August 1, 2025 • 18 mins
Aired June 22, 2025: Covenant House California: Lisa Foxx interviews Alana Weinroth, their Chief Development Officer, about all the ways we can help young people who are suffering from homeless on the streets of Los Angeles. We discuss how their programs help rehab young people and give them resources and hope to turn their lives around.
Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit youth shelter that provides sanctuary and support for youth experiencing homelessness, ages 18-24.
We believe that no young person deserves to be homeless; that every young person in California deserves shelter, food, clothing, education … and most importantly, to be loved. CHC provides a full continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational, and spiritual well-being of young people, in order to provide them with the best chance for success in independence.
Covenanthousecalifornia.org Alana Weinroth is their Chief Develpoment Officer...
OPEN DOORS & NON-DISCRIMINATORY
Our doors are open to youth and staff regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit youth shelter that provides sanctuary and support for youth experiencing homelessness, ages 18-24.
We believe that no young person deserves to be homeless; that every young person in California deserves shelter, food, clothing, education … and most importantly, to be loved. CHC provides a full continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational, and spiritual well-being of young people, in order to provide them with the best chance for success in independence.
Covenanthousecalifornia.org Alana Weinroth is their Chief Develpoment Officer...
OPEN DOORS & NON-DISCRIMINATORY
Our doors are open to youth and staff regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi amesa Fox and this is our iHeart so calshow
all right, So we're talking about young people who are
homeless here in southern California. The Covenant House California. They're
a nonprofit youth shelter that provides sanctuary and support for
young people experiencing homelessness, mostly the ages between eighteen and
twenty four. They believe that no young person deserves to
(00:21):
be homeless, and then every young person in California deserves shelter, food, clothing, education,
and most importantly, to be loved. They provide a full
continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational,
and spiritual wellbeing of young people in order to provide
them with the best chance for success in having their
(00:42):
own independence. Covenant House California dot org is their website
for all the info Covenant House California dot org for
more and so I happen to have on their chief
development officer, Alana wineroth on to tell us more, Hilana high,
thanks for having me. I got it tell you. So,
it's the time of year where I mean, I know
(01:03):
the number of homeless people that we have out on
the streets. It's off the charts. But when it's pouring
down rain, and now that it's summertime, it's scorching hot outside,
just driving around through the neighborhoods and driving home or
rightning to the store, and you see folks out in
this in the heat that's coming, the heat that's here.
Just as a human being like, I can't, I can't
(01:24):
watch this. I have to do something. And then I
open up my email and I get email from Alana,
and the email goes out to everyone who's on their
their list, and hopefully more people with this program will
get to more people. But she addresses it exactly so,
she says, dear friend. As the summer heat rises, so
do the challenges faced by young people experiencing homelessness. As
(01:46):
you likely know, one out of every three young people
experiencing homelessness in our country are right here in California.
That means the season brings urgent needs like shelter from
extreme temperatures, access to life saving water, and this safety
of a supportive community to your doorsteps, the doorsteps of
the Covenant House. This is why in the month of
June you are matching all donations. The general Supporter is
(02:09):
helping to match donations up one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
So whatever donation we make in the month of June
to the Covenant House to help young people survive the
crazy streets out there, especially in these hot temperatures, our
donations will be double. So that is we got to
pay attention to that. That's I mean, that's big, that's
a big deal. We got to push for this, We
got to make sure everybody knows that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And thank you so much for giving me the opportunity
to be here and tell people about it, because yes,
like you said, there's times of year that are much
harder for a young person who's living out on the streets,
who doesn't have a home to go to. In summertime
is one of those seasons, not just because of the temperatures,
but schools close, dorms close, so a lot of young
(02:50):
people lose housing support, They whose access to resources, food
banks are impacted. Some of the different types of resources
available during the year closed down in the summer. So
there's a big, big need for young people who don't
have homes to go do might be leading school, or
might be access see in these free resources that they
(03:12):
no longer have access to so they need so much
help and so much support from their community.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So do we see an influx of more people than
more people are homeless, more young people are become homeless
or experience homelessness during the summer.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, my goodness. Okay, So Alana, talk about describe the
atmosphere of the Cotted House and Hollywood. I know we
have them up and down the state of California, more
so in the Bay Area a bunch of the Bay Area.
