Being in the Moment
From Harriet Tubman to John Lewis to Barack Obama, Black History Month is a reminder for our community to reflect on the positive contributions and the rich and valuable history of generations of people who are Black, and to celebrate those making history today like Stacey Abrams and Amanda Gorman.
Covenant House is proud to stand with the Black and African American leaders who have left their mark in history, especially those who have fought for justice, equality and policy change fueled by the belief that no young person should ever be homeless.
During Black History Month, we’ll use our platform to honor the devotion and spirit of Black leaders working and volunteering in the Covenant House community, and we’ll feature stories of creative and resilient young people whose voices will shape the future. Collaborators like Brian Bob, who for three decades has been a mentor, role model, and inspiration to thousands of young people overcoming homelessness.
It was his first night of street outreach for Covenant House 30 years ago, and Brian Bob was doubting he was up for the job.
“We met Mark, I’ll never forget him,” says Brian. “He was 12 years old, addicted to crack, who was being sold for sex. Prior to Covenant House, I had been working with young people and their families at the YMCA. This was very, very different. I went home that night and cried, really wondering if this work was for me.”
Flash forward a few weeks later. Brian and the Covenant House California outreach team stopped to speak to a small group of young people on Hollywood Blvd. “We pulled over the van, walked up to them, asked them if they were hungry. I started talking to one of the kids, and after a few minutes he asked if we could say a prayer to keep his group safe.
“And so that night we gathered in a circle, held hands, and said a prayer for the safety of a family of young people experiencing homelessness. That was the moment I knew I might have a gift for this work and that Covenant House was the mission for me.”
Three decades later, it would be impossible to calculate the number of young people Brian has counseled and relentlessly supported, the number of young people who consider him family, and the impact he’s made at our Covenant House programs in Los Angeles, Oakland, and New York.
“The thing I try to do most is to be in the moment with every young person I meet,” says Brian. “We need to let each of our young people know they are loved. We need to be there, we need to be present, at a time when so many young people feel they are all alone in the world.
“And the other trait you need doing street outreach, which I still struggle with every single day, is the ability to move on,” says Brian. “This work will break you if you think you can help every young person you meet at that very moment. You can go home, you can be in touch with the sadness, but when you come back the next day, you need to be present for the next young person. Every young person deserves the best version of ourselves that we can be.”
The resilience Brian speaks of in his work at Covenant House is the same resilience he feels best describes being a Black man in America.
“This has been an especially challenging year, as while we were all trying to figure out this pandemic, the murder of George Floyd happened. A lot of friends and co-workers have asked me if I’m ok. The short answer is no. Too many times in history there have been temporary outcries for justice. It’s not ok to turn the page. We’ve done too much of that. I believe that Black people alone, as resilient and inclusive as we are as a culture, can’t fix what we did not break in this country. We need to all do this together.
“And yet, we continue to rise,” says Brian. “That is in our DNA as Black Americans. That is our history, and that is what we will continue to do. Just like the young people at Covenant House. They are resilient, they are strong, and it continues to be one of the great blessings of my life to be a small part of their individual journeys as they rise.”
