Covenant House Vancouver

Andy had been coming to us on and off for about two years. The last time he came he had recently stopped using crystal meth and he looked better than we had ever seen him.

We did an intake and though he was off the meth, he appeared to be seriously mentally ill. He would talk for 20 minutes and you couldn't understand a word he said. But he was willing to "go through all the hoops" like waiting to see a psychiatrist and taking medication.

Andy decided that he needed to go to Miracle Valley Treatment (for his addictions). After three months he came back a much healthier Andy and we didn't see any of the mental health stuff going on. We came to the conclusion that it had been the crystal meth that was causing his psychosis (it is common for street youth to still display psychosis even six months after using crystal meth and some suffer permanent brain damage). Andy is one of the lucky ones as he has recovered from his crystal meth addiction and the resulting psychosis.

While at the shelter, Andy found a job and was accepted into ROP. When he left for ROP, Andy had the hugest smile on his face. He was so happy, so relieved. He was joking with us and was so excited about this new opportunity.

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i live'd in covey in vancouver b.c. n then moved into there rop program i lived there for 1n a hlf yrs its was a good experiance and gave me the tools i needed to achieve the level of sucess i have acheived today!!!! even though i was evetually dicharged from the program the skills i learned in the time there has greatly advanced my life to a positive forefront... i currently have achived my red seal as a chef i have my daughter for the summers and am expecting my 2 nd child with my new wife who i have been married to for 1 yr but known for 11 yrs.... witout the staff at rop vancouver (rob & eyvonne ecspially!!! love u guys) i do not think i would have acheived anywhere close to my current accomplishments or be alive for that matter i only hope that you can continue to help at risk youth who were as hopeless as i was

yours truly
Kevin (name changed to protect privacy of youth)

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Our young people tell us frequently about the dangers of living on the streets:  getting robbed while you're sleeping (sometimes even having shoes removed in the middle of the night) or getting assaulted is commonplace.  Street youth say it's difficult to focus on bigger health issues when you're just trying to find your next meal.  This Tyee article shines a light on the sheer danger of trying to survive on the streets.

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Covenant House Vancouver's blog is officially launched!

We hope that youth, donors, volunteers, staff and everyone who is interested in street youth and the issues of homelessness will subscribe to our feed and contribute to our blog.

We will be updating regularly so if you subscribe, you will be notified of new postings.

If you would like to submit something to the blog, please email: clausius@covenanthousebc.org or simply make a comment.

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I just received a phone call that I thought should be shared with everyone.

Just recently, we had two youths staying with us from Quebec one of whom could only speak French. After staying with us for awhile, Covenant House and Directions joined forces and repatriated them to Quebec. I just finished talking to one of their mothers (who is also strictly a francophone) and she just wanted to extend a grand merci to everyone.

Have a nice day everybody!

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Sam and his mother came in today with a wonderful gift.  He was adorable with a curly mop of hair and big eyes.  He handed me an envelope looking very proud, $32 in twoonies.

Sam just turned 5, his day was full of fun and he had a cake with cars on it….for his birthday party he asked all his guests to bring a twoonie to help the kids without a bed.

You see Sam has accompanied his mother to St Paul to do rounds in the early mornings and questioned why there were kids on the street without beds, why would there mom’s let them sleep there, aren’t they cold etc..

He asked him mom if they had money could they have a bed, what can we do….she they came up with the birthday party idea and first in mind was Covenant House.

I bent down to tell him how thankful we were and commended his kind heart…I asked if I could give him a hug and he said yes and I received a delightful squish and off they went.  As I turned away I felt the tears well up, what more can I say, amazing! 

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