On November 16 Covenant House, the largest, primarily privately funded charity in the Americas helping homeless and trafficked youth, will host their annual Sleep Out to End Youth Homelessness. For the first-time ever, there will be a Sleep Out in Times Square presented by Kia, in addition to various Covenant House locations across the U.S. Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. Thousands of participants will give up their beds for one night to raise funds and ensure that young people facing homelessness can sleep safely at Covenant House.
“There are 4.2 million youth experiencing homelessness each year in the U.S. alone,” said Covenant House President & CEO Bill Bedrossian. “It is our moral obligation as a society to provide safe places for young people to sleep, to have no young person go hungry, no young person to be caught in the nightmare of human trafficking. Every day at Covenant House, we care for young people who are highly motivated and pursuing their promise and their dreams. We need to join our voices with them, to change laws, policies, and practices that lead to youth and young families becoming homeless in the first place.
“Everyone can do something this November,” said Bedrossian. “By participating in a Sleep Out or supporting a Sleep Out participant, everyone can help and raise urgently needed funds for Covenant House, spread awareness about the youth homelessness crisis, and send a powerful message of solidarity to our youth.”
Other companies joining Covenant House’s coalition for Youth Homelessness Awareness Month include Cisco, Accenture, American Eagle, BlackRock, Chick-fil-A Tri-State, Delta Air Lines, Edrington, Hard Rock NYC, Morgan Stanley, NBA, NBPA, The Starbucks Foundation, Tao Hospitality Group, Take-Two Interactive and others.
The Global Sleep Outs, Vigils, and community events being held in November will raise critical funds that help Covenant House provide young people with necessary support, including access to safe shelter, nourishing food, clean clothing, and essential services like job training, education, healthcare, mental health counseling, and legal aid — all the tools they need to build futures free from homelessness.
Kia is the Presenting Sponsor for Times Square Sleep Out. “At Kia America we believe that every day is the day we should be moving closer to ending youth homelessness,” said Steven Center, COO of Kia America. “Youth overcome homelessness when they have a safe place to sleep and the chance to rebuild their lives, and we are proud to be teaming up with Covenant House to help put an end to this crisis.”
To learn more about how you can join and make a difference in the lives of youth experiencing homelessness this November, please visit covenanthouse.org/awareness.