Is this the only one in southern California, the one
in Hollywood on Western.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It is the only one in Los Angeles County, But
we actually have a site in Anaheim serving Orange County, Okay.
And as you mentioned, we have a site in Santa
Clara and in Oakland, and then we'll be opening up
our fifth site in Hayward.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
This summer wonderful And I will say from for firsthand experience,
it is the spot in Hollywood is really beautiful and
welcoming and the way that you invite people in to
stay there, it's really a special place. Talk about why
it's so special and maybe kind of describe it for
folks listening.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Well, yeah, that's it's such a special place, like you mentioned,
and I think that's for a couple of reasons, one
of which being I always refer to our site here
as a campus. It does not feel like a shelter.
If you picture what a shelter for homeless views looks like,
it is not our campus. And one of those reasons
is that when it was built over thirty years ago,
(04:32):
the architect actually asked the young people who were going
to move in what home would feel like for them,
and they describe this like sanctuary space. It's very open
template with lots of plants and flowers and angels, and
that's what we built. So what you'll see if you
walk into our campus is you're greeted with a mural,
You're greeted by a lot of friendly people who are
(04:53):
excited to see you. And then when you walk inside
of our campus, there's housing and plan and flowers and
a big basketball court in the middle, because we really
want this space to feel warm and inviting and supportive
to them.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Ah, I love that. And then how many are you
able to house there in Hollywood?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, We've got about over one hundred on on site
here in Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And then a while back, right was it an Oprah
got together. Oprah. There's an Oprah story there. Oprah and
her team kind of came in and they even did
like a really nice makeover and provided new beds. It
was a whole makeover of the sleeping quarters for folks
who stay there.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Right, that's right, I mean, if you can believe this,
it was eight years ago now that Oprah came to
our campus and yes, she redid bought new beds for
all the young people because they were sleeping on the
same same beds for many, many years. And that's a
luxury for us to get new beds and did a
whole remodel with Nate Burgis and Jeremiah Bread.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was lovely, so so nice, and that you know,
again just for folks to know that that's available. And
then talk about just the overall vibe. And then what
you do for folks who show up, I mean talk
about kind of walk us through. Are they assessed once
they get there? What are you going through? What's happened
in your life? What can we provide for you, you know,
aside from some of the basic needs like toilet, trees,
(06:16):
some clothing, place to take a shower.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So when young people come in
off the streets to come access housing, their meat by
one of our dearest staff members, since Marion, and she
really makes them feel comfortable. We do do an assessment
to see, you know where they're coming from and what
their immediate needs are. Any young person off the street
(06:39):
can access our showers, can access our washer and dryers
to clean their clothes, they can get a hot meal,
and they can access our medical clinic. Any young person
off the street, regardless of if we have a better or not. Unfortunately,
we always have a wait list. So what we'll do
for young people when they come in to access a
(06:59):
bed or check in on the wait list is we're
going to meet with them. And then another position that
we have is a problem solver where we're also going
to meet with them and see if there's any type
of reunification possible with any type of family and if not.
We also partner with all the local shelters in the area,
so we all will connect with each other to see
if anybody else has a bed. So you're not just
(07:21):
met with there's no bed, try again later. There's a
full service for young people. Because that's a really scary,
brave step to even just come in and see if
there's a bed for them.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and again, the space is so safe there at
Covenant House in Hollywood, and with the age range, Gosh,
you think about I know again driving around the city.
You know, we have moments where we just look at
these encampments or see people going through what they're going through,
and you're like, wow, how did you get there? How
did you get what? How did it get so bad?
