Covenant House Vancouver

I am so thankful for the games and puzzles that we get donated to Covenant House. Sometimes I sit down in the middle of all the chaos and start a puzzle. It's a bit of a tone setter.

I had a youth who is pregnant sit with me once in a while and before you knew it she was hooked on puzzles. She churned them out. She had one on every table. We built a great relationship through the puzzles. We shared the same sanctuary, she learned I could hear every conversation going on and was actually monitoring the back even though it seemed like I wasn't watching and every once in a while I'd even randomly say a girl's name as a suggestion for her baby.

In turn, the youth who would join me would sense the serenity at the table that they would feel safe enough to share things about themselves while working on the puzzle. It almost seems less intrusive or less intense when we're talking about such serious issues in such a relaxing situation as making a puzzle.

Today, we had a youth invite us to play Scrabble. It is always so warming when the youth initiate something constructive and social. He's a youth who doesn't usually last long in the shelter as he is heavily addicted to alcohol and other narcotics. He was allowed to hang out in the shelter today, so we played Scrabble.

My co-worker and I are used to playing with youth who are insecure about their vocabulary, so we always allow youth to flip through the dictionary to come up with words. This youth said that was cheating. I loved his confidence. I wasn't able to finish the game, so he continued with my co-worker who is an avid player and she said he was quite the competition. Although the board games and puzzles seem so petty, you can learn so much about the youth through them. It's a great tool to have.