Covenant House California

The worst establishment I have ever stayed at in my entire life of being homeless. Once you see something, please, people, I implore you to take heed. This organization/shelter is the worst place in the Bay Area. This is going to be prolonged. I got here around 9/8/22. When I got here, I spoke with Brian, who was very helpful to the extent of his capabilities. Days went by, and I had no problem with this organization. Being a conscious individual, I was fully aware of previous reviews I had read online. The reviews that followed were "staff does not care about youth," "staff only care about money," and "they will kick you out for absolutely zero reasons." I thought everyone was being dramatic and paid them no mind. A week went by, and I still had no problem with the staff or the residents, though I did notice myself checking off boxes in my head that I had read from reviews that matched my experience here. Before I go on, I would like to say people will smile on your face and be orchestrating and planning your demise. Ok, back to my review. More weeks go by, and now I am being threatened by a roommate/resident. I ignored them. The threats kept coming, so I texted the futile case manager. They responded and said I had to wait until they got in so I could check in with them. I waited until they came, and they handed me a grievance letter. You write out your complaints and sentiments on this piece sheet with this paper. The case manager did not bother to speak to me but just handed me a piece of paper after I told them I was being threatened with my life. First red flag. The second red flag was when I reported the incident; still, no action was taken. The resident said they were going to stab me with scissors. Mind you. I told them I thought weapons were not allowed and were against the policy. They neglected my concerns again. More weeks go by, and I'm still being threatened. I am a college student, so I had to study and could not do so due to the antagonist making hostile threats. I compensated by waking up early and heading to the library. Another week passed, and I saw we had new people joining our room. Everything was going fine and dandy until my stuff started coming up missing. My wallet was stolen right after they entered the room, which is weird because I have never encountered a thief before. I made another report, and the conflict between our current roommate (the one making threats toward me) and our new roommate had exploded by that time. They got into a huge dispute and were later asked to leave. By this time, my mental capacity to stay here was in the garbage. I have never in my life had to argue with other adults or had to keep my belonging in a locker due to thieves being present. When I first arrived, there was no mention of locks or safety precautions. They stated that they did not tolerate bullying, homophobia, or gossiping. Anyways after my stuff came up stolen, keep in mind my stuff started getting stolen once these new individuals arrived. Another week passed, and my debit card and $400 worth of headphones came up stolen. Due to my severe OCD, I made sure I kept everything around me because I was not going to allow the thief to steal from me again, but even then, the crafty thief was able to sneak into my bag while I was sleeping. I was pissed because I had just got a new debit card and replaced all my information. I told all the staff, and they were nonchalant. Going back to the reviews where the reviewers told me all staff did was sit on their asses. Which gave me even greater clarity and affirmation that they did not care about youth. I texted the futile case manager again, and they texted the vice president, and she told me she would like to meet with me Monday afternoon. I said fine. In my head, I was already thinking of leaving; I just wanted my headphones replaced or compensated. Also, I developed severe PTSD due to my stay here. And a mini ED due to stress and other pressures. So I am waiting for Monday to get here. It's hard for me to sleep due to all the hostility in the ambiance. I wake up out of the night and can fall back to sleep. I roam the building while carrying my backpack because I am scared it will come up missing if I leave anything else lying around. I wait and wait until Monday gets here. I was up around five and went to do laundry again. I already had it in my mind that this place was not for me. I waited for hours. The vice president finally arrived and said she could not help me with anything. Mind you. I waited hours for her to tell me this lackluster response. My head was pounding, and my heart was racing. I was so frustrated that they wasted my precious studying time and time, in general, to say, "yeah, there are thieves around, but what we can offer you is a lock"???!!! Do you mean to tell me after almost being here a month, you guys are just now offering me a locker????????? I took my things and told them I was leaving. I am filing a lawsuit for my stolen property and the negligence of care and concern. I would never recommend coming here. It is by far the worse shelter I have ever stayed at. I would rather sleep in a cardboard box than spend another night in this profit-seeking institution. Also, the micro-aggression is insane. I was called "aggressive" for expressing my feelings toward my stolen property and was not loud at all.