You're here? And I know, right, you have people They're
(07:54):
coming from all kinds of different situations, whether it's related
to drugs and alcohol abuse or just flat out poverty
or lack of affordable housing, or terrible even worse stories
involving human trafficking, or you know, gaps in the foster
care system. So a touch on that, like what what
do you experience and what situations are these young people
coming from as to why they got to that place.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, about over thirty percent of our young people have
gone through the foster care system and aged out. Oftentimes
we see that when they age out, they're then kicked
out of their foster homes. They end up out on
the streets with no sort of support or resources. And
at eighteen years old. You are certainly not ready to
pay la rent and take care of yourself. So that's
(08:38):
a big demographic. We serve nearly forty percent LGBTQ plus
you who, a lot of which have been kicked out
of their homes because of their identities, and as you mentioned,
we do serve survivors of human trafficking. So we see
it all. But I think you're right that there's a
background of poverty and abuse, and there's a lot of trauma,
(09:00):
which is why we want them to come into this space.
After so much trauma in their lives, it's really hard
to trust somebody after all of that, and so we
really just want to be the person that they can trust.
And we also know that it takes time that we
have to build and earn that trust, and so that's
what we do.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
And so obviously every story is different, But how long
does the process take? How long are they allowed to
stay at Covenant House in Hollywood? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Really, yes, it does look different, but I but we're
really proud that we have a couple phases of programming.
In the first one we call Safe Saving, it's about
thirty to ninety days that young people typically stay in
that program, and then if they so want to, we
have more of a true transitional living program on site,
which is an additional sixteen to twenty four months, so okay,
(09:49):
they can stay here for a couple of years if
they want to. We sort of help connect them to jobs,
or we have a charter school right on site so
they can get their g ED or high school diploma. Right,
so great, heaving a house, yeah, amazing. And then lastly,
something that we've really space that we've moved into is
sort of the aftercare piece, Lisa. So it is pretty
(10:12):
expensive to purchase housing in LA or even to find
an apartment, and so we have created this next phase
of our program called affordable free Youth Housing. We charge
young people thirty percent of their income, so if they're
making minimum wage, that they can pay for these apartments.
And through private, private dollars, we are purchasing old motels
(10:37):
or abandoned schools and just empty properties that are sitting empty. Yeah,
we purchase them, we renovate them, and we're moving our
young people into those and they can say for as
long as they want.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So great, Oh my gosh, that's amazing, and especially young
people who are able to get into your program and
work the program, take advantage of all that you're offering,
and hopefully be able to turn their lives around, create
a life, create a life coming from such a low
place and then creating a life getting that second chance,
that new chapter, that new chapter that they deserve, and
(11:06):
that to be you know, to feel like a full,
real citizen and human being where you can have a
life and with dignity and you know, feel good about
where you are and where you're going. I mean, that's
exciting that you can help offer that or try right.
You do everything your power to try right.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
That's right, That's exactly right. And we see a lot
of success come out of here. We have amazing success
stories that we are so proud of. And young people
go on to become alumni and they have families and
they come back and visit us all the time. Or
they're working at big corporations in la and they own
homes and they're contributing members of society. And you would
(11:43):
never even know, but we know because they come back
and visit us and they think us all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I love that. I love that. That's why, just like
Alana is saying, it's an important time of year to give,
especially to homeless youth through the Covenant House right there
in Hollywood on Western near Fountain. And when you give
in the month of June, no matter what, you give,
twenty five bucks, fifty bucks, ten dollars by whatever you
can afford, it's going to be matched due to a
generous supporter who's matching everything up dow hundred and fifty
(12:08):
thousand dollars and this money is going to go a
long way. So it's Covenant House, California dot org, Covenant
cove n Ant, Covenant House, California dot org. And whatever
you can give, it will be double throughout the entire
month of June. So give what you can because it's
going to help invest in these young people who need us.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Let's talk about ways that we can help aside from donating,
which is major, but what are the ways that we
can help back in the day. I know policies have changed,
but back in the day, I used to donate my
gently used clothing to Covenant House. But and then you
know new toilet trees am I gently used clothing? Now
it's I know we're big fans of gift cards, but
(12:50):
talk about what we could donate to young people staying
there in terms of actual items.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Oh yeah, so we have an Amazon whichh was on
our website as well. So if you go to cover
Healthclifornia dot org you go to get involved and hit
Amazon wishless. We've got all kinds of needs divided by
each site, but the big things that we often need
is like you mentioned, is we collect things for hygiene kits,
(13:16):
so toothpaste and body wash and deodorant and toothbrushes and
all the things that you can think of like basic
essentials in travel size and regular sides. Always needs, always needed,
as always needed. We hand this out on the streets.
