i'm path lawson hues welcome to "viewpoint." as housing gets more expensive in the district of columbia the number of homeless youth and families grows as it has across the country. on any given night it's estimated that somewhere between 1200 and 3,000 youngsters have )íy dealing with homelessness, some 400 will sleep on the streets. november is national hunger and homelessness awareness month. our guest this morning continues wage ago war on homelessness among youth in the city. guy brommey sits on the board of

covenant house, washington. dr. mainy henson is ceo of covenant house, one of the largest organizations helping youth in our region and delante jones in 1 2 2 he is a covenant house youth. can we begin with those numbers? that are tough to nail down because many homeless young people aren't seen or heard. >> that is correct. they are, in fact, invisible to many people. so when you think of homeless many people think of that person that they see on the park bench or standing beside the tunnel, but for homeless youth they are actually fairly resourceful at those ages so they are couch surfing with family members or someone for period of time. because it's invisible people don't understand the magnitude of the issue. >> guy, after years of rising

homelessness d.c.'s population of those who are chronically homeless actually dipped earlier this year. what's been the biggest factor there would you say? >> the biggest factor for the dip in homelessness? >> uh-huh. >> well, i'd love to say that, you know, covenant house has come up with a model of success in terms of youth homelessness and there's not really a seek res sauce out there, but we certainly have the recipe. i think what covenant house is trying to do is scale it up and there are other partners in the community that are certainly trying to do the same thing, and i think together we're starting to achieve it. >> yeah. chipping away at the problem. >> that's right. >> together. delante, you are 22 and you went to covenant house at 20? >> yes, ma'am. >> tell us what was going on with you. what was happening in your life? what was happening with your" family? >> things were just -- things were just broken.

they just started to go downhill. i was in foster care for about 17 1/2 years, i'm originally a d.c. native and i moved to foster care in florida so my family, my whole family was up here and i was just away from them and i wanted to reconnect. moving back up here was a big thing for me, but when i got here everything was not as i thought it should be. my mom was still doing what she wanted to do, dad is nowhere, so things were pretty tough. i was, as dr. henson said earlier, it was couch surf, hook up with people to get a place to lay down because everything is not always outside. >> so you just went from place to place, whoever would let you spend the night? >> yes, ma'am. >> how did that make you feel? >> bad. really bad. low. i didn't even feel like a human being or anyone worth anything. so it was a pretty hard time. >> nadie, a delante typical?

>> delante is very typical of the young people that we serve. at covenant house washington over the 20 years they've served more than 35,000 youth each year annually over a thousand young people walk in our doors and we service and delante is very typical of the experience that young people face before they often find covenant house or some other organization to help them. >> guy, the youth who are considered homeless, who are homeless, in fact, are the majority of them homeless with their families, are they run a ways, have they aged out of foster care, been thrown out of the house? >> wow. great question. it's all of the above. that really is the answer. and fortunately covenant house through outreach and through awareness is an answer to that. so regardless of where or what circumstances have brought you to be disconnected or to be

homeless, you can reach out to covenant house for an hasn't. u)jtelante, when you were in florida -- >> yes, ma'am. >> -- up to age 20 -- >> yes, ma'am. >> -- what were you dreaming of doing with your life? did you go to school? >> yes, ma'am. actually, i finished high school and i tried to pursue college. it was just a tough time because i really didn't -- i didn't know myself, i didn't know my family. so tso -- >> did you have a support system? >> yes. yes. it was a nice -- a nice family, they were really good people. so i give them credit. >> but you wanted to be with your biological family? >> yes. and that's a big -- that's a big part of it also. kids going to foster care and they don't know who their parents are and they want to know. everybody wants to know where they came frrks where they started, you know, what was the beginning of their life like. >> and you were on the street here? >> yes, ma'am.

>> what kllds of things did you experience? >> things that the average person wouldn't be able to begin to see or even think could happen in a day. i've seen in two hours what most people wouldn't see in 24 hours. so -- >> okay. we're going to take a break and homelessness among youth in our -- in our city. it's a big problem, a problem that covenant house is working diligently on, along with many of the advocates for homelessness and for those who are homeless here in the washington, d.c. area. this is covenant house's website if you would like to log on you can get a lot more information will be right back to continue our talk in

 we're talking about homelessness youth this morning on "viewpoint." madye henson, your clients are between 18 and 24, but you