When one of my favorite women on Unilocal,Miriam W, came to me back in May and asked if I would help her promote the Yogathon put on by Covenant House, I immediately agreed. I was more than happy to be a part of an admirable organization as Covenant House — a non-​profit organization that provides shelter and services to homeless and at-​risk youth. When she explained what the Yogathon was, I was a bit hesitant and told her, «I will do everything I can to help get sponsors and raise money, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do 108 sun salutations.» Miriam assured me that I would be able to do them, and that I shouldn’t have anything to be afraid of. Fears laid to rest, I wholeheartedly registered, got sponsors, helped Miriam organize a Yogic Happy Hour at 111 Minna in June, and another one at WISH earlier this month, and completed all 108 sun salutations at Sharon Meadow yesterday morning.
Miriam and I were able to raise nearly $ 1,000 with the awesome help of Unilocal and its members. «IT’S FOR THE KIDS!» We’d tell people. Euge became one of our best promoters and cheerleaders at our events. We provided people with pamphlets and explained what the Yogathon and what Covenant House was about. We were so happy to see how many people were so giving to the cause.
Finally, after 4 months of fundraising efforts, the Yogathon was finally here. Yesterday, Team Unilocal represented. We were the largest team among all the participants, and also the group that raised the most money — nearly $ 5,000. Our very own Andy «Seabiscuit» R. was one of the Top 3 fundraisers.
Before the 108 sun salutations began, we were greeted by Sean S. and Rosa, a youth of Covenant House, shared her story with us. Her moving story of how her life had been turned around by Covenant House brought tears to my eyes. As a early teen, she moved from home to home, did drugs, got into violent fights, and at age 16, she turned to prostitution. After being placed in a mental institution and another outreach facility that had to turn her away, she went to Covenant House. There, she was able to turn her life around, and now at 19, has her own place and is planning on getting her driver’s license and buying her own car. Before her testimony, I hadn’t fully realized how great of an impact Covenant House had on the community and its youth. I didn’t know how much this money that I had helped to raise was going to be so life-​altering for so many youth. After this, I knew that these 108 sun salutations were not going to be difficult to get through. I realized how blessed I am to have the life I have, and that I have never known the hardships in life so many of these youth have already experienced.
The 108 sun salutations were a blur, but I remember all the wonderful yoga instructors who came around to help me correct my poses, as well as awesome chiropractors John G. and Eric Rubin, who gave me my first spine, hip and neck adjustment. I felt amazing afterward. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well, knowing that I could contribute even just a small part of my time and money to such a great organization as Covenant House.

Yes, there is also a Covenant House in Houston, Texas too. Great place with a noble cause. I use to be a part of another organization like Covenant, I was an executive assistant to the president and did more than the title, so much work. I will see what I can do to help in the future. They have always been respected in neighborhoods.
Thanks for this review. Please everyone, donate your time or what else you can. Children of the street needs us.

I first became acquainted with the work of Covenant House through reading the paperback books the organization sent to my grandmother when I was a youngster in Las Vegas. These books told inspiring tales of homeless youth saved from the streets and given help to turn their lives around. I was never able to forget the hopeful stories I read in those books and felt strangely comforted by them thinking that if I were ever homeless I would have somewhere safe to go.
Years later, I came across Covenant House again — this time in Oakland. Even more potent than the narratives were the realities of the homeless young people I met. Over the years I’ve been lucky to lend a hand to Covenant House in various capacities as a volunteer. Every time I set foot in the shelter or the community service center I am struck by how powerful and vitally important the work being done at Covenant House truly is. The young people who utilize the services at Covenant House are ones who have been let down by the people whose charge it was to protect them from harm. They are young people who have survived against tremendous odds — abused and neglected by parents, forgotten by the foster care system when they age out at 18 and have no where to turn.
Covenant House, the largest privately-​funded child welfare agency in the Americas, provides safe shelter for these young people but a place to sleep and food to eat are just the beginning. Covenant House’s mission is to «protect and safeguard all children of the street» with «absolute respect and unconditional love.» I have seen this first-​hand and it is awe-​inspiring. Ultimately, the goal is to help all who pass through their doors to gain self-​sufficiency and this is done through goal setting, counseling, employment assistance, life skills classes and other support services. Seeing a young person go from homeless and living in their shelter to being gainfully employed and living independently is amazing and facilitating that incredible transition requires abundant resources.
If ever you have wondered how to solve homelessness, if ever you have called someone living on the street a «bum», if ever you have wanted to help but didn’t know how — I give you Covenant House. If you can cook, if you can tutor, if you can do sun salutations, if you can take pictures, if you can offer hope, if you can listen, if you can open up your wallet — you can help.