Introducing the Delta Air Lines Youth Development Center at Covenant House New York

On October 22, our partners at Delta Air Lines made their way to midtown Manhattan for a tour of the new Covenant House New York facility, where they had the opportunity to see a space dedicated in their name.

The Covenant House and Delta Air Lines partnership started in 2012 with Covenant House Georgia and has grown to support our sites in Anchorage, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Newark, Mexico City, and  New York City. Delta provides financial and marketing support, as well as mobilizing employees to volunteer.

 “Giving back is core to our culture here at Delta, and we are proud to partner with Covenant House to help young people in the communities where we live, work and serve,” says Stephanie Asbury, SVP Global Talent and Covenant House International board member.

The Delta Air Lines Youth Development Center will be where many group activities, celebrations, and learning will happen. In this space, youth will have a variety of classes and experiences, including music and creative arts, poetry and creative writing, financial literacy and planning, just to name a few. Additionally, the Youth Development Center also offers important affinity and cultural groups for our LGBTQ+ youth community.

This tremendous and expansive partnership exemplifies the collaborative spirit that undergirds Delta’s business and philanthropic goals and supports Covenant House’s mission to serve youth facing homelessness. In addition to sponsoring and participating in major Covenant House fundraising events such as Night of Covenant House Stars and Sleep Out, Delta has taken their commitment even further by co-creating the Delta Career Readiness Program in partnership with Covenant House’s workforce development program, providing professional mentorship, internships and careers for Covenant House youth.

Right in New York City, a young woman who was in the Delta program told us that she learned “All the basics I need for a successful career: resume writing, how to handle real-life work situations, practice interviewing for a job. And, at the end, we had a real interview for a real job at Delta. We spent a day at the Delta terminal at Laguardia Airport and got to see everything that happens at the airport and all the jobs available, “above and below the wing,” as they say at Delta: customer service, baggage handling, guiding the planes, management—everything! I am so thankful to Delta and Covenant House for the chance to have not just a job but a career, and one that allows me to see the world! I will also never forget the love and respect I felt from the moment I arrived at Covenant House and how good it felt to finally have some stability in my life.”

The new Covenant House New York will give our city’s most vulnerable youth all the services and resources they need to get onto a sustainable path to independence — all under one roof. Youth experiencing homelessness are so much more than their circumstances and they deserve a place where they can heal and get the resources they need to succeed. Thank you to Delta Air Lines and all of our partners who have helped make the new Covenant House New York a reality.