Covenant House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Covenant House is the largest privately-funded childcare agency in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless and runaway youth.
Contents |
[edit] Locations and Services
It was incorporated in New York City in 1972 by Father Bruce Ritter and has since expanded in the United States to:
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Detroit, Michigan
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Houston, Texas
- Los Angeles, California
- Newark, New Jersey
- New Orleans, Lousiana
- Oakland, California
- Orlando, Florida
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Washington, D.C.
and, outside the United States, to:
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Managua, Nicaragua
In addition to food, shelter, clothing and crisis care, Covenant House provides a variety of services to homeless youth including health care, education, vocational preparation, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, legal services, recreation, mother/child programs, transitional living programs, street outreach and aftercare.
[edit] Presidents
Despite having a Board of Directors, Covenant House's public face has tended to be it's presidents. Father Bruce Ritter founded Covenant House and served as President from 1972 to his resignation in 1990. He was succeeded by Sister Mary Rose McGeady, DC, who served from 1990 to 2003. In 2003 the Board of Directors elected Sister Patricia A. Cruise, S.C., effective 1 September 2003. In addition to their administrative duties, the presidents of Covenant House have been known for their fund raising letters telling the stories of the kids Covenant House serves, many of which have been collected into books.
[edit] Nineline
For quite some time, it has had the toll-free telephone number (800) 999-9999. It ran commercials on radio and TV telling people in need of its services to "call 1-800 and then just keep pressing 9". They also maintain a Nineline website where people can post on their forums.
[edit] Scandal
From the late eighties, Father Ritter was accused of a number of acts of sexual and financial impropriety, beginning with the accusations of Kevin Kite. These accusations led to his resignation in 1990 and the institutional reforms under Sister Mary Rose.
[edit] See also
- Street children
- Runaway child
- Casa Alianza
- Non-profit organization
- Homelessness
- Humanitarian aid
- Bruce Ritter
- Kevin Kite
