Covenant House Vancouver

Tracey, one of our mental health clinicians, shared a wonderful story about a young man who was moving into a supported living unit; she met with him to determine his list of “household items to acquire”.   Many of the items this young man identified were necessities like pans, a hot plate, coffee maker, household cleaner, mop & broom, dish rack etc.

When Tracey explained his reasoning for some of the other items on his list, it was a bit heartbreaking, realizing how much most of us take for granted.
Below is his list of "items to acquire" with an explanation of why he wanted them:

•  Polysporin (it is good for everything)
•  Yoga mat (our youth get free classes on Fridays courtesy of YYOGA)
•  Scent spray (the building he was moving into sometimes smells)
•  Anything “gold” in colour (he loves gold)
•  Glow in the darks, aka “glow sticks” (he is nervous of the dark)
•  Mirror (so he can look at himself and remind himself that he is doing a good job)

When most of us venture out on our own, we aren’t coping with a mental health issue and many of us get a lot of “stuff” from our parents – old furniture, or better yet, they buy us everything we need to get started. We are fortunate that our donor community gives so much to us – food, clothing and household items are appreciated by our youth.  Click here for a list of items we collect for our youth.

Our youth clothing room

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Stewart lived with his Mother until he was six, at which time he moved to a reserve to be with his stepfather. Unfortunately, Stewart's stepfather was an alcoholic who became extremely abusive when he had been drinking. Despite the fact that Stewart was an excellent student (he graduated from high school), his stepfather placed unrealistic and often unattainable expectations upon Stewart and would be quite vicious if Stewart didn't meet his demands. For punishment, Stewart was beaten, then put into his room for days.

Stewart says that the years of abuse left him feeling as though he had "lost his courage", unable to stand up for himself. Stewart often worries about the needs of others rather than his own because he grew up believing that he "doesn't matter". Stewart left his stepfather's house when he was a young teenager and went to live with his grandfather. It was around that time that he started using drugs and alcohol to retreat further into himself and to numb the pain from the memories of his abusive past.

Eventually Stewart moved to Vancouver and got mixed up with illegal (and dangerous) activities. Though Stewart has since left that world, he continues to fear for his safety. Stewart came to Covenant House where staff encouraged him to confront his addiction and to begin counselling to heal from the wounds of his past. Now, Stewart works full time and struggles every day with the urge to drink and smoke pot and he has relapsed a few times. Though the counselling process is painful for Stewart as he questions why his stepfather was so cruel, he is persevering and is slowly beginning to trust our staff enough to express his tears and pain.

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A youth worker friend of mine told me about this documentary "Streets of Plenty" by Misha Kleider and Cory Ogilvie. It chronicles the journey of Misha, a student that decides to give up everything and live on the streets for one month in December.

In my opinion, the documentary and Misha Kleider present an overly simplistic view of the Downtown Eastside and being homeless. At the start of this film he feels most homeless are just scamming the system because they are too lazy to work. As movie goes along and he experiences more of the streets and gets more rundown, he comes to a different opinion of homeless people and the streets in general.

The movie does bring up some thought provoking points and was approached and filmed in an interesting way. It's worth a look as it does provoke dialogue especially since Misha makes some very poor choices.
Be forewarned, Misha does try hard drugs in this movie and it was a very silly and irresponsible thing to do. Also there is a lot of swearing and other actions you may find offensive.

Click here to view the film.

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Check out our Spring edition of the Good Samaritan News.

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Argyle Secondary School did an amazing video for Covenant House as part of the Youth and Philantropy Initiative.

The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, created by the Toskan Casale Foundation, is a one-of-a-kind educational program that gives young people hands-on experience in social change and empowers them to participate in the development of their communities.

In B.C. the YPI project is assigned to high school students (in participating schools) enrolled in Planning 10. Students work in groups, researching and selecting a local non-profit social service organization. Students set up a meeting with representatives of their chosen charity to gain more insight on the services provided to the community. Once research is complete the students create a ten-minute presentation on their charity and how a grant would better serve its clients.

