Covenant House Vancouver
1302 Seymour Street V6B 3P3 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Kristine is one of our kindhearted supporters and she recently held a Candy and Sweatshirt Donation Drive for Covenant House Vancouver. Kristine loved the idea of youth being wrapped in a warm, brand new sweatshirt in the hopes that somehow they will know that someone is sending them a warm hug and best wishes. She shared that Covenant House is often in her thoughts as her dearest grandma had the hugest heart and was a supporter of Covenant House.... Kristine shared that her fundraising journey not only connected her to her grandma’s memory but also allowed her to bear witness to the generous open hearts of her girlfriends. In just four days she raised $1000 to shop for sweatshirts and her children donated pounds and pounds of their candy. Kristine said it was also a wonderful opportunity to talk to her children about helping others. We cannot thank Kristine, her children, and her girlfriends enough for wrapping youth in warmth and giving them a sweet treat too. Thank you so much Kristine!

In the middle of a cold night we had a young lady named Kayla arrive at the door. She had just escaped the apartment where she was living with a very violent and abusive partner. Thankfully, she heard about Covenant House Vancouver and arrived in the middle of the night, nervous and overwhelmed. As a Youth Worker in the female Crisis Program I was able to provide her with a hot cup of tea, a warm meal and of course a safe place to stay. She was very unsure about staying in th...e Crisis Program overnight because she never imagined herself in a situation like this. She even debated going back to the home that was unsafe. I gave her a tour of the Crisis Program just so she could have an idea of what the program was all about. She saw the beautiful new space and was pleasantly surprised when she saw how comfortable the rooms are. Kayla warmed up to the idea of staying in the Crisis Program and said that she never imagined it would be this nice and welcoming. In the end she decided to stay and not go back to the unsafe household. One of the favorite parts of my job is hanging out with the youth and watching movies or playing board games in the living room. After a long week it is always nice for these young people to have a safe, homey place to relax and enjoy their evening interacting with Youth Workers and other residents. The following evening Kayla was still quite shy and had spent most of the day in her room. That night the staff brought in a bunch of art supplies and stockings and all the youth got together to decorate their very own stockings to hang on their door. We drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, and put on a Christmas movie. When we started decorating the stockings Kayla could hear all the chatting and laughter and she decided to join the group. As soon as she sat down all the other youth introduced themselves and welcomed her. After a while it was clear to see that Kayla had started to feel comfortable in the space. Later, in the evening I could even hear Kayla say, wow this home is so nice, I’m so happy I finally decided to come here. It was really rewarding to see a youth go from being so scared and unsure to comfortable, safe, and secure. I feel so lucky to be able to be part of a program that helps get young people out of tough situations and into a safe and supportive environment. Shared by Alysha, Youth Worker in our Crisis Program

Tonight BC Place will light up blue and gold in support of our Sleep Out: Executive Edition happening this Thursday, November 19th. We are so grateful for the support from BC Place! We are also excited to share that when you donate to any of our sleepers your gift will be matched thanks to the generosity of George and Jordan Melville. All donations up to $75,000 will be matched for our Sleep Out Matching Gift Challenge, allowing you to make twice the impact to help youth expe...riencing homelessness. If you are out tonight be sure to check out beautiful BC Place lit up in Covenant House colours and thank you for supporting Sleep Out. https://bit.ly/2Uzkhix

Today, we want to show our gratitude to Global BC and News Talk 980 CKNW for supporting our Triple Match Campaign and helping us raise awareness to help homeless and at-risk youth. Learn more: https://www.covenanthousebc.org

Today is World Kindness Day and we can all agree that the world needs more kindness. On World Kindness Day the goal is to attempt to make the world a better place by celebrating and promoting good deeds and pledging acts of kindness, either as individuals or as organizations. Everyday at Covenant House Vancouver we have the privilege of witnessing incredible acts of kindness. We see it when a volunteers gives of their time, when our donors give generously and selflessly and w...e see it when youth lift each other up and give back to the community. The world can be a tough place but everyday we bare witness to incredible acts of kindness and we are forever grateful.