In 2022, we advanced our priority to become a more diverse and inclusive organization. We are committed to being anti-racist, to fighting sexism in all its forms, and to being allies to the LGBTQ+ community. Our stand against racism and gender intolerance is unequivocal because of the ways that prejudice intersects with youth homelessness and disproportionately impacts our Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ youth. This year, we created a diversity, equity, and inclusion department with a strategic plan to promote and monitor the progress of our DEI objectives.

Also over the past year, Covenant House advanced strategic research partnerships to better understand how youth navigate both homelessness and the labor market, how our organization has evolved over the years as a data-driven learning organization, and developed the Resource Library for Research and Data on Homelessness and Racial Equity. The resource library will support research and data utilization toward ending homelessness and advancing racial equity.

In November, also known as Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, Covenant House drove attention to the crisis, issuing a strident call to join the movement to address the root causes so that no young person ever has to be without a safe place to sleep. We spread the word through PSAs, a video series with star power and first-person testimonials of former residents, and a concentration of Sleep Out events at our houses in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.