Covenant House Newsroom

On May 20, Covenant House cut the ribbon on “an amazing, sacred space that will be home for young people who were facing and now overcoming homelessness,” says Kevin Ryan, President & CEO of Covenant House International. He went on to say “we were not unaccompanied in the darkness...from the very minute the pandemic set in for us, Cisco made extraordinary gifts so that young people had a safe place to be. Cisco has made this possible - this is a house that would not have existed but for Cisco’s leadership and generosity. Cisco has time and time again stepped up to be company and hope and love in the world for young people.”

The need in California is enormous and this site is just one of four new Covenant House locations that will open in the state this year to serve young people experiencing homelessness. This new site is a unique public/corporate/nonprofit partnership, where the county is providing the building, Cisco is providing a large part of the operational funding, and Covenant House is running the program to serve youth. The initial space will house up to 30 residents at a time, with up to five units designated for parenting youth and their children.

This site will provide housing for youth ages 18-24, for up to two years, or until they are ready to move into their own homes.  Services will include three nutritious meals per day, onsite case management, mental health counseling, education and employment support, and access to long-term housing opportunities.During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems, shared that “the power of public/private partnerships is astounding. The ability for us to really work together is the way we’ll solve problems.” 

“Our journey to Santa Clara started five years ago,” said Bill Bedrossian, CEO of Covenant House California. “We knew we needed to be here, but we didn’t know how to do it because they kept telling me there is no money. But, the momentum really took off on that cold night in November 2019 when hundreds of Cisco employees slept with us in a parking lot and wanted to do something in their community for young people.” 

In addition to the services provided by Covenant House, the young people living in Santa Clara will benefit from partnerships with existing South Bay providers like Destination Home, Second Harvest, Loaves & Fishes, and Momentum Family Services, all well-known and established organizations working to fight hunger and homelessness and advance housing stability.

“There is a tremendous need and a tremendous opportunity to really prevent homelessness for future generations if we can get young people out of homelessness and into employment and supported by a community that really cares about them,” said Bill. “We could not be more excited to call Santa Clara home for Covenant House. On June 1st young people will be living here. We can’t wait to house them and make this their home.”