A Covenant House success story

By Laureen McMahon

Sheldon Vance, an aboriginal Albertan who turned 31 this year, often feared he wouldn't live through his 20s.

Special to The B.C. Catholic As Covenant House commemorates its 10th anniversary of opening in Vancouver, former street kid Sheldon Vance is there to celebrate. Vance, who joined Covenant House staff to cut the anniversary cake, and his family, including wife Michelle and two sons, now live in the Okanagan, where he is completing his education and working with aboriginal groups.

The parents of Vance, born in Edmonton, were unable to care for him and his brothers and sisters, and he went into state care at age 3. He was shuttled among 50 foster care homes until his adoption at 7 by a ranching couple near Pincher Creek, Alta.

It turned out to be anything but an ideal situation; Vance's desire to stay in touch with his native heritage was opposed by his adoptive mother.

Although he was a bright student and finished high school by 16, he was already nursing his open emotional wounds with amphetamines. Fleeing his problems, he wound up, homeless and addicted, on the streets of Vancouver.

Today, Vance considers it miraculous that he was lucky enough to become one of the first residents at Covenant House Vancouver after the shelter opened.

Things began looking up. With counseling, Vance was able to move into an apartment and find a job, but he still wasn't drug-free, and when his stepfather, with whom he had a good relationship, died, Vance's life again spiraled out of control.

Over the next six years, his drug use escalated.

He was back where he had started.

Again he turned to Covenant House, and again he found help from a counselor who arranged for him to enter a rehabilitation program in the Fraser Valley.

"Without a doubt, if it hadn't been for Covenant House, I probably would have been in jail, or dead, or still screwing up on the streets with the rest of them," he said in September at Covenant House's 10th anniversary celebrations.

Now drug-free, married, and the father of two, Vance is finishing his Masters degree in Child Psychology. He directs the Okanagan Youth in Care Network and runs a program called Circle of Courage at Metis Children and Family Services.

"Covenant House gave me the confidence and desire to actually move on with my life ... I wasn't sure what I had to offer society, but using Covenant House's services changed how I felt about myself," he noted.

Vance traveled to Victoria recently to lobby the provincial government for an additional $5 million to add another 32 beds to the Covenant House Drake Street shelter. It was his way of saying thanks.

Ten thousand in 10 years: that's the number of young people who have passed through the shelter's doors since its official launch in 1997.

Covenant House Vancouver became the second, after Toronto, of two Covenant House programs in Canada helping homeless street youth rescue their lives through residential, counseling, and transitional-iving programs.

The need for such a youth-directed outreach reached a critical point when a 1997 study showed that B.C. had more than 10,000 runaways annually. (In 2006 the estimate rose to 15,000.)

Ninety per cent privately-funded, the 24-hour Covenant House services offer respite to youth between 16 and 23 fleeing the cold and unsafe streets.

In the past decade, the shelter has expanded from 12 to 22 beds, and five years ago, a Rights of Passage residential program opened on Pender Street to offer 44 young people transitional housing to a more independent life.

Today there are countless stories told by young people like Sheldon Vance of Covenant House providing them with hope and healing through their philosophy of advocacy for homeless, drug-addicted, and mentally ill children.

As well as shelter beds, the outreach employs youth workers to intervene with youth in crisis. There is a drop-in program for youth who are not residents but who need help with referrals as well as a comforting response.

Young people are encouraged, through the Covenant House Youth Participation Strategy, to speak up about the programs and about community issues affecting them.

A Peer Helper Program and access to a youth-in-care network and community development and education initiatives are part of the Covenant House strategy.

Covenant House is supported by many Catholics in Vancouver, including several Knights of Columbus councils, religious orders, schools, and parishes.

Pastoral counselor Sister Nancy Brown, SC(H), oversees case management for the shelter youth and those in Rites of Passage. She often brings the story of Covenant House to the Catholic community.

Everyone, she told The B.C. Catholic, needs to hear about the root causes of youth homelessness, and be alerted to how trafficking in humans has affected the local youth scene in many damaging ways.

"It directly adds to the growing numbers of street youth," Sister Brown explained. "I am grateful for the generous help from many Catholic individuals and organizations who have contributed to saving our young people through their gifts to Covenant House."

Contributions to Covenant House Vancouver can be made through 604-638-4438 or www.covenanthousebc.org.