Skip to main content

Search

Main navigation

  • Learn
    • About Us
    • Accountability
    • Leadership
    • Board of Directors
    • The Issues
    • Locations
    • Casa Alianza
    • Newsroom
  • Our Impact
    • Continuum of Care
    • Advocacy
    • Our Strategy
    • Meet Our Kids
  • Take Action
    • Sign Up
    • Fundraise
    • Careers

Secondary Navigation

  • Sleep Out
  • Get Help
  • Donate

Newsroom

Follow us

50 years
Covenant House
Opening Doors For Homeless & Trafficked Youth

Desktop Menu

  • Learn
    • About Us
    • Accountability
    • Leadership
    • Board of Directors
    • The Issues
    • Locations
    • Casa Alianza
    • Newsroom
  • Our Impact
    • Continuum of Care
    • Advocacy
    • Our Strategy
    • Meet Our Kids
  • Take Action
    • Ways to Give
    • Fundraise
    • Sign Up
    • Careers
Donate Now

Secondary Navigation

Donate Now Donate
  • Sleep Out
  • Get Help
  • Donate

FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU

  • Anchorage, Alaska
  • Berkeley, California
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Oakland, California
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
  • Orlando, Florida
  • Atlanta, Georgia
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • St. Louis, Missouri
  • Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Asbury Park, New Jersey
  • Camden, New Jersey
  • Elizabeth, New Jersey
  • Jersey City, New Jersey
  • Montclair, New Jersey
  • Newark, New Jersey
  • New York, New York
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • York, Pennsylvania
  • Houston, Texas
  • Vancouver, Canada
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Mexico City, Mexico
  • Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • Tegucigalpa, Honduras
  • Managua, Nicaragua

A life changed forever

Donate now to help kids like Guenson

Guenson always had a difficult relationship with his father, the only parent he had in the U.S. since he came here from Haiti in 2004. In the middle of conflicts with him, Guenson broke into a house so he could wash his clothes. It would be a decision that changed his life forever.

He was arrested by ten armed police officers and incarcerated for nine long months. On the day he finally received news that he was eligible for release, his excitement was short-lived: he needed a note from his father saying that he had a place to live. When Guenson’s father wouldn’t take his calls or respond to his letters, he spent an extra thirteen months in jail.

When he finally left, he wanted to cry. He had waited a long time for this, but soon woke up to the cold reality that he was homeless. Guenson found that being homeless on the streets was as harsh as being incarcerated. He remembered nights when he walked for hours trying to find an abandoned home to sleep in. When he found one, he was too frightened to go inside because that’s what sent him to jail in the first place. He finally returned his old home where he had lived with his father two years earlier. The house was barricaded, but the garage was unlocked. He found a mattress on the street and dragged it inside.
 

Guenson told us that he almost enjoyed sleeping on the old mattress inside his abandoned garage that first night, but other nights he wasn’t so lucky. If he noticed police patrolling, he would be forced to move along – sleeping outside, exposed to the elements. It was then that he heard about Covenant House. Guenson shared this memory about walking through the doors for the first time:

“Unlike my own father, Covenant House welcomed me with open arms. When my blood family counted me out and left me behind, Covenant House was there for me, and the staff of Covenant House have become my new family. Being at Covenant House has changed the way I think, and changed the way I act. It has given me the guidance I never found at home and the courage that I didn’t know I had.”

Ever since Guenson was young, his dream has been to become a chef. With the support and encouragement of our staff, he found a job as a prep cook and loved it. He was quickly promoted, and was fortunate to work for an executive chef who took him under his wing. He is now on a path where he can keep working hard to fulfill his dreams.
 

Guenson moved into Rights of Passage, Covenant House’s transitional living program where he has his own apartment and the support of our staff. He works two other jobs in addition to being a cook, and volunteers at the Covenant House shelter when he has a day off – so he is always busy building his future. Covenant House gave him the support he needed to transform his life.

Donate now to help kids like Guenson

Back to more stories
Donate
Learn
  • About Us
  • Accountability
  • Leadership
  • Board of Directors
  • The Issues
  • Locations
  • Casa Alianza
  • Newsroom
Our Impact
  • Continuum of Care
  • Advocacy
  • Our Strategy
  • Meet Our Kids
Take Action
  • Sign Up
  • Fundraise
  • Careers

Covenant House builds a bridge to hope for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking through unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support. Our doors are open 24/7 in 34 cities across six countries and our high-quality programs are designed to empower young people to rise and overcome adversity, today and in the future.

Covenant House is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization;
(EIN/Tax ID number: 13-2725416 DUNS number: 07-520-9411).
461 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY‎ 10001 | 800-388-3888‎ | Email us info@covenanthouse.org
Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Stay Informed
  • Gift Catalog
  • Give Monthly
  • Sitemap