Twenty-two year old resident Raymond, is determined to buy a house. “I’d like to own a home – I’m tired of apartments – and I want to buy a car.” His social worker in the Rights of Passage program backs him up, “He’s a hard worker. He sets his sights on his goals and he is very motivated and determined,” …
By the time she finished high school, Tiana’s family relationships were shaky so she moved in with a friend after high school. “I was babysitting her kids and trying to look for work on the side but the kids took up a lot of time.” Once she found a job, her living situation got complicated. “When I was getting ready …
“I felt like a throw away child,” Natisha started out. Abandon by her mom at birth, her dad in prison and unaware of her existence, she began her young life in foster care. Although quite young, she can still remember the day her dad came to collect her from her foster parents; the memory of her father’s first words to …
Ever since he can remember, Nathan’s family moved around a lot. When he was 13, they moved to Texas for his mom’s new job. In addition to his siblings, him mom’s boyfriend traveled with them, intending to join the household. This was quite an adjustment for Nathan. Since a young age, Nathan was accustomed to being independent and taking care …
It was December, just a few weeks before Christmas and raining outside when Arianna* left her family home. “I put on extra layers of clothes and packed a bag with some of my stuff. I didn’t know where I was going so I just wandered the streets for a few hours and then lay down under a giant pine tree …
Nadia is just 18 years and is new to Covenant House Michigan. When you ask about her life, she talks about being adopted from a foreign country at the age of four. “My mom and I really love each other, but I don’t feel like we bonded the way a biological family does.” She also suffers from depression and cites …
Hello, my name is Marc, and I’m 20 years old. The journey that led me to Covenant House Michigan started when I was an infant. I was adopted when I was two, but I never knew my birth family. My adopted mother was physically abusive. She was older and kind of “old school,” so I think she thought it was …
Hello, my name is Kira and I live at Covenant House Michigan, a homeless shelter. I ended up in a shelter because instead of focusing on myself, I focused on a guy. This guy abused and used me in every way possible. I was sexually, mentally and physically abused. Instead of listening to my family, I shut them out and …
A few years ago, DeAndre’s mother got behind on the bills. She had a decent job, but sometimes life catches up with people and times get tough. This was one of those seasons for their family and the hardship caused them to lose their condo. DeAndre’s mother was forced to move in with a cousin while DeAndre went to live …
Keith was raised by his birth parents in a stable household with both mother and father present. During his teen years he went through a rebellious stage and started doing things his own way which strained his relationship with his parents. He has an older sister and a younger brother but the age gap between them kept him from feeling …