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2020
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What a year it has been for all of us at Covenant House and around the world. An unprecedented global pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen in our generation, has challenged and united us in ways we could not have possibly imagined...
93 youth found and
maintained employment
this year
The new Strategic Plan for Covenant House Vancouver has been developed at a time of great momentum. The Strategic Plan presents a series of key priorities and activities to be under-taken by CHV in the next five years.
Through this new Strategic Plan, we will reiterate and reinforce our long-standing commitment to focus first and foremost on service and support for youth. We’ll continue to protect our strong independence of funding and decision-making...
An average of 20 youth per
week attended an art therapy
open studio to access
mental health support
Covenant House Vancouver opened in 1997 in response to an overwhelming need for housing and support services for homeless and at-risk youth. We are primarily privately funded (95%) and supported by 180 employees, 140 volunteers and 50,000 donors. We offer a full range of services through a carefully designed continuum of care or “one-stop shop” for youth in crisis. This includes ongoing support from our Integrated Case Management team who are all certificated Social Workers.
The Outreach Team seeks out young people living on the streets, in Single Room Occupancies (SROs), or those at-risk of becoming homeless. The Outreach Team is the “face” of Covenant House Vancouver, building trust with the youth, and encouraging them to access our programs where they can get something to eat, clothing, a friendly conversation, or an outside referral. Housing workers and Registered Clinical Counsellors are also available.
It all started when I received a call from Jenny’s mother, who was very concerned that her daughter had come to BC with an abusive man. She didn’t know how to help her daughter from so far away...
Our 63-bed Crisis Program offers safe housing, food, clothing and counselling to young people aged 16 – 24. We take care of their immediate needs first, which are usually medical attention, food and rest. We encourage youth to create their own plan for independence and we support them every step of the way.
As someone that has worked with many of these youth for years, I often wonder when it comes time for them to move on, “Did they get the most they could out of our programming? Will they remember to use their skills?"
Rights of Passage (ROP) is a transitional living program for young people who need housing, structure and support as they strive toward independence. Basic life skills most of us take for granted: budgeting, cooking, cleaning and goal-setting are taught. We also provide emotional support and counselling. We are proud to report that 100% of youth in ROP transition off the street.
Cody joined us in the Rights of Passage Program a little over a year ago. He is a very quiet young man who likes to keep a low profile. Cody’s parents broke up when he was very young, and his mother raised him and his other sibling alone...
Every day, an average
of 104 youth found love
and support at Covenant
House Vancouver
Our incredible volunteers donated almost 6,000 hours of service this year.
After 13 years of service, we gave a heartfelt “thank you” to our now retired Board Chair, Sean Muggah and welcomed our new Board Chair, Allan Seckel.
We broke ground on our second purposely-designed building at the intersection of Drake and Seymour Streets. This second new building will be another safe and welcoming place for youth.
We hosted a roundtable on homelessness and housing initiatives with Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Adam Vaughan and Member of Parliament, Hedy Fry.
Together with Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, we nominated Nicola Wealth for an Association of Fundraising Giving Hearts Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to our community. Thank you, Nicola Wealth!
We held our first virtual Sleep Out: Home Edition to raise critical funds and awareness for homeless youth while still practicing safe physical distancing.
Andrew Teel, who created the fundraiser “Twoonies for Teens” in support of youth who are experiencing homelessness, was a Courage to Come Back Award recipient in the Youth Catagory. Congratulations Andrew!
We participated in the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness and led a talk on Gender Specific Programming: Lessons Learned Pictured above: young man practicing self-care in our Crisis Program.
We were honoured to be chosen as the recipient of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 50/50 Program. Pictured here is winner Jayme M, one of our 50/50 Program winners!
We were honoured to win a 2020 Canadian Green Building Award in the category of “Institutional (Small)” for our new 1302 Seymour Street building.
94% of youth told us
that Covenant House Vancouver
has helped them
See below for our audited financial statements, as well as a link to some additional stats that reflect the impact we made in the community throughout this past year:
Audited Financials Our Stats