Covenant House

Covenant House was founded by Reverend Bruce Ritter in 1972. He started the shelter for homeless children. What started as a humble beginning is today a huge organization helping thousands of children who are either abandoned or have run away from home because of abuse. Today, Covenant House has centers in 21 cities in the United States, Central America and Canada, sheltering 55,000 homeless children every year.

Covenant House shelters are situated in Washington, D.C, St.Louis, Tegucigalpa, Milpas Altas, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Oakland, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Anchorage, Detroit, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Managua, Mexico City, Philadelphia, Newark, Toronto and Vancouver. Covenant House has also started telephone hotlines for children to get in touch with them, in case of a crisis situation. In the United States it is named as Ninelines. Children can call these toll free lines for counseling. This heotline is available throughout the week and children can also send emails with their queries and problems. They are given counseling over the phone and medical attention in case a need arises. This has helped thousands of children in the United States and also in Mexico where this facility is has recently been made available.

Covenant House also acts as a legal house for these children as they do not have anyone to represent them. There may be number of reasons for these children being homeless, Covenant House helps to identify such children and give them a new life. Some of the major reasons were found to be abuse, human trafficking and children leaving foster care after 18 years of age.

In all the cases, children are not equipped to handle their lives as they have either discontinued studies, are jobless or are not qualified for any job and maybe are in need of immediate medical attention. Covenant House proves to be a haven for such children until they are ready to stand on their own in the society.

NOTE: Information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Some content is compiled from 3rd party sources. If you are aware of incorrect or outdated information, feel free to contact us.