Covenant House Vancouver

We were excited to watch the 3 part video series “Forever Family” by reporter Catherine Pope and Global BC News. The series is about teens and young adults who are in the BC foster care system and hope to still be adopted and find their forever family. Catherine Pope speaks to real youth that are in the system waiting to be adopted, as well as older youth who were adopted into families.

One of the reasons we were so excited to see this series featured on the news is that many of the young people who come to CHV have been in the foster care system. They often come to us at 18 or 19 when they “age out” of foster care but still have not learned the skills it takes to become independent adults. Often they are still struggling with issues from their childhood and teen years. It is encouraging to see the topic of teen adoption highlighted, as we know so many youth who wished they had forever families.

To learn more about the Ministry of Children and Family Development and adopting in BC click here. You may also wish to visit the Federation of BC Youth In Care Networks here.

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. On this day we remember and mourn the loss of 14 women, murdered at Montréal's École Polytechnique, murdered because they were women. 

There will be a Sacred Smudge Ceremony in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside held by WAVAW (Women Against Violence Against Women) from 11:00am until 2:00pm.

 

This weekend CTV BC featured our mental health program, sharing the story of a young person that we are helping.

Our mental health program provides youth with access to immediate on-site treatment for mental illness and is coordinated by two in-house mental health clinicians from Covenant House and delivered by a team of six psychiatrists from St. Paul's Hospital. The psychiatric team provides service in both Covenant House locations, with a case load that includes approximately half of all youth in the shelter at any given time. Young people in the mental health project are also supported by other Covenant House programs, including case management, the transitional housing program, drug and alcohol counselling, and life-skills training.

This Program is innovative in that psychiatric services are being made available to homeless youth where and when they need them. The project offers the opportunity to proactively address mental illness among homeless youth and avoid hospitalization. Diagnosing mental illness and helping youth follow through with a treatment plan is key to improving their readiness to access and manage housing for themselves.

Thanks to CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward for showcasing our mental health program and sharing this youth’s story.

We are currently compiling all of the items we need to fill the youth backpacks for Christmas.  In addition to the list here, we are asking for:

• shaving cream
• deoderant
• boxer shorts

We are open 24/7 for drop offs.  Thank you!

Recently the Representative For Children And Youth and the Office of the Provincial Health Officer released the report “Growing Up in BC.” This report measures the outcomes of children and youth in BC in six areas: child health, child learning, child safety, family economic well-being, family, peer, and community connections, and child behavior.  This study reveals that many youth that are in care or who are aboriginal are falling behind in many ways. The Tyee also published a well written article about this topic.

At Covenant House Vancouver we work with many youth who have been “in care” which means that at some point in their life and/or their entire life, they have lived in foster homes, group homes or other government run programs. The findings in this study are not new to us as we witness our youth struggling to keep up on a daily basis.

Give this report a read and tell us what you think.

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. 

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! 

Covenant House Vancouver works with youth from all different backgrounds and culture. If youth are interested in exploring their cultural heritage, we make every effort to support them on their journey.

The Tyee recently published a 6 part series created by Jacqueline Windh that focuses on native youth. The author interviewed 14 youth from all over the province of B.C. and spoke with them on a variety of topics including: family, culture, school and alcohol & drugs.

I am always excited when youth get the opportunity to speak out about their experiences and I found this series very interesting. If you get a chance please read the whole series or pick one or two articles that interest you.

Enjoy!

Following the death of Curtis Brick a homeless man that died last summer due to issues caused by heat, Vancouver has put in place an extreme-heat strategy. We talked about this issue in a recent blog posting.

Vancouver has started putting the strategy into effect by placing temporary water fountains around the city in key places. News 1130 has covered this story and The Province has also weighed in.

At Covenant House we are continuing to help our youth keep cool by providing lots of water, sunscreen and reminding youth to seek out shade.

We hope you and yours are having a fun, healthy and safe summer!

Do you have any thoughts about this strategy? Or ideas to keep cool?
If so please share them with us.

Christine has been with Covenant House Vancouver for the past 10 years and her contributions will be felt for years to come. Christine developed our planned giving program and our cornerstone group. She has been dedicated to not only our youth and donors but has also mentored and supported new staff. Christine's kind heart and hard work will be missed.

The staff, volunteers and youth wish you all the best of luck on your new adventures.

Happy Retirement Christine!