We go out in the van every night and we're
handing out packs to young people and then giving them
things when they get here. They can usually show up
(13:37):
with the clothes on their back. So I think of
all the basic things that you touch in the morning,
those are the things we need. On top of like
you mentioned clothing as well, we always need pillows, you know,
And honestly, all the basic essentials are things that we
need all the time. But again you can also go
to our website. We have an Amazon wishless. We make
it really easy click as KRT sends directly to us.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
So you said you go out in the van and
you're essentially looking for young people to pass out a
flyer or you said pass out the hygiene kits, but
you're looking for them to make sure that they know, hey,
we're open. Are you open twenty for seven? Let people
in twenty for seven?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
We are open twenty four to seven, but we do
intakes from nine to five every day. But if any
young person comes through our or at any time of night,
and especially if they have nowhere to go, we have
emergency overnight stays for young people who aren't safe and
need a place to stay. Again, we'll never just turn
somebody away and send them back out onto the streets.
There's always some type of conversation or support provided, especially
(14:34):
in the middle of the night. But yes, we go
out in the vans, and that's how that's the main
way people young people hear about us is we're going
and we're building connections and we're building trust, and we're
handing out these toilet tree size kits for young people
and telling them about our services and letting them know
that they can come and access some of the things
that I mentioned even if they don't need a bed,
(14:56):
they can come access our medical clinic and I'll get
a warm, warm meal, but also get themselves on the
wait list.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Do you still have the music studio?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We sure do talk about that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Because that was that's such a cool thing again for
young people, you know, it's one thing, thank God, that
they have a safe place to go to at Covenant
House in Hollywood. So once they're there, you know, one
might think they might want to take a beat and
express a little creativity or escape all the problems in
the world for a hot second and listen to music
or create some music. So share the story about the
(15:28):
music studio. They're at Covenant House.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We're so lucky we have it. And that's actually being
to Nikki six and Motley Cruze. He got us such
space over ten years ago, provided all the guitars and things,
and the young people are in there every single day.
I always say, the least interesting thing about our young
people are that they're homeless. They're so talented, they're so smart.
(15:52):
They're musicians, they're actors, they're artists, they're tech. They are
everything that you and more that you would imagine. We're
the most challenged young people, and so there have been
that studio every day. We have a recording boost, we
have pro tools for them to create music on, and
we've got our own THCHD band. So if anyone ever
comes to one of our okay your band is performing,
(16:14):
look at that.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I love it again. What a wealth of support on
so many levels from the folks there, like Alana and
the whole team at Covenant House, Hollywood on Western near Fountain,
and just so much that they're doing for people and
hopes of turning their lives around. You know, let us
help you, let's turn things around. And the ways we
folks listening can be a part of that is by
(16:37):
going to Covenant House California dot org. Covenant House California
dot org. A donation of any amount that you can
it'll be doubled this entire month of June. And then,
like like you said, if you're able to drop off
toilet trees, if you're able to make a donation, all
the information is still on that website. You can also
find out about events they do throughout the year, sleepout
events and coming up is it this week? You're doing
(16:58):
strides for Pride? He talk about that for Pride months
so you.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Can sign up all on your own. This is actually
something that was sort of born out of COVID when
we needed a way to keep people moving and keeping
them energized, and also just a way for people to
sort of fundraise for Covenant Health on their own from
wherever they are, So anyone can sign up. Is a
one week challenge. It goes June twenty third to June
(17:23):
twenty ninth, and the challenge is the loot forty minutes
of activity per day. You can run, walk, bike, swim, dance,
whatever you like to do in support of LGBTQ plus
use overcoming homelessness at Covenant House. So this is a
nationwide initiative, okay, And all you do is you go
to the website Strikes for Pride dot org. I believe,
(17:44):
and you sign up and you can do it from anywhere.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Wow. I love it. I love all that you're doing.
