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