2017 Annual Report
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2017 Annual Report 2017 Annual Report Annual Report 2017 1 “ We believe in young people, and if we can get them to believe in themselves, they will rise...” —Kevin M. Ryan 2 Covenant House Mission Statement We who recognize God’s providence and fidelity to His people are dedicated to living out His covenant among ourselves and those children we serve, with absolute respect and unconditional love. That commitment calls us to serve suffering children of the street, and to protect and safeguard all children. Just as Christ in His humanity is the visible sign of God’s presence among His people, so our efforts together in the covenant community are a visible sign that effects the presence of God, working through the Holy Spirit among ourselves and our kids. Annual Report 2017 3 Dear Friends, Over 1.5 million young people have found peace, and hope, and a second chance at Covenant House since our doors opened 45 years ago. Imagine that with me for a moment… Picture thousands and across the Americas. We are their thousands of bag lunches, voice and their love. packed with love and given to When I first started with starving kids on the streets… Covenant House, my job was to Imagine health clinics filled reach out to some of our most with street kids… being given forgotten kids. In a van filled life-saving medical care for with sandwiches and juice, we everything from frostbite to would go out each night and try gunshot wounds… to convince some really good, Think about entire scared homeless kids that their communities of former street lives weren’t over at seventeen. children… young people now in For many kids, we’ve made a their thirties and forties who are difference. It is a great privilege now taxpayers, with homes, jobs to share in the strength, the and families of their own. commitment and the covenant of That is the miracle of Covenant this mission. It is a great privilege House. to work with our staff, our Covenant House is more donors, and most importantly, than caring for kids in 31 cities our kids, as we strive to be a across six countries. We are a voice for those young people human rights and human dignity who too often go unheard. movement for forgotten kids Too many of our kids have 4 Covenant House “You not only provide for the immediate needs of our kids – you give us the chance heard the same message in their be the icons of Christ’s love to show them love. You give us the chance short, painful lives. “You don’t in this world that our kids so to show them their dreams and hopes and belong. You don’t fit in. You’re no desperately need. good.” Forty-five years ago, a simple lives matter. You let us show them they are When a kid hears that over and and profound mission was beautiful in our eyes and God’s eyes.” over, the different resonances started, a ministry to rescue and timbres and pitches of those homeless kids from the street. voices meld into a single voice. Covenant House is bigger than It is their own voice. They begin we were 45 years ago, but the to believe themselves unworthy. justice that we need to achieve in House to fight human trafficking, looking for our help. been made possible because of They don’t hope for tomorrow. the world is greater, and the work about our efforts to open more Thanks to everyone who the love and generosity of our So they don’t aspire, they don’t ahead is enormous. beds in more cities, our 24-hour- gives their time, their work, their donors. dream, and they don’t realize how It is estimated that 3.5 million a-day, seven-day-a-week fight for hard-earned dollars and their On behalf of all our kids, and precious and beautiful they are in young people in the United States the rights, lives and futures of our love to Covenant House. We the thousands more alone on the the eyes of God. between the ages of 18 and 25 will young people. will continue to provide safe streets, thank you for caring. God That’s why your support of this experience what it is like to be Covenant House is leading the sanctuary to kids, and always look bless you, God bless our kids and mission is so important. You not homeless this year. Many of them fight on behalf of these youth to for new and better ways to help God bless this house. only provide for the immediate are trafficked for labor or sexual build a better world for them. This our kids redeem the promise of Gratefully, needs of our kids – you give us exploitation each year, robbed of cannot happen overnight, but I their lives. This is our mission the chance to show them love. their childhoods and forced into have tremendous faith in our staff, that from the very beginning has Kevin Ryan You give us the chance to show slavery and brutality. the support