank you so much to these girls for thinking of our youth this Christmas Season.

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Hollyburn Properties has been a huge supporter of Covenant House for many years.

Earlier in the year, Hollyburn  and Covenant House agreed to partner in a new and exciting way. Hollyburn agreed to provide a completely furnished suite in one of their buildings and Covenant House agreed to find and support a young person who could make the most of this "hand up".

After and extensive interview process, Covenant House selected a young person who is now currently living in one of Hollyburn's buildings, while still being supported by the staff and resources that we provide.

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Our therapy dog-in-training Walter made his debut this week and already we have seen the benefits of having this adorable, loving dog in the Covenant House Family. The first day he was here, there were a couple of youth waiting for a an appointment with a staff person who was running late. They were about to "bail" when Jesse, Walter's guardian, said "why don't you wait in my office and meet Walter". Needless to say, the youth stayed until their appointment(s).

Whether it's getting a young person out to walk Walter where he or she meets other dog owners, socializes with new people and takes pride in being Walter's temporary "handler", having Walter here for our youth provides them with something most of them have never had: unconditional love. Dogs don't care if you have bad teeth from crystal meth use or if you haven't had a shower in a week. Walter wags his tail and greets everyone the same. And don't we all just wanted to be greeted with a smile and a tail wag?

See Walter in action here

Let us know what you think of Walter "in the flesh".

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On any given night across Canada, 65,000 youth are without a place to call home. A new report, Youth Homelessness in Canada: The Road to Solutions, authored by Raising the Roof, offers recommendations for a national strategy to deal with the issue of youth homelessness.

In order to identify the key challenges facing youth on the street, the authors of the report interviewed 700 homeless youth. "Canada desperately needs a national strategy to truly support our country's homeless and disenfranchised young people," says Sean Gadon, president of Raising the Roof. "Our young people have told us they want and expect to be part of the solution in working with government, community and private sector partners. We all have a responsibility and a part to play in implementing solutions."

For more information, and to download the full report, click here

Let us know what you think of the report.

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The "Night of New Beginnings" Gala fundraiser for Covenant House is quickly approaching and we hope you will join laineygossip.com's and eTalk Daily's Elaine Lui for an evening of wine, food, fashion and bidding...we have some fabulous live and silent auction items including:

• Fishing trip to Tofino - from Goodbye Graffiti
• Flight to and cabin in Whitefish Montana
• Canucks tickets, including the TD Bank suite at GM place for one game
• Local hotel stays for short getaways
• Hockey paraphernalia (autographed Mitchell jersey, Hockey Canada autographed team stick - Men's 2008 team)
• Catered party for 10 from Emelle's
• Chef's tasting menu for 6 from Blue Water Café
• Helijet to Victoria and luxury car rentals

Hope to see you there!

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Today at the front desk I received 5 bags full of winter clothing for our youth. In two of the bags there were 65 sets of scarves and gloves that were hand knit and tied together. The two ladies who dropped off the clothing shared with me that their friend who initiated this effort was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. They were very sweet and mentioned that they just wanted the kids to know that someone cared deeply for them.

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I'm excited to report that an additional mode of therapy for our youth is being introduced at Covenant House. Our Mental Health Team is expanding. I'd like you to meet Walter, who will be helping out in session with Animal Assisted Therapy.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a goal-directed intervention in which an animal that meets specific criteria is an integral part of the treatment process. There are many advantages to having Animal Assisted Therapy available to our youth: AAT has been proven to greatly reduce anxiety for clients with psychotic and mood disorders and helps in opening the lines of communication. Having a therapy animal available has shown to improve attendance rates as many clients wary of counselling often have an easier time initially bonding with another ‘person' that cannot speak back and that provides unconditional love.

Though Walter will technically be considered a ‘therapy dog in training' until he is old enough for testing (1 year), he will be assisting in therapy, becoming socialized with our youth, and becoming accustomed to the sights, smells, and sounds of our buildings as of Monday, November 23rd as part of his ongoing training.

Do you have any experience with therapy dogs or know anyone who has?

Walter

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Two years ago, Covenant House was fortunate to win the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) Humanity Award which gave us $3,000,000 worth of radio and televison advertising for a year.  It was a very successful campaign and we are forever grateful to all of the radio and television stations that participated. 

The television spot was a direct call to action asking the public to support our shelter expansion.  At the time, we were turning away more youth than we were serving due to overwhelming need.  The campaign was successful!  In two years, we have more than doubled the capacity of our shelter from 22 to 54 beds thanks to the support of the Provincial Government and our donors.

In order to thank our donors and the public and to remind everyone that we need ongoing support to sustain this expansion, we have revised the televison spot and hope to receive PSA (public service announcement) support from televisions across British Columbia.

Extra special and sincere thanks to Grant Fraggalosch who wrote both television scripts.

Click here to see the new spot.

What do you think of our new spot? 

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We recieved this message on our Facebook page today.

Covenant House. You supported and provided for me when I needed it most,

I will never forget that and will be entirely grateful for the rest of my life. Living at covenant house is one of my greatest Life experiences which I'm proud to have shared with you. I never thought that at 16 I would have learnt this much or come so far in life.

I'm a lot stronger now than I have ever been and thanks to you I'm safe again, living back home with my Family and Friends. I would just like to say that before I came to Vancouver I had no idea people like you actually existed. You've proved to me that not everyone is the same and there is always hope.

I'm loving my life at the moment and and appreciate what you've done for me soo much. I hope one day, somehow, I'll be able to return the favour.

Much Love, Rachel.

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Covenant House has seen a recent influx of youth coming to Vancouver in anticipation of the 2010 Olympic Games. These youth are homeless and jobless but hoping to take advantage of potential job opportunities related to the Games. Unfortunately, some of these young people are under the impression that Whistler is a 20 minute bus ride away and are quite shocked to learn that in fact, Whistler is 2 hours by bus.

Past Winter Games host cities reports suggest (and VANOC is planning for) an additional 400 young people will show up in Vancouver looking for a party, without shelter or means of support. The City of Vancouver plans to "mat" these youth in a hostel type situation.

For Covenant House, an additional 400 young people without shelter or money may mean more youth coming to us for shelter. Covenant House welcomes any young person in need, but we are not a hostel. Young people staying with us regardless of the Olympics, are expected to be working on a plan to achieve independence. Consistent with our principle of sanctuary, young people presenting at the shelter "under the influence" of drugs and/or alcohol will not be permitted to stay with us.

 

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