The Covenant House in Detroit provides shelter and additional services to homeless and at-risk teens ages 13-22. These are three of their stories collected during the Do1Thing project on February 14, 2009.
Giving Youth a Chance to Work
February 23, 2009
The Covenant House Artisans Woodworking Program is a career-training initiative that teaches homeless and at-risk youth fine woodworking. A local business in Washington, DC, hired some of graduates of this program. Watch here to see how that worked out. By Lucian Perkins
California: Homeless teen Alexis Milano talks at the Covenant House
February 23, 2009
Alexis Milano is 19 and is homeless. Alexis currently calls the Covenant House in Oakland, California her home. She attends community college for fashion design.
Alexis was photographed and interviewed by photographer John Deckerof Sacramento, California.
Most recently Decker was the staff photographer for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger where he traveled the world documenting the activities of the governor and First Lady Maria Shriver.
His work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the globe including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, Stern, the Associated Press, Bloomberg News and many others.
He has been a member of the staff of some of the most prestigious news organizations in the country including: Multimedia editor at the New York Times, staff photogarpher at the Sacramento Bee, web designer at the Detroit Free Press and various newsroom positions at the Bergen Record of Hackensack, NJ.
NJ: Covenant House Valentine’s Day Prom
February 23, 2009
The Covenant House in Newark was the site of the Valentine's Day Prom for homeless teens living at the shelter. The Dance was thrown by a group of volunteers who solicited donations for the suits, dresses, accessories, entertainment, decorations, and food. This was a night they will remember forever.
Produced by Jeff Rhode for the Do1Thing Project
http://do1thing.org
NEW JERSEY: Through the Eyes of Homeless Youth
February 18, 2009
4 homeless youths living at The Covenant House in Newark and Atlantic City NJ share stories of their childhood, how they became homeless, and their hopes for the future. This video created for do1thing.org by Jeff Rhode.
Join our nationwide movement to raise awareness for the more than 1.3 million homeless youth in America.
http://do1thing.org
Detroit: Do1Thing
February 18, 2009
February 14, 2009: Detroit, MI. Do1thing Project – Teenage Homelessness.
DENVER: Boundless Promise of Love
February 18, 2009
Judy DeHaas, a photojournalist at the Rocky Mountain News, documented the lives of a young couple for Do1Thing.org. Michael Cunningham, 20, and his girlfriend Lea Hallaway, 18, have been together for about a year. They stay from time to time at Urban Peak, a shelter for homeless youth in Denver. Being homeless is difficult for the pair, but they strive to stay together and support each other.
Michael was taken from his alcoholic father when he was three-years-old and placed in at least 42 foster homes by the time he was emancipated in February 2008. His mother disappeared when he was around 3. After leaving foster care, he was unable to hold down a job and wound up on the streets.
His last foster home was with Lea's aunt, where the couple met. Lea's mother, a crack addict died when she was 6, and she was taken into the system at 2. After living in a series of foster homes, she was adopted, but Lea started to run away when she turned 13 and was asked to move out by the time she was 16.
The couple has slept on friend's couches, in shelters and in cheap motels while trying to get a grip on their lives and stabilize, something neither of them learned from their parents or their brief stays in foster homes.
Do1Thing: Jonathan Smith
February 18, 2009
Nina Berman photographed Jonathan Smith, 20, for Do1Thing.org in and outside the Open Door Shelter in Chicago, Illinois where he has been staying the last few months.
Smith grew up outside of Buffalo, New York in a household of alcoholism and abuse with several reports filed to the state’s child protection services by his school and neighbors. He left home at 16 and has had minimal contact with his family. He described his childhood as one that left him “emotionally and physically scarred.”Do1Thing.org
Smith grew up outside of Buffalo, New York in a household of alcoholism and abuse with several reports filed to the state’s child protection services by his school and neighbors. He left home at 16 and has had minimal contact with his family. He described his childhood as one that left him “emotionally and physically scarred.”Do1Thing.org
Yakima Taylor at HomeFront’s Huchet House
February 17, 2009
Video by Michael Mancuso for Do1Thing.org: Yakima Taylor, 18, seven month pregnant, ponders her future in the nursery at HomeFront's Huchet House, in Trenton, New Jersey, a place where family care workers and a parent educator focus on ensuring pregnant homeless women receive needed services like prenatal care and employment training. When asked how she got where she is now her only replay was " It's a long story. It has something to do with my dad."
Tamara Harris at HomeFront’s Huchet House
February 17, 2009
Video by Michael Mancuso for Do1Thing: Tamara Harris, 20 and her 5-month-old daughter Kayla on their last day at HomeFront's Huchet House, in Trenton, New Hersey, a place where family care workers and a parent educator focus on ensuring pregnant homeless women receive needed services like prenatal care and employment training.
http://do1thing.org