Thank you so much for all that you do there
at Covenant House for young people experiencing homelessness and hopefully,
like I said, the more folks we can help turn
them around and hopes of helping folks have a better
brighter future. Sometimes people need help. Has somebody helped you
in your life. Now it's our turn to pay forward
(18:09):
and help others who need us, young people experiencing homelessness.
That's what the Covenant House Covenant House California is all about,
offering so much love and assistance on so many levels,
as as you've just heard. Thank you Alana wine Roth
for all that you do and your whole team there,
all the information, anything you can do is tremendously appreciated.
(18:32):
Covenant House, California dot org. Thank you, Alana, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Appreciate you too. Thanks so much
Hi amesa Fox and this is our iHeart so calshow
all right, So we're talking about young people who are
homeless here in southern California. The Covenant House California. They're
a nonprofit youth shelter that provides sanctuary and support for
young people experiencing homelessness, mostly the ages between eighteen and
twenty four. They believe that no young person deserves to
(00:21):
be homeless, and then every young person in California deserves shelter, food, clothing, education,
and most importantly, to be loved. They provide a full
continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational,
and spiritual wellbeing of young people in order to provide
them with the best chance for success in having their
(00:42):
own independence. Covenant House California dot org is their website
for all the info Covenant House California dot org for
more and so I happen to have on their chief
development officer, Alana wineroth on to tell us more, Hilana high,
thanks for having me. I got it tell you. So,
it's the time of year where I mean, I know
(01:03):
the number of homeless people that we have out on
the streets. It's off the charts. But when it's pouring
down rain, and now that it's summertime, it's scorching hot outside,
just driving around through the neighborhoods and driving home or
rightning to the store, and you see folks out in
this in the heat that's coming, the heat that's here.
Just as a human being like, I can't, I can't
(01:24):
watch this. I have to do something. And then I
open up my email and I get email from Alana,
and the email goes out to everyone who's on their
their list, and hopefully more people with this program will
get to more people. But she addresses it exactly so,
she says, dear friend. As the summer heat rises, so
do the challenges faced by young people experiencing homelessness. As
(01:46):
you likely know, one out of every three young people
experiencing homelessness in our country are right here in California.
That means the season brings urgent needs like shelter from
extreme temperatures, access to life saving water, and this safety
of a supportive community to your doorsteps, the doorsteps of
the Covenant House. This is why in the month of
June you are matching all donations. The general Supporter is
(02:09):
helping to match donations up one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
So whatever donation we make in the month of June
to the Covenant House to help young people survive the
crazy streets out there, especially in these hot temperatures, our
donations will be double. So that is we got to
pay attention to that. That's I mean, that's big, that's
a big deal. We got to push for this, We
got to make sure everybody knows that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And thank you so much for giving me the opportunity
to be here and tell people about it, because yes,
like you said, there's times of year that are much
harder for a young person who's living out on the streets,
who doesn't have a home to go to. In summertime
is one of those seasons, not just because of the temperatures,
but schools close, dorms close, so a lot of young
(02:50):
people lose housing support, They whose access to resources, food
banks are impacted. Some of the different types of resources
available during the year closed down in the summer. So
there's a big, big need for young people who don't
have homes to go do might be leading school, or
might be access see in these free resources that they
(03:12):
no longer have access to so they need so much
help and so much support from their community.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So do we see an influx of more people than
more people are homeless, more young people are become homeless
or experience homelessness during the summer.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, my goodness. Okay, So Alana, talk about describe the
atmosphere of the Cotted House and Hollywood. I know we
have them up and down the state of California, more
so in the Bay Area a bunch of the Bay Area.
Is this the only one in southern California, the one
in Hollywood on Western.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It is the only one in Los Angeles County, But
we actually have a site in Anaheim serving Orange County, Okay.
And as you mentioned, we have a site in Santa
Clara and in Oakland, and then we'll be opening up
our fifth site in Hayward.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
This summer wonderful And I will say from for firsthand experience,
it is the spot in Hollywood is really beautiful and
welcoming and the way that you invite people in to
stay there, it's really a special place. Talk about why
it's so special and maybe kind of describe it for
folks listening.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Well, yeah, that's it's such a special place, like you mentioned,
and I think that's for a couple of reasons, one
of which being I always refer to our site here
as a campus. It does not feel like a shelter.
