Covenant House Vancouver

Sorry to be so late reporting this; just back from holidays and am catching up on all the news I missed when I was off.  In June we wrote about  H.R. 1623, a bill written to expand the protection of Megan's Law, mandating reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers including pimps against minors to engage in international travel, and preventing entry into the U.S. by any foreign sex offender against a minor. 

Click here for Covenant House International's piece on this recently passed legislation and thanks to our American friends who supported this new and important piece of legislation.

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I know you are probably getting sick of us asking you to vote but we are down to the last 2 days of the Pepsi Refresh contest and we are in 2^nd Place. 

We are in final the push to make it to 1^st place by the end of August 31^st.

So in the final days please:

-Vote (as much as humanly possible)

-Nag your friends and family to vote

-Share our link on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, your blog and any where you can think of.

-Together we can win the $100,000.00 and help homeless youth.


Thank you to everyone for your votes, comments and support.

Now go VOTE!

Here is our link again: http://www.refresheverything.ca/covenanthousevancouver

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I recently got back from my summer holidays and while I was off I had the absolute thrill of running into an old client of Covenant House; he has been independent for about 5 years and he was someone for whom I always had a special place in my heart. 

His story wasn't unlike a lot of our youth; his parents were divorced, his mother had a drinking problem and there was a lot of turmoil in his young life. He ran away from home and found himself at Covenant House where he first accessed our Crisis Shelter, then moved on to our semi-independent program, Rights of Passage (ROP). We worked together a lot for various communications projects here at Covenant House as he was always so eager to "give back" to us, as many of our young people are. There is no shortage of gratitude at Covenant House and there is no better way to start and end one's work day than to feel grateful for working for an organization that touches young lives so incredibly.

Anyway, on one of the first days of my vacation, I was at The Lion King with my daughter (a very special treat for her 13th birthday) and when we were leaving, we got on the elevator and in walked this young man. We recognized each other instantly and there was a brief moment where I thought "do I mention Covenant House?". I didn't. I just asked him how he was and he said that he was great. He introduced to me his lovely wife and told me he was on paternity leave as they had just had a baby. Even recalling it now, I well up – the pride I felt in seeing him "all grown up" and obviously very happy was amazing.

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The Mental Health Commission of Canada is researching the effects of mental health and homelessness. Their current project “At Home/Chez Soi”, the largest research project of its kind in the world, is underway in five cities across Canada.

The At Home/Chez Soi website states “the project is based on a Housing First approach (The hypothesis is that once a person is given a place to live, he/she can then better concentrate on other personal issues.). A total of 2285 homeless people living with a mental illness will participate. 1,325 people from that group will be given a place to live, and will be offered services to assist them over the course of the initiative. The remaining participants will receive the regular services that are currently available in their cities.”

The Vancouver portion of the At Home/Chez Soi research project will focus on people with addictions and mental health issues. The property where the 4 years of research will be taking place is the Bosman Hotel Community. This building just recently reopened and has the capacity to house and support 100 people.

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The Pepsi Refresh Everything project is down to its final 9 days and we are still in third place. We need you to keep voting and to encourage your friends and family to vote every day.

Your daily votes can help Covenant House Vancouver win $100,000.00 to help homeless and high risk youth. Just by clicking a button you are changing the lives of our youth forever.

To encourage you to keep voting, the staff and volunteers at Covenant House Vancouver have created a video to inspire you to spread the word.

Please enjoy this homemade video and keep voting. Feel free to share this video with as many people as possible.

Thank you!

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Benji Chu started a running group this spring called Run For Change which meets for a run/walk every Wednesday at 3:30pm and Saturday at 11:00am in the church parking lot at Nelson and Burrard.  “Big deal” you say, “there are a million running groups.” The difference is that this one is for the homeless and those living in shelters.

Benji wanted to help homeless people feel better about themselves and he has found that running has made a big difference to him. ‘I’ve become a much healthier and happier person. Running has helped me build my discipline and confidence, and I’d like others to experience this same sense of empowerment” states Benji. He feels that running is a way for people to start making goals and commitments one step at a time.  

Run For Change is holding a 5km fun run on Sunday August 22, 2010 at 10:00am. Participants will receive a t-shirt when they register. If the runners complete the 5km course they will get a medal and a small goodie bag of food, bottled water and juice.

To learn more about Run For Change visit their website or email runfchange@gmail.com.

We wish all the runners the best of luck and speedy feet!

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Covenant House Vancouver supporters and voters:

We need you to keep voting each and every day including weekends.
We seem to be stuck in 3^rd place and we are moving into the final two weeks of voting. So please make sure you share the Pepsi Refresh Project with all your friends, family, coworkers and even strangers on the street.

We are also making a call for ideas to help spread the word to vote for Covenant House Vancouver. If you have a great (cheap or free) idea, then please share it with us here or on Facebook.

Thank you all for your support. Please keep voting so we can win $100,000.00 to help make a big difference in the lives of our young people.

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This past February the world joined Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics and naturally, finding an affordable place to stay wasn't easy – this is where Home For The Games came in. Home For The Games came up with the idea that they could help people find an affordable place to stay as well as raise money for the homeless in Vancouver.

Vancouver hosts who were willing to share 50% of the income they received from their visitors got the opportunity to earn a modest income, share the Olympic experience, help the homeless and even receive a tax receipt for the amount they donated.

Home For The Games sponsored two charities, Covenant House Vancouver and the Streetohome Foundation, and they raised $26,000.00 for Covenant House. The Tyee published an article yesterday written by Deena Tokaryk about the Home For The Games project and how it is now being used as a model for the summer Olympics in London.

We thank Home For The Games for the work they are doing and for their support of Covenant House Vancouver. I encourage you to read the Tyee article as it is very interesting and even features a great picture of our very own Senior Development Officer Scott MacDonald. 

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False Creek Design Group has won bronze in the Interior Designers Institute of BC Awards of Excellence in the Healthcare & Professional Services category. The design team of Jim Toy, William Chan, Dale Boute, and Jenna McBride from False Creek Designs created our new Drop-In space.

Last year the entire second floor of our Drake Street building which houses the Drop-In Centre and Community Support Services, Development & Communications and Finance departments, was reconfigured and renovated. The Drop-In Centre was expanded by 25% and re-decorated using recycled furniture, giving the space a "retro" look and converting it from a somewhat institutional feel into a warm, welcoming and more functional space.

We thank the False Creek Design Group and their suppliers for transforming our space into something wonderful for our young people.

Congratulations on your award win! 

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Check out these amazing comments from people who are supporting Covenant House Vancouver through the Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

"Good Luck Covenant House I hope you win, and then I hope someone in Nanaimo builds a Covenant House here and helps our kids too!""

"Come on people lets support the young in our society give them a fighting chance. Covenant House does this....."

"I hope this Covenant House receives a grant. They do great work.""Volunteering @ Covenant House is one of the best decisions I've ever made"

"To support the youth is to help the future. Thank you for making our city a better one!"

Thank you all for your votes and comments. It has been so wonderful for our youth and staff to see the great messages being left on our Pepsi Page by our supporters. It is great to know that people believe in what we are doing and want to help us in any way they can.

We need you to keep voting each and every day right until the very end including the weekends. We seem to be stuck at third place and we only have 21 days left to vote. So please keep voting, tweeting and facebooking about Covenant House Vancouver and the Pepsi Refresh project.

Remember we need your vote if we are going to win $100,000.00 to help Vancouver's homeless young people.

Click here to vist our Pepsi Refresh page. 

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