One group from each class is selected to compete in a school final where a judging panel selects a winning team. The winners receive a $5,000 grant from the Toskan Casale Foundation that is awarded to the charity the student group represented.

To view this wonderful video click here.

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Bocci is a contemporary design and manufacturing house that is hosting it's first warehouse sale. Bocci will be donating 50% of all the proceeds to Covenant House Vancouver.

The sale is taking place on Friday, March 26th 10am-6pm and Saturday, March 27th 10am-2pm.

Click here for more information.

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During work one morning, I was going about my day as usual, saying hey to all the youth that were in and then I saw one that always manages to put a smile on my face. When one thinks about a person who makes them smile they usually think cheerful, chipper, and smiley; however Ron is the complete opposite. Ron is one of the grouchiest youth I've ever met yet I still manage to laugh every time I see him. In fact, it puts such a smile on my face that I go the extra mile with an unusually chipper morning greeting only to hear something grumbled in return.

Here's a little background on Ron from what I know. Over the past two years Ron has lived on the streets. When I say lived, I'm talking about living and sleeping in back alleys while getting soaked in the rain, dumpster diving, smelling like the space he slept in the night before, while suffering from an addiction to crystal meth. The street has formed Ron and his lack of social skills can at times rub people the wrong way. Over the last year of knowing Ron, there has only been an occasional moment when I have seen beneath the tough skin he wears to a softer side and when it does emerge, it lasts only a second and then it's gone.

That morning I was speaking about earlier was the morning Ron walks up to me and very matter of fact, without any emotion, grumbles out the words of wanting to get on welfare and get a house. At first I'm taken aback because it was Ron asking. He's lived on the streets as long as I've known him. I wonder what the reason is behind his sudden change of character; however, I don't question his statement. I just tell him okay. Let's go down to the welfare office. (click on title to read entire posting)

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Cirque du Soleil returns to Vancouver this summer and we invite you to experience the wonder of Kooza! We're pleased to announce that Cirque du Soleil has once again chosen to partner with Covenant House, donating tickets for fundraising purposes.

Kooza marks a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: it combines two circus traditions - acrobatic performance and the art of clowning.  We hope you'll join us for an enchanting summer evening of entertainment that only Cirque du Soleil can create!

Cirque du Soleil's benefit night for Covenant House is on Friday, August 6th, 2010.
Tickets: $150 (a portion of the ticket price is eligible for a tax receipt)

For tickets and/or information please contact:
Mark Savard
Development Officer - Community Giving
savard@covenanthousebc.org
Tel. 604-639-8922

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Homelessness and poverty is a major concern in Vancouver and its surrounding communities. Individuals, couples and families often to struggle to get by even with decent jobs. The ever increasing cost of living and the high rent in Vancouver makes in very hard for people to get ahead. Many people live pay cheque to pay cheque and are a job loss or illness away from the streets. Please have a read of this article featured in The Tyee called "Welcome to the 'Burbs, Meet the New Homeless" by Monte Paulsen to learn more about this issue.

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I met this young man by the name if Terry when I first stated working at Covenant house. He was a quiet and shy young man who had a zeal and passion for life. Over the course of time that I have known him, I have watched him struggle with a crystal meth addiction; however, even within his addiction he would openly still come to Covenant House because he had nowhere else to go. When Terry would come in, I would see him on his best days but also on his worst days when the addiction was getting to him and would bring him down. It was sad to see how the addiction would cast a shadow on Terry's zeal for life.

Terry had a strong desire to get cleaned up and we often had long conversations about this. He knew that getting his life back together and getting clean was going to be a very long road ahead and sometimes I would see him sitting in silence at Covenant House contemplating what to do next.

Terry took the risk and over the course of a few months I saw him in and out of Detox treatment having relapsed on a few occasions. I watched how the addiction began to wear on him as he wrestled with it and I started to wonder if his addiction would cost him his life but Terry had a spirit that loved life and this spirit is what would drive him to success. After one of Terry's relapses, he made a promise that he would try detox treatment one more time. He was like the little train that wouldn't quit.

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