More Than 4,000 Volunteers Joined Covenant House in November to Combat Youth Homelessness

Our November Numbers:

• 4,000+ volunteers, including 2,810 Sleep Out participants.
• 3,931 kits packed with essentials for Covenant House youth.
• 3.72 billion earned media impressions.
• $15 million raised to support youth facing homelessness.
• One step closer to ending youth homelessness as we know it.

Millions of young people experience homelessness each year. Every November, Covenant House unites a global community to confront this crisis head-on. This year, our partners and champions showed up, shared their time, and supported fundraising efforts throughout the month, and into December.   

Times Square Rally to End Youth Homelessness

 On Nov. 1, Comedian Suzy Eddie Izzard, podcast host Aurora Culpo, and CBS News Anchor Jericka Duncan joined Covenant House leaders, alumni, and partners in Times Square, in the heart of New York City, at the Rally to End Youth Homelessness. The event, the largest gathering of advocates and allies in the U.S., marked the start of Youth Homelessness Awareness Month. 

 A highlight of the rally was the all-hands challenge for volunteers to fill an all-electric Kia EV9 three-row EV Sport Utility Vehicle with outreach kits for homeless youth. In under one hour, volunteers filled over 500 kits with essential items thanks to the generosity of Bombas, Bumble and bumble, Huron, IKEA Brooklyn, L'Oreal, Shed Rain, Shutterfly, Starbucks, and W New York – Times Square. 

The rally also featured a transformative announcement from Wells Fargo, which committed $300,000 to Covenant House to directly support five Covenant House locations: New York, Georgia, Orlando, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. Their grant will help provide transitional housing and critical services that give young people the stability they need to rebuild their lives.

Special thank-you to our sponsors at Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A Tri-State, Starbucks, and Kia for helping to make the kickoff to Youth Homelessness Awareness Month a success!

Across Covenant House sites, volunteers participated in our annual kit packing challenge, and, together, they packed 3,931 kits with essential items for youth facing homelessness. Participating corporate and community partners included: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anywhere Real Estate, Boston Consulting Group, Bumble & bumble, Compensation Advisory Partners, Critical Role, Databricks, Elemis Skincare, Guggenheim Partners, Holocene Advisors, JP Morgan, KIA, L&L Holding Company, McKinsey & Company, Meltwater, New York Mets, Schroders, Thrive Global, and Weyerhaeuser.

Thousands Sleep Out and Speak Out in Solidarity with Homeless Youth

Throughout November, thousands of business leaders, students, and celebrities joined the Covenant House Sleep Out connected by Cisco in solidarity with youth facing homelessness. Sleep Out took place in 19 cities across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Sleepers gave up their beds for one night and in many cities, they slept outside in the rain, wind, and cold to raise critical funds for Covenant House — and to let the world know about the ever-growing population of young people who face homelessness. 

The morning after the Sleep Out, first-time participant Brynn Whitfield, of “The Real Housewives of New York City,” shared, 

Last night's Covenant House Sleep Out was really emotional for me. I've met and befriended several young people who live at Covenant House and I can't imagine any of them living or sleeping unsheltered, even for a night! Youth homelessness is unacceptable and we must continue to come together in a spirit of compassion and action.” 

Thanks to Our Champions and Supporters

This monumental effort would not have been possible without the support of our corporate partners, volunteers, and advocates. Thank you to all our partners and volunteers for being ‘all in’ on ending youth homelessness as we know it today.

Corporate partners that raised critical funds and awareness for youth experiencing homelessness included Accenture, Bank of America, Chick-fil-A Tri-State, Cisco, Delta Air Lines, Humble Bundle, Kia, MetLife Foundation, Morgan Stanley, the NBA, NBPA, Pimco, Pret A Manger, The Starbucks Foundation, Shutterfly, Take-Two Interactive, Tao Group Hospitality, Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation, Wells Fargo, New York Yankees, and many more.

Online supporters raised their voices, too. Hundreds of community champions signed a petition to members of the U.S. Congress to support the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, the most effective legislation for providing the necessary funds for services to homeless youth across all 50 states. They also lit a virtual candle as a part of a candlelight vigil to shine a light on the crisis of youth homelessness and light the way for young people on their journey from the streets to safety.

Growing the Movement

Youth Homelessness Awareness Month generated 3.72 billion media impressions! Raising awareness and providing our community champions with actions they can take to support homeless youth is a critical aspect of Youth Homelessness Awareness Month and national media partners like Nexstar Media Group, iHeart, and NBCU helped amplify Covenant House’s message through coverage of key events such as the Sleep Out, candlelight vigils, Thanksgiving, and GivingTuesday campaigns. Covenant House also appeared in three national segments on NewsNation.

In recognition of Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, Covenant House received additional support from powerhouse advocates, including Mötley Crüe, Five Finger Death Punch, Rachel Brosnahan, Jalen Brunson, Ariana DeBose, John Dickerson, Nicole Williams English, KEM, Audra McDonald, The Kid Mero, and Mohamed Sanu.

Stay involved and stay in touch at covenanthouse.org.