If you picture what a shelter for homeless views looks like,
it is not our campus. And one of those reasons
is that when it was built over thirty years ago,
(04:32):
the architect actually asked the young people who were going
to move in what home would feel like for them,
and they describe this like sanctuary space. It's very open
template with lots of plants and flowers and angels, and
that's what we built. So what you'll see if you
walk into our campus is you're greeted with a mural,
You're greeted by a lot of friendly people who are
(04:53):
excited to see you. And then when you walk inside
of our campus, there's housing and plan and flowers and
a big basketball court in the middle, because we really
want this space to feel warm and inviting and supportive
to them.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Ah, I love that. And then how many are you
able to house there in Hollywood?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, We've got about over one hundred on on site
here in Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And then a while back, right was it an Oprah
got together. Oprah. There's an Oprah story there. Oprah and
her team kind of came in and they even did
like a really nice makeover and provided new beds. It
was a whole makeover of the sleeping quarters for folks
who stay there.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Right, that's right, I mean, if you can believe this,
it was eight years ago now that Oprah came to
our campus and yes, she redid bought new beds for
all the young people because they were sleeping on the
same same beds for many, many years. And that's a
luxury for us to get new beds and did a
whole remodel with Nate Burgis and Jeremiah Bread.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was lovely, so so nice, and that you know,
again just for folks to know that that's available. And
then talk about just the overall vibe. And then what
you do for folks who show up, I mean talk
about kind of walk us through. Are they assessed once
they get there? What are you going through? What's happened
in your life? What can we provide for you, you know,
aside from some of the basic needs like toilet, trees,
(06:16):
some clothing, place to take a shower.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So when young people come in
off the streets to come access housing, their meat by
one of our dearest staff members, since Marion, and she
really makes them feel comfortable. We do do an assessment
to see, you know where they're coming from and what
their immediate needs are. Any young person off the street
(06:39):
can access our showers, can access our washer and dryers
to clean their clothes, they can get a hot meal,
and they can access our medical clinic. Any young person
off the street, regardless of if we have a better or not. Unfortunately,
we always have a wait list. So what we'll do
for young people when they come in to access a
(06:59):
bed or check in on the wait list is we're
going to meet with them. And then another position that
we have is a problem solver where we're also going
to meet with them and see if there's any type
of reunification possible with any type of family and if not.
We also partner with all the local shelters in the area,
so we all will connect with each other to see
if anybody else has a bed. So you're not just
(07:21):
met with there's no bed, try again later. There's a
full service for young people. Because that's a really scary,
brave step to even just come in and see if
there's a bed for them.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and again, the space is so safe there at
Covenant House in Hollywood, and with the age range, Gosh,
you think about I know again driving around the city.
You know, we have moments where we just look at
these encampments or see people going through what they're going through,
and you're like, wow, how did you get there? How
did you get what? How did it get so bad?
You're here? And I know, right, you have people They're
(07:54):
coming from all kinds of different situations, whether it's related
to drugs and alcohol abuse or just flat out poverty
or lack of affordable housing, or terrible even worse stories
involving human trafficking, or you know, gaps in the foster
care system. So a touch on that, like what what
do you experience and what situations are these young people
coming from as to why they got to that place.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, about over thirty percent of our young people have
gone through the foster care system and aged out. Oftentimes
we see that when they age out, they're then kicked
out of their foster homes. They end up out on
the streets with no sort of support or resources. And
at eighteen years old. You are certainly not ready to
pay la rent and take care of yourself. So that's
(08:38):
a big demographic. We serve nearly forty percent LGBTQ plus
you who, a lot of which have been kicked out
of their homes because of their identities, and as you mentioned,
we do serve survivors of human trafficking. So we see
it all. But I think you're right that there's a
background of poverty and abuse, and there's a lot of trauma,
(09:00):
which is why we want them to come into this space.
After so much trauma in their lives, it's really hard
to trust somebody after all of that, and so we
really just want to be the person that they can trust.