actually serve youth starting from birth. >> that's exactly right. we say that we serve from 0 to 24. our core target group of youth are 18 to 24, but we have actually one of the few gold tiered nationally accredited divisions in southwest d.c., a wonderful center that is nurturing= and developing young people to be prepared for kindergarten. many of those young people their parents, their moms, their dads are actually a youth of covenant house or they may have been former youth of covenant house and again because that child can be with us for up to three years and while that mom may nowm'mgñ stable and back to work they will stay in our child development center. so we are really excited about that part of the vision around having them be part of that. we also push into the middle schools in southeast and we work

with those middle schools to help with pregnancy prevention, substance abuse prevention, character development. we work with the schools because we want to help to ensure that young people stay on that track and do not actually have to fall prey to dropping out of school, being disconnected. so we work with them in that. our core group are 18 to 24 year olds. >> guy brommey, we know that more than half the homeless youth that come to you don't eat onth, half don't havel]&m diplomas, most d have jobs, most suffered some sexual and or physical abuse. those are pretty tough challenges for young people that are struggling with trying to grow up and trying to figure out where ohio they are and where they fit in the world. talk about that. >> yeah. and it's -- it is certainly why covenant house exists. yes, covenant house is a sanctuary for those who are disconnected or homeless, but that's just really a start to get someone stabilized.

on top of that covenant house has really the full wrap-around services. i like to think of it as a big hug when someone comes in the door. a towards a ged, we have the most successful ged program in the city. if they, of course, need a meal, that's the first thing that's offered generally is a meal when you walk into the door of covenant house. if you need to learn how to be work ready, we have a wonderful work ready program, if you are looking to seek a job, we have a job readiness program and work force training. really that is the secret, the big hug that covenant house gives to,m the youth in the community and it's why it's successful. >> and they come to you -- they don't have family, they don't have a roof over their heads, they don't have money. so i assume all these services are e?free. >> they are.

>> delante, we were talking during the commercial break about your own experience with some of the things that mr. brommey just talked about, being on the street, needing a bath, needing a meal. tell us again what you've just explained to me how tough it was and how unfair you said the world was to you. >> well, like i was saying, it's -- it's not fair at all. no one -- no one wants to look at you like you are a regular person. they definitely differentiate between me and my street clothes and not smelling so good between a person going out to work their regular 9:00 to 5:00. it's just -- it's a horrible -- it's a horrible experience and no one should have to go through it. from a person telling you, you even sit down for a while or i just want to use the restroom. no, for paying customers only. things like that definitely turn

you away or make you not even want to try. >> but that didn't happen to you because you did want to try. >> yes. yes. yes. >> you have a strong desire to pull it together and turn things around. how did you do that? >> with covenant house. the only way. >> so you went there and you introduced yourself and what happened at that point? >> well, i walked through covenant house doors through a bus driver, he was actually a bus driver, and i was smelling bad, a couple of guys on the back of the bus were making fun of me and heq÷ stopped the bus because it was a big issue and i because it was a big issue and i made it a big issue, and he told me about covenant house, actually he was driving right past covenant house and he told me where to go and as soon as i walked through the door like he said the first thing you get is a meal, the first thing they offer you is

clothes, food, they want to know and your names and what's been going on. it's a eye opener, it's a lift, it's a big lift, they put you in front of anything el;ñ when you walk through that doors and when you continue to be there. >> that was the best bus trip you ever had taken. >> yes, ma'am. yes, ma'am. >> we will be right back. stay with us.

thank you so much. did you say honey? hey, try some? mmm that is tasty. is it real? of course... are you? nope animated you know i'm always looking for real honey for honey nut cheerios well you've come to the right place. great, mind if i have another taste? not at all mmm you're all right bud? never better i don't know if he likes that. yeah part of the complete breakfast

welcome back to "viewpoint." we are talking about homelessness among youth in the district of columbia. we were just talking to 22-year-old delante jones who is a covenant house youth. and we've talked a lot about your background and how -- what a rough time you had and when you went to covenant house. things have really turned around for you. >> yes, ma'am. >> you are now working. tell us about the job that you have at providence hospital. >> yes, ma'am.

i am a patient transporter full-time at providence hospital. i work for -- from the 8th through the er, the er is my main spot, and it's a really good -- it's a really goodot career step. it's not where i intend to stop, but it is really a good career step. >> now, did you go through the work readiness education and training center? >> yes, ma'am. yes, ma'am. >> fell us exactly what happened. what was the process. >> well, you go in. you know, you figure out what you want to do in life because it's not just about a job with covenant house, and that's a wonderful -- that's something that i do love about them. they are trying to put you on a career. second day, third day after you come out of that 90-day program it's career is how everything is moved. so i went through jrc, you get on the computers, they teach you how to do a resumé, they teach you how to interview, how to dress, what you should wear, what you shouldn't wear, how you should talk, enunciate, things

