Do1Thing Blog

Covenant House resident Eddie White, 18,  relaxes on a couch that was donated to Covenant House Missouri February 14, 2009.

Eddie moved out of his home when he was 18 because of disputes with family members 2 weeks before he was to start he senior year of high school.  He spent these two weeks staying with various relatives and on the streets.  He spent the night before school started on the front steps of his school.  He started staying at Covenant House soon after school started.  He has plans for attending college in the fall for business administration.

Photographer Carmen Troesser donates her time to capture the spirit of homeless teens for the Do1Thing project.

It is the goal of Do1Thing to empower homeless youth to move themselves from homelessness to a permanent housing. Empowerment comes by outfitting the teens with training, items and supplies needed to overcome their current situations move forward.

http://do1thing.org

http://www.heartgallerynj.org

Tavon Walters, 21, makes his home at Covenant House Missouri.  His nickname around Covenant House is Smiley, because of his ability to light up a room with his smile.

Tavon was forced out of his house by his mother as a teen, after which he slept in his car and other places he could find.  This is his third stay at Covenant House.  He dreams of becoming a chef and having his own restaurant.

Photographer Carmen Troesser donates her time to capture the spirit of homeless teens for the Do1Thing project.

It is the goal of Do1Thing to empower homeless youth to move themselves from homelessness to a permanent housing. Empowerment comes by outfitting the teens with training, items and supplies needed to overcome their current situations move forward.

http://do1thing.org

http://www.heartgallerynj.org

The Do1Thing cake donated for the Covenant House prom in Newark

If you’re wondering what all those single acts of kindness added up to on Valentine’s Day, here’s an early report from Covenant House:

In New York City approximately $20,000 was raised and you filled the clothing room with in-kind gifts.

In New Jersey you raised another $10,000, you filled half of a large room with donated goods, you filled the gym with people, threw a prom for the kids and you topped off the pantry and filled the freezer.

In Orlando you delivered new clothing, baby items, hygiene supplies, gym supplies, books and cash.

In Missouri local media coverage from St. Louis Catholic Review, KIHT and KLOU-FM spawned numerous clothing drives amongst you and you raised more cash for the local Covenant House.

In Georgia one of the highlights was a group of high school and college students from Christ Harvest Ministries, who stayed all day and played basketball with the kids. Covenant House also received numerous gift cards, clothes and school supplies from you.

In Michigan more than 100 of you showed up and donated cash along with in-kind gifts estimated at another couple of thousand dollars. The local Fox news television station helped raise awareness.

In Texas they’re still trying to add up the in-kind, monetary and gift card donations you delivered. They had terrific turn out due to coverage in the Houston Chronicle and a 3.5 minute piece on the local Fox morning show. Tours went on all day long. Importantly, many of you said you had never heard of Covenant House and came out that day because of the coverage.

In Washington D.C. coverage on the local NBC affiliate, local cable News Channel 8, and two local newspapers, the D.C. Examiner and East of the River, caused you to come out in large numbers and give in-kind donations.

Around the country Covenant House received at least $75,000 in cash donations, which is enough to keep at least two kids in a Covenant House facility for an entire year. This includes the cost of feeding them, housing them and providing them with all the medical and professional needs they might require.

Additionally, traffic at the Covenant House website was “way up” (we still don’t have exact numbers) and awareness of the youth homelessness problem was raised.

This all happened because so many of YOU did 1 thing.

If you weren’t able to Do 1 Thing on Valentine’s Day, that’s OK, there will be plenty of future opportunities.

Keep coming back to this site for more information. Or better yet, sign up for our e-mail list so you won’t miss your opportunity to do 1 thing.

While waiting to photograph volunteers I had a chance to take a tour of Covenant House with Eddie, one of the residents, as my guide. Eating chocolate hearts as we walked and talked, he told me about his dreams of owning a chain of restaurants someday…with chocolate confections as the crown jewel of his plan….complete with details about an intricate chocolate fountain that he wants to design. I have no doubt that he can accomplish it. Eddie was suddenly homeless two weeks before he started his senior year of high school and spent the night before sleeping on the steps waiting for the doors to open. He has college plans in the fall, complete with scholarships.

Good morning from Covenant House Missouri! Some of the teens are just waking up and getting their breakfast. Things on the volunteer front are a bit slow. We’ve had one couple drop off a crib and are expecting a group of about 25 around noontime. There was a group of 40 scheduled to come this afternoon that cancelled, which is disappointing. Hoping it will pick up. One upside…I’ve had a chance to talk to some great kids already, one in particular, with a smile that could light up any room…..