And we also know that it takes time that we
have to build and earn that trust, and so that's
what we do.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
And so obviously every story is different, But how long
does the process take? How long are they allowed to
stay at Covenant House in Hollywood? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Really, yes, it does look different, but I but we're
really proud that we have a couple phases of programming.
In the first one we call Safe Saving, it's about
thirty to ninety days that young people typically stay in
that program, and then if they so want to, we
have more of a true transitional living program on site,
which is an additional sixteen to twenty four months, so okay,
(09:49):
they can stay here for a couple of years if
they want to. We sort of help connect them to jobs,
or we have a charter school right on site so
they can get their g ED or high school diploma. Right,
so great, heaving a house, yeah, amazing. And then lastly,
something that we've really space that we've moved into is
sort of the aftercare piece, Lisa. So it is pretty
(10:12):
expensive to purchase housing in LA or even to find
an apartment, and so we have created this next phase
of our program called affordable free Youth Housing. We charge
young people thirty percent of their income, so if they're
making minimum wage, that they can pay for these apartments.
And through private, private dollars, we are purchasing old motels
(10:37):
or abandoned schools and just empty properties that are sitting empty. Yeah,
we purchase them, we renovate them, and we're moving our
young people into those and they can say for as
long as they want.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So great, Oh my gosh, that's amazing, and especially young
people who are able to get into your program and
work the program, take advantage of all that you're offering,
and hopefully be able to turn their lives around, create
a life, create a life coming from such a low
place and then creating a life getting that second chance,
that new chapter, that new chapter that they deserve, and
(11:06):
that to be you know, to feel like a full,
real citizen and human being where you can have a
life and with dignity and you know, feel good about
where you are and where you're going. I mean, that's
exciting that you can help offer that or try right.
You do everything your power to try right.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
That's right, That's exactly right. And we see a lot
of success come out of here. We have amazing success
stories that we are so proud of. And young people
go on to become alumni and they have families and
they come back and visit us all the time. Or
they're working at big corporations in la and they own
homes and they're contributing members of society. And you would
(11:43):
never even know, but we know because they come back
and visit us and they think us all the time.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I love that. I love that. That's why, just like
Alana is saying, it's an important time of year to give,
especially to homeless youth through the Covenant House right there
in Hollywood on Western near Fountain. And when you give
in the month of June, no matter what, you give,
twenty five bucks, fifty bucks, ten dollars by whatever you
can afford, it's going to be matched due to a
generous supporter who's matching everything up dow hundred and fifty
(12:08):
thousand dollars and this money is going to go a
long way. So it's Covenant House, California dot org, Covenant
cove n Ant, Covenant House, California dot org. And whatever
you can give, it will be double throughout the entire
month of June. So give what you can because it's
going to help invest in these young people who need us.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Let's talk about ways that we can help aside from donating,
which is major, but what are the ways that we
can help back in the day. I know policies have changed,
but back in the day, I used to donate my
gently used clothing to Covenant House. But and then you
know new toilet trees am I gently used clothing? Now
it's I know we're big fans of gift cards, but
(12:50):
talk about what we could donate to young people staying
there in terms of actual items.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Oh yeah, so we have an Amazon whichh was on
our website as well. So if you go to cover
Healthclifornia dot org you go to get involved and hit
Amazon wishless. We've got all kinds of needs divided by
each site, but the big things that we often need
is like you mentioned, is we collect things for hygiene kits,
(13:16):
so toothpaste and body wash and deodorant and toothbrushes and
all the things that you can think of like basic
essentials in travel size and regular sides. Always needs, always needed,
as always needed. We hand this out on the streets.
We go out in the van every night and we're
handing out packs to young people and then giving them
things when they get here. They can usually show up
(13:37):
with the clothes on their back. So I think of
all the basic things that you touch in the morning,
those are the things we need. On top of like
you mentioned clothing as well, we always need pillows, you know,
And honestly, all the basic essentials are things that we
need all the time. But again you can also go
to our website. We have an Amazon wishless. We make
it really easy click as KRT sends directly to us.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
So you said you go out in the van and
you're essentially looking for young people to pass out a
flyer or you said pass out the hygiene kits, but
you're looking for them to make sure that they know, hey,
we're open. Are you open twenty for seven? Let people
in twenty for seven?