like that. so they get you pretty -- pretty prepared. >> so you're work as a patient trans transporter. >> yes, ma'am. >> you want to be an emt. >> yes, ma'am. >> you wanted to go into thej military. >> yes, ma'am. >> guy, what kind of success rate do you have with your clients? obviously delante is a success story. >> right. i think statistically maybe dr. henson wants to answer that question. >> well, when we talk about successes, pat, actually every youth has their own story and we have an individual success plan for each and every youth. so we don't stop until they get to some level of success, as long as that youth is willing and want to go work towards that is correct we're going to work and help them get there. >> so you individualize the plan? >> exactly. they're very individualized. for some it is looking at, you know, what is the gap in their life? if it's housing, it's getting them stabilized in that process. delante talked about the job

readiness center and that process, but he also had the opportunity to experience our housing entities. so our emergency housing as well as now our two-year which we call our right to passage housing for transitional housing. so it depends on what that young person needs. we also in addition to the connection, whether it's housing, whether it's a job, whether it's education, some of our young people they are interested in going on to post secondary and so we work with them to get into college or to get back into college. it's amazing, there are a number of young people who were in college and they fell out of that, they didn't have the financial aid to do it, had no place to stay or live in that process. so we also fin

working on. >> obviously you can't do all of that work by yourself. you have a lot of partners who help covenant house and a lot of people and organizations i would assume that are committed to the cause. >> right. so of course covenant house works with not only the local government, but other entities that are also trying to tackle homelessness in general, but surprisingly there are not a lot of entities out there that are tackling the idea of youth homelessness. and again, that is why covenant house is so special, because we are really focused in on youth homelessness. th district has tried to change its strategy for dealing with homelessness in the city and to not just focus on dealing with it during the winter months, but to deal with it as an issue all year long. and also the mayor wants to close the shelter at d.c. general hospital.

the question is where do you send homeless children and families. >> right. >> what are your thoughts about that? >> well, i think a lot about w. that we've actually found that certainly the mayor, mayor bowser has brought the issue and made people more aware and has been doing things to bring it to the forefront and i think, for example, covenant house just recently increased the number of beds that we have now, and some of that is a result of the work that d.c. has done and i think that will continue, i think that the mayor's emphasis on the problem really is something that we need to all stand up and cheer about and not let it die. not let it just sort of trickle away. the idea of solving the problem of youth homelessness, that's a real problem that can be solved. when we talk about homelessness

in general, it is very complicated, but again, the approach that covenant house in terms of dealing with youth homelessness, we are successful with that. so now it's just a matter of scaling it up. can we increase the number of beds? can we increase the ability -- or can we make it so that everybody in the community is aware of covenant house? there are a lot of youth that still don't know that we exist. so we have to spread the word. >> all right. we will continue our talk with the folks from covenant house right after this. stay with us.

thank you so much. did you say honey?

hey, try some? mmm that is tasty. is it real? of course... are you? nope animated you know i'm always looking for real honey for honey nut cheerios well you've come to the right place. great, mind if i have another taste? not at all mmm you're all right bud? never better i don't know if he likes that. yeah part of the complete breakfast on november 19th covenant house will sponsor its fourth annual sleep out and dr. madye henson tell us about that. >> sleep out is a wonderful opportunity for leaders in this community, corporate community

leaders, to stand up in solidarity with youth that are homeless and we're doing this here in d.c. as well as across the country and canada. in everyv' space that there is covenant house you have leaders that are sleeping out one night and so that a young person can sleep in. with that event we actually give those leaders a cardboard box and a sleeping bag, in a protected space, but giving them the opportunity to experience for one night what our young people actually experience ongoing. and it is life changing for many of them. >> delante, is it possible for them to spend a night on the street and come away with an understanding of what you went through? >> a total understanding, no, but can they get a feeling of what i go through maybe one so the understanding part, yes.

>> what would you say to young people who might be watching, a young person who might be watching right now and maybe -- maybe they have a tv and they are watching you and they are listening to you? what's your message to them? >> never stop. there's never room to stop. not -- not here, not in d.c., not in -- not anywhere, any state, any country, there is no room to stop, period. you -- support system, you build a network, friends -- >> what if they feel they don't have that. >> if they feel they don't have a network or support system? >> uh-huh. >> by all means you -- what we call at covenant house what the youth call at covenant house, you grind. >> you grind. >> you make it happen. if you can't find a support system, some way, some how, it must happen. you can't stop. >> all right. delante, we're very proud of you. >> yes, ma'am. >> and we know you're going to do well. >> thank you. >> thank you so much for sharing

your story. guy brommey and dr. madye henson, delante jones, thank you so much for being with us this

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