of our donors, the them their dreams and hopes We need to do more to help vigilance of our advocates, and the and lives matter. You let us show these kids and bring them to will of our kids. them they are beautiful in our safety. I’m committed to the We face many challenges on eyes and God’s eyes. unshakeable belief that we can top of the already overwhelming These are difficult times. It’s be the change for kids and help ones presented to our kids in the easy to be overwhelmed by them shape futures of hope and form of crime, addiction, abuse gloom that surrounds us. But promise. We can be the visible and sexual exploitation. More that misses the tremendous sign of God’s love in their lives. families are struggling to survive opportunity we have to In this report you will read and more young people are transcend the darkness and about our efforts at Covenant ending up alone, on the streets, Annual Report 2017 5 We Care When a kid is out on the street at 2 AM, alone and scared to death, you don’t tell that kid to come back later. Their needs can’t wait: clean clothes, a decent meal, a bed to sleep in… and someone who cares. Our programs are specifically designed to rescue kids from the streets and to help them build new lives. 1.5 million The number of homeless and runaway youth that Covenant House has helped with food, shelter, warmth, and love since opening its doors more than 45 years ago. 6 Covenant House Our Programs Outreach Casa Alianza Our staff searches the darkest Casa Alianza, our sites in Latin and toughest street corners, America, provide home and and provides food and counsel- hope to homeless and orphaned ing (and most importantly, an children while fighting for their escape) to homeless kids lost and basic rights. trapped on the streets. Service Crisis Care Our volunteers come from many Everything we do to help a different backgrounds and from homeless child begins with Crisis all across the country. What they Care. With a door that never have in common is their love for closes, and a commitment to any our kids and the commitment to child with no place else to turn, making the world a better place. we have a promise that says very simply, “We’re here for you.” Advocacy & Research Covenant House is the most Rights of Passage powerful human rights move- Our Rights of Passage long-term ment on behalf of kids in the residential program is based on Americas. Through our advocacy the simple belief that all children and research efforts, we strive to have the right to pass into adult- be the voice for the children who hood without being abused and have been forgotten. homeless. Annual Report 2017 7 Covenant House International Fiscal Year 2017 Impact Report Locations Reach United States Canada • Anchorage • Jersey City • Toronto 31 • Asbury Park • Los Angeles • Vancouver Cities • Atlanta • Montclair • Atlantic City • New Orleans Guatemala • Guatemala City • Berkeley • Newark Countries6 • Camden • New York City Honduras • Chicago • Oakland • San Pedro Sula • Detroit • Orlando • Tegucigalpa • Elizabeth • Philadelphia 79,676 • Fort Lauderdale • St. Louis Mexico Young People Reached • Grand Rapids • Washington D.C. • Mexico City • Houston • York Nicaragua • Managua 10,000 17,000 300 2,000 12,000 Nearly 10,000 youth Nearly 17,000 youth Obtained high school On average, nearly More than 12,000 youth served in Residential served through Street diploma or GED 2,000 youth slept in a served in Drop-In & Non- programs Outreach programs CH bed each night Residential programs 8 Covenant House Impact History Gender Average Age All Sites U.S. & Canada All Sites 1% Transgender 15 37% Latin America 81% Criminal justice 51.5% 47.5% Male Female 19.5 Strongly agree or agree 685 U.S. & Canada that they would recommend moms Covenant House to other 36% All Sites young people in their situation Mental health 750 Visits babies 29% All Sites 76% Foster care 41 days placement Average length of stay Strongly agree or agree Crisis Program that their needs have been met at Covenant House 21% Race & Ethnicity 257 days Domestic violence U.S. & Canada Average length of stay Rights of passage program 73% African American 59% 20% Latino/Hispanic 21% Strongly agree or agree Human trafficking Caucasian 12% 1.4 that staff at Covenant average number House helped them Other 5% achieve their goals of visits Native American/Alaskan Native 3% Crisis program 21,000 700,000 1,800 46,000 4,000 On-site medical visits Nights of shelter Obtained employment Nearly 46,000 reached Placed in stable housing provided in Public Education and Prevention programs Annual Report 2017 9 Trafficking Study Human trafficking—the exploitation of a person’s labor through force, fraud, or coercion—is a crime whose victims tend to be society’s most vulnerable.