Crisis Shelter
Our 54-bed crisis shelter offers safe housing, food, clothing and counselling to young people aged 16 - 23 on a first-come, first-served basis. Upon intake, we see to a young person's immediate needs first, which is usually medical attention, food and rest. After three days, a youth worker sits down with a young person to learn about what brought them to Covenant House and to see how we can help. An individualized plan is created and young people meet with a youth worker twice daily to ensure progress is being made and that the young person's needs are being met. Plans vary from substance misuse counselling, to treatment for mental illness, to finding a job and a safe place to live.
Many of the youth we serve face many obstacles in reaching independence and often it takes several attempts at the shelter before a young person starts to experience success. Though family repatriation is the first goal for each young person who comes to Covenant House, more often than not, there is no where for them to go. The majority of our youth have fled an abusive home or have aged-out of foster care (young people are on their own when they turn 19). Our shelter program is designed to guide these young people away from their immediate crisis toward independent living. When they are stable, many of our shelter youth are referred to our long-term transitional housing program, Rights of Passage (ROP).
