Convenant House worker speaks

In the United States, one million teenagers are homeless at any given hour, over two million incidents of child abuse occur annually, and teenage drug use is the highest of any nation. These are the reasons that Covenant House, a homeless shelter for teens, has a door that never closes. Yesterday University students attended a discussion at the Newman Center led by former Covenant House volunteer John Pileggi focusing on the rising need for Covenant House. This rising neeed was the focus of a short but informative video that opened the hour-long discussion. After the video, Pileggi summarized the commitment one makes when becoming a full-time volunteer for "The Faith Community," a segment of Covenant House. "Working with kids in a community setting and two hours of daily prayer are necessary commitmnents," Pileggi said. Pileggi highlighted the reponses one can make to alleviate the homeless problem. He stressed responding to newsletters, attending discussion, and volunteering time in shelters. Several audience members said the reason they came to the discussion was that they wanted to increase their knowledge of Covenant House. "My reason for coming was that homelessness is so different than my suburban life," Bob Cardie, assistant director of the Newman Center said. In the video, poverty, prostitution, and drugs were marked as facts of street life, and teens commented on the realities of homelessness. "Its terrible, drugs are everywhere. I don't want to be subjected to that again," a formerly homeless teen said. Another teen said, "If there were no Covenant House, we would be lost." On a typical night, a teen is assigned a social worker and a nurse. This is followed by either drug rehabilitation or job employment -- which ever is applicable. If the child receives employment, the focus is then placed on his or her savings and finding a place to live. Covenant House has started a mother and child program to deal with the rise in teen pregnancy, family counseling, and GED classes. As long as the child maintains the desire to change, their is no concern for how long it takes for him or her to improve. Volunteers in this program agreed that helping homeless children has enriched their lives. "The children have made such a difference in my life," one volunteer said. "It remains to be one of the most rewarding things I've ever done." The Newman Center is organizing a program in which University students can volunteer their time in a crisis shelter in New York City for a week with students fom Georgetown and Penn State Universities during spring break.

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