Today, our nation was called to service. Here at Covenant House we heard the call, and we welcome our community to renew our commitment to take action together on behalf of the nation’s children and youth.

After 10 months of battling a pandemic that has ravaged our country, communities, neighborhoods and families, we have learned that we must continue to lean on one another, to stand up, stand strong, and commit to rise and thrive together. 

To do that we must take stock of what the pandemic has revealed to us about the growing number of children and youth across this country who are sleeping in unsafe conditions, on the streets and in abandoned buildings, exposed to exploitation, trafficking, and trauma. This need not be so. We do not have to live in a nation where millions of young people face hunger and homelessness every year. It is simply a matter of our values and priorities. We can create a new world of safety and opportunity for children and youth if we put aside that which divides us and come together with a shared purpose to end child and youth homelessness. On this new day, we have a unique opportunity to act, to embrace our obligation to love, respect, and serve our neighbors; to work together to ensure affordable housing, medical care, and mental health care are accessible. At this moment, today, we can all take a simple first step towards healing and reconciliation...by pledging to love our nation’s children and youth unconditionally.

So, please, join me. Let’s begin again, today. Raise your hand with thousands of Covenant House supporters, staff and youth and help us lead with love this year. By doing so, you will create a small ripple of kindness that will touch others in your community and from there outward.

Let’s come together to build solutions to the homelessness crisis that has so long beset our nation’s children. Let’s commit to self-education, to advocate, to volunteer, and to donate to support real solutions for our country’s most vulnerable young people. 

Let us be women and men for others, loving this nation’s children unconditionally and respecting them absolutely, building together a beloved community of hope that will long endure beyond us.

Let’s Stand Up, Stand Strong, and Serve.