ShareThisWho We Are/Our Young People
For those of us who grew up in healthy happy families, it is difficult to imagine what years of abuse and neglect can do to a child. Even those of us who had our "fair share" of family turmoil know how difficult it can be to transform ourselves from angry edgy teenagers to prosperous stable adults. Needless to say, the road from adolescence to adulthood can be a bumpy one.
The young people who come to Covenant House face many obstacles to achieving independence. The majority of street youth have experienced physical, sexual and or emotional abuse, often at the hands of the adults that were responsible for taking care of them. Likewise, Vancouver's downtown streets can be dangerous. Sexual exploitation, drug abuse, poverty and illness are commonplace on the streets and many of our youth are re-victimized there, having fled one unsafe situation only to find their circumstances often worse.
Combined with these traumas and often because of them, is the prevalence of mental illness amongst our youth. A wide range of mental illnesses ranging from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to bi-polar disorder to drug-induced psychosis plague our youth in growing numbers and are often left untreated with devastating impacts. In addition to mental illness, our young people also struggle with substance abuse. Homeless young people often use drugs and alcohol as a way to "numb" the pain they experience in their lives and to help them forget.
Drugs and alcohol often become a method of "self-medication" that temporarily helps a young person deal with the emotional trauma associated with abandonment, abuse and in some cases, serious underlying mental health issues. On their own, mental illness and addictions are challenging enough to overcome, but presented together, as it often the case with our youth, proves to be extremely debilitating.
Covenant House Vancouver exists for those young people for whom there is often no one else - young people who have either willingly fled physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse or those who have been forced from their homes.
Often broken-hearted, the young people who come to Covenant House face many barriers to independent, healthy living. Many life threatening situations await kids who end up on the street. Substance misuse, disease and violence are a daily reality of street life.
Covenant House welcomes young people aged 16 - 24 with open arms. We bandage their cut-up feet, we give them hot food and a warm bed and we support them in their choice to change their present circumstances while helping them heal from past traumas.
We understand that life changes are challenging and do everything in our power to ensure that young people succeed at whatever plan they have chosen for themselves. As long as genuine effort is demonstrated, so is our commitment.
Vision Statement
In the third millennium Covenant House will continue to fulfill its mission by providing shelter and services to children and youth who seek help, with a priority of concern and commitment to those for whom no other service is available.
We will make every effort to reunite young people with their families.
We will collaborate with community agencies and associations and actively participate in community efforts to improve the condition of families and children.
We will advocate with and on behalf of youth to raise awareness in the community about their suffering.
Our mission is based on faith and the belief that all children and youth have a right to love, respect and genuine concern. Our individual and shared spirituality will permeate all of our activities.
The Five Covenant Principles
Immediacy – Young people come to us in crisis, desperately requiring help. We provide for their basic human needs – food, clothing, a shower, medical attention, a safe bed – immediately.
Sanctuary - Youth who are trying to get off the streets are often scared and mistrustful. We protect them from the street and its terrors and from the failures of their past. Youngsters can only grow when they feel safe and protected.
Value Communication - Lying, cheating, stealing; these are part of the street code. It's the way young people are forced to survive on the street. We try to show our youth, by example, that lying, cheating and stealing are wrong, that street values are destructive. Even more important, we teach them that caring relationships are built on trust, respect and honesty.
Structure - Street life is very unstructured. Young people on the street never know where they will sleep or how they will get their next meal. We provide the structure and stability of legitimate and carefully articulated expectations without a lot of rules and regulations. This helps alleviate anxiety and allows them to focus on planning their next steps.
Choice - Young people often feel powerless to control their lives. They fall into a self-defeating cycle of failure. We encourage our youth to make serious choices about their futures. They must choose to change, believe they can make it, to believe that tomorrow can be better.
Stats
Covenant House was incorporated in 1972 in New York City. Since then, more than 20 sites have opened in 6 countries. As of 1997, Covenant House programs have supported over 400,000 young people.
Covenant House Vancouver provides food, shelter, clothing and counselling to the estimated 500 - 1,000 street youth in Vancouver.
Most of the young people we help have fled unspeakable abuse at home. Physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse have forced these young people on to the streets, in search of a better life. But the streets are no place for anyone, let alone our nation's youth. Violence, poverty, sex trade involvement and addictions are just a few of the horrors associated with street life. Life on the streets is a dead end.
Covenant House Vancouver opened its doors in September, 1997 in response to a study that revealed that there are over 10,000 (now 15,000) runaways reported in BC annually. The study also revealed that street youth were in desperate need of short-term transitional shelter and long-term supportive housing.
Covenant House Sites World Wide
 Alaska (Anchorage) California (Los Angeles, Oakland Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando) Georgia (Atlanta) Louisiana (New Orleans) Michigan (Detroit) Missouri (St.Louis) New Jersey (Atlantic |
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