Bill's Blog: Up North and Upstream with Covenant House Toronto 

Bill’s Blog: Stories of Shelter, Stability, and Survival.

Blog Six: Up North and Upstream with Covenant House Toronto 

I cherish the moments when I’m on the sports field and courts with my sons watching them hone their skills and gain confidence with each practice and game. I watch (and try not to yell) on the sidelines as they work to achieve their goals, like pitching a no-hitter or draining a 3-pointer. I’m immensely proud to see their hard work pay off. 

I’m quick to recognize talent, and I have deep admiration for people who put in the time and hustle to build their skill set overtime. Mark Aston, the CEO of Covenant House Toronto since 2019, is one of those people who is both naturally gifted and relentlessly committed to the hustle. Mark has dedicated his career to taking action against poverty and homelessness. His experience in public policy development, system change initiatives, board and sector leadership, revenue development, and volunteerism is extensive and varied. When I have the opportunity to spend time with him during our Covenant House CEO retreats, I soak up his knowledge, his big vision, and his passion.

Founded in 1982, Covenant House Toronto was the third of what are now 34 Covenant House sites to open in our federation. CHT is located in the heart of downtown Toronto at 20 Gerrard Street and housed in an impressive 100,000 square foot red brick building with a drop-in center, program spaces, and 96 beds.

Recently, I asked Mark to help us expand Covenant House International’s strategic vision for the prevention pathway of our road map, The Journey Home, which contemplates our adding more prevention programs and services while also continuing to enhance and expand our critical intervention services. Covenant House Toronto has been leading the way in prevention work for a decade.

“As we continue to serve the immediate and pressing needs of youth who’re experiencing homelessness, we’re equally focused on working upstream to prevent more youth from this traumatic experience,” says Mark. He adds, “This means intervening earlier, faster, and more effectively when a young person is at risk of homelessness and supporting them to transition quickly out of it.”

Like staff at all sites across our federation, the CHT team recognizes that the challenges facing youth today are, increasingly, more complex than ever, particularly for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness and sex trafficking. In Toronto, Canada, like cities across the U.S., they have seen how inflation, a lack of affordable-for-youth housing, and the opioid crisis are disproportionately affecting the young people we serve. Youth are facing greater mental health and addiction challenges, and they’re staying longer in our shelter without other options.

Covenant House Toronto has several prevention initiatives that are already showing positive results. We’re beginning to map them for expansion into other Covenant House sites, with the goal to have all our sites incorporate more intentional prevention strategies in the coming years.

An example is Youth Reconnect, a program launched in 2022 that works with Toronto schools and child welfare agencies to identify and intervene with young people at imminent risk of homelessness. The program reduces factors that may lead to them becoming homeless — 98% of participating youth remained housed last year. What’s more, Mark shared, “Our family counseling program works with young people and their families to improve or resolve family conflicts before a young person becomes homeless. Last year, all the youth who saw a family counselor remained stably housed.”

Covenant House Toronto has wide reach in the community, and their programs are well known and well respected in the region. The leadership at CHT has recommitted annually to investing in public education programs to reach as many youth as possible. Mark proudly states, “Our partnerships with school boards allow us to proactively address youth homelessness and trafficking. This year alone we presented to almost 25,000 students, equipping them with the knowledge and resources to avoid becoming homeless or trafficked, and to understand ways they can help peers who may be at risk of experiencing these crises.”

As I map the details of a sound and effective plan, I’m confident that Mark’s expertise will help to guide our strategies while we gather the data, research, best practices, partners, and financing that will secure the progress of The Journey Home. And as we meet and overcome obstacles along the way, I know that I can count on Mark to remind all of us about the importance of finding and creating joy in this work. It’s what the young people in our care deserve and will keep our North Star ever before us.

Mark recently shared his joy in an interview with LinkedIn, and he perfectly articulated how I feel when I’m on site at Covenant House. He shared, “The energy of youth — and both staff and volunteers — is also highly motivating. When I walk around Covenant House and observe what's happening, it's like an automatic lift. I encounter people who are happy with what they're doing and fully engaged in their work. I also come across young individuals with incredible potential and fresh ideas. It's a highly uplifting environment. Let's not claim perfection; no, we're not that. However, overall, it's a very cohesive, energetic, and positive organization, and that lifts me up.

“I've never woken up in the morning and not wanted to go to work. Not once. Part of the reason is this place; you can definitely feel that positive vibe and energy when you walk through the door and interact with everyone here. I thoroughly enjoy the nature of my work and seldom find reasons to complain about it.”

This season, I may be cheering on my favorite football team — the Philadelphia Eagles — while Mark is forever rooting for his football team — Manchester United — but at Covenant House, we’re on the same team, working toward the same goal: To end youth homelessness as we know it. We don’t expect to arrive at our goal tomorrow, but we do expect to arrive in our lifetime.

Bill Bedrossian is President and CEO of Covenant House International. Prior to this role, Bill served as the CEO of Covenant House California since 2014, leading the site to quadruple in size in those eight years. Bill’s passion for working with youth came from his parents, who have been foster parents for over 30 years and have adopted 8 of his 11 siblings through the child welfare system.