Covenant House Vancouver

My working relationship began with Carrie during the summer when she and her boyfriend came to Vancouver from another province. When I first met Carrie I could see she was sweet and gentle woman with much kindness in her heart; I could tell she came from a good family background. As time passed and my relationship continued to develop with Carrie I noticed she carried with her a heavy weight of sadness and learned she suffered from bipolar disorder.

When Carrie came to Vancouver with her boyfriend, she wasn't on the streets long before she began coming into Covenant House to see how we could help them find housing, get off the streets, and begin a normal life. The first thing we began to do was help Carrie get set up to stay at the shelter at Covenant House. Carrie seemed interested in this option so we went through all the necessary procedures and she was set up to stay for the night. The next morning I learned that Carrie had left the shelter the evening before to see her boyfriend who was still on the street and never came back.

This experience was the first of many that our relationship would encounter over the course of the next 5 months. There were times when we were on the road to making progress but then Carrie would disappear for periods of time or we would set up arrangements to shelters, or meetings for her to get housing and she wouldn't show up.

One time, in particular, I had made an appointment, at Carrie's request, to meet with a counsellor; this would be a significant visit in Carrie's life. This appointment was to help Carrie work through a traumatic incident that occurred 2 years ago in her life that was pivotal in her turning to a life on the street. However, that morning I waited and Carrie again didn't show up.

I guess as I write this, you would generally think after this many missed opportunities someone should give up on the individual because they aren't capable, loyal, or trustworthy but that's not it at all. If we would have given up on Carrie at that particular moment, she wouldn't be back at home today united with her family and recovering. It's because of the relationship we built with Carrie, that one even would perceive as continuous failure, that Carrie did keep returning knowing she messed up.

For those five months we continued to build in to Carrie. When we would see her on the street we would always welcome her with open arms and share with her that Covenant house was always there for her. It was important for us to validate her feelings and the situations she was in while at the same time to persevere on and continue to make the right choices.

When she called Covenant House it meant always having someone available for her 24 hours a day. Even if we on Outreach couldn't meet, then there was the shelter reception, or if that wasn't available there was the 24 help line. Other things we did were to stop by the hotel she was staying at and drop our contact information with the manager. Often we do this just so we can keep a closer eye on the youth. In this case if she went missing for a couple of days or he noticed anything else out of character he would call us.

In November there was a glimmer of light in Carrie's life. I received a phone call from her and I thought this could be a turning point. In our phone conversation Carrie, almost exhausted of her lifestyle, let everything out and shared how she was tired of being on the streets and she wanted to go home, back to her family.

There was a tinge of excitement within me as I truly hoped this would be the one thing Carrie would follow through on. During the next few days Covenant House began completing all the necessary paperwork for returning Carrie to her home community. We spoke with Carrie's Mom, her doctor, and bought the plane ticket.

The day came for Carrie's departure, all of us waited including her Mom back home. On that Wednesday morning we sat, looking at the clock with every passing second waiting to drive Carrie to the airport. Five minutes of waiting turned into hours passing by and with sadness in my heart we got back on the phone with the airline and Carrie's Mom cancelling her trip back home. Carrie didn't show. We would just have to keep waiting; Carrie had to be ready on her time.

Within a few days, Carrie phoned us again letting us know she was in the hospital and fell into a deep depression. I and another outreach worker went down to the hospital to visit her. After a couple of days of long discussion, meeting with her doctor, Carrie was ready to make the journey home once again. On the day of her departure, we stayed with Carrie offering her all the support she needed to get back on the plane to Ontario. Carrie did make it that day to airport and on that plane heading east. It was a huge victory for her.

The next morning Covenant house received a call from her Mother thanking us so much. She expressed such joy that you could hear the love pouring out over the phone of her little girl being back at home.