Speaker 2 (14:10):
We are open twenty four to seven, but we do
intakes from nine to five every day. But if any
young person comes through our or at any time of night,
and especially if they have nowhere to go, we have
emergency overnight stays for young people who aren't safe and
need a place to stay. Again, we'll never just turn
somebody away and send them back out onto the streets.
There's always some type of conversation or support provided, especially
(14:34):
in the middle of the night. But yes, we go
out in the vans, and that's how that's the main
way people young people hear about us is we're going
and we're building connections and we're building trust, and we're
handing out these toilet tree size kits for young people
and telling them about our services and letting them know
that they can come and access some of the things
that I mentioned even if they don't need a bed,
(14:56):
they can come access our medical clinic and I'll get
a warm, warm meal, but also get themselves on the
wait list.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Do you still have the music studio?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We sure do talk about that.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Because that was that's such a cool thing again for
young people, you know, it's one thing, thank God, that
they have a safe place to go to at Covenant
House in Hollywood. So once they're there, you know, one
might think they might want to take a beat and
express a little creativity or escape all the problems in
the world for a hot second and listen to music
or create some music. So share the story about the
(15:28):
music studio. They're at Covenant House.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We're so lucky we have it. And that's actually being
to Nikki six and Motley Cruze. He got us such
space over ten years ago, provided all the guitars and things,
and the young people are in there every single day.
I always say, the least interesting thing about our young
people are that they're homeless. They're so talented, they're so smart.
(15:52):
They're musicians, they're actors, they're artists, they're tech. They are
everything that you and more that you would imagine. We're
the most challenged young people, and so there have been
that studio every day. We have a recording boost, we
have pro tools for them to create music on, and
we've got our own THCHD band. So if anyone ever
comes to one of our okay your band is performing,
(16:14):
look at that.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
I love it again. What a wealth of support on
so many levels from the folks there, like Alana and
the whole team at Covenant House, Hollywood on Western near Fountain,
and just so much that they're doing for people and
hopes of turning their lives around. You know, let us
help you, let's turn things around. And the ways we
folks listening can be a part of that is by
(16:37):
going to Covenant House California dot org. Covenant House California
dot org. A donation of any amount that you can
it'll be doubled this entire month of June. And then,
like like you said, if you're able to drop off
toilet trees, if you're able to make a donation, all
the information is still on that website. You can also
find out about events they do throughout the year, sleepout
events and coming up is it this week? You're doing
(16:58):
strides for Pride? He talk about that for Pride months
so you.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Can sign up all on your own. This is actually
something that was sort of born out of COVID when
we needed a way to keep people moving and keeping
them energized, and also just a way for people to
sort of fundraise for Covenant Health on their own from
wherever they are, So anyone can sign up. Is a
one week challenge. It goes June twenty third to June
(17:23):
twenty ninth, and the challenge is the loot forty minutes
of activity per day. You can run, walk, bike, swim, dance,
whatever you like to do in support of LGBTQ plus
use overcoming homelessness at Covenant House. So this is a
nationwide initiative, okay, And all you do is you go
to the website Strikes for Pride dot org. I believe,
(17:44):
and you sign up and you can do it from anywhere.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Wow. I love it. I love all that you're doing.
Thank you so much for all that you do there
at Covenant House for young people experiencing homelessness and hopefully,
like I said, the more folks we can help turn
them around and hopes of helping folks have a better
brighter future. Sometimes people need help. Has somebody helped you
in your life. Now it's our turn to pay forward
(18:09):
and help others who need us, young people experiencing homelessness.
That's what the Covenant House Covenant House California is all about,
offering so much love and assistance on so many levels,
as as you've just heard. Thank you Alana wine Roth
for all that you do and your whole team there,
all the information, anything you can do is tremendously appreciated.
(18:32):
Covenant House, California dot org. Thank you, Alana, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Appreciate you too. Thanks so much
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