Executive Director 

After 22 years as Covenant House Executive Director, I will be retiring this fall.

While I look forward to a new chapter in my life, I will miss my work with our remarkable youth, our dedicated staff and volunteers and our steadfast supporters.

I am proud that we have grown to become a national leader in the care of homeless youth. I know that this huge achievement has only been possible with the tremendous generosity and caring of those who share our belief in our kids.

Over the past two decades, the street has become more perilous. Violence has escalated, drugs are more dangerous and predators are more organized. Now the barriers are higher for those trying to escape the street when they lack education, job skills, suffer emotional and mental health problems or have been ensared in street life.

It has been our goal to continually find new ways to respond to the changing and increasingly complex needs of the young people who rely on us.

We continue to see higher daily numbers of youth staying with us, particularly in the past three years. There are more kids than I have seen in all my time here. About 35 percent of these youth are coping with mental health issues -- a trend we started to see about four years ago.

We are working on a number of fronts to enhance our services to meet current challenges facing our kids. We recently launched a culinary arts program where kids can get training for jobs in the hospitality industry so that they can move to independence.

To better serve the unprecedented number of youth coping with mental health issues, we have introduced new services, including our day program for these youth, and modified others. These are only a few highlights of our recent achievements.

A decade ago, we recognized the need for transitional housing with extra support to give our youth a better chance at moving successfully to independence. To meet this need, we opened our longer-term residential program. You can read more about our milestones here.

As I leave Covenant House, I take with me cherished memories of young people whose resilience and courage inspired me. My heart is full of gratitude for the support of so many people who have been willing to give of their time and resources to help us give our kids the opportunities they deserve.

Bruce Rivers, a recognized child welfare expert and advocate for over 25 years, will take over my post in November. I am so pleased to be entrusting this very special place called Covenant House to such a caring and capable individual.

Thank you again for all of your support and God bless.

Sincerely,

Ruth daCosta