Covenant House is one of the best-known international charities helping homeless youth. It is also the largest privately funded charity in the Americas for homeless and exploited youth. Founded in 1972, by Franciscan priests, Covenant House serves more than 50,000 youth a year in 21 cities in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central America (Anchorage, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Managua, Mexico City, Milpas Altas, Newark, New Orleans, New York, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tegucigalpa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.).
Covenant House has three core services that make up their Continuum of Care, including Street Outreach (including community support services, outreach and drop-in services), Crisis Program (including emergency, short-term shelter beds) and Rights of Passage (longer-term transitional housing).
These core services are made of a large array of programs, depending upon the city and needs, including emergency shelters, housing, healthcare, educational support, employment readiness and skills training, drug abuse treatment and prevention, legal services, mental health services, life skills training and aftercare supports.
There are also two toll-free crisis lines for youth in the US, Canada and Mexico that answer tens of thousands of calls a year.