19-year-old Chrissy has experienced homeless on and off since before she was a teenager. Trouble at home meant that stable housing has been a rarity throughout most of her life, so when she discovered Covenant House Illinois through an online search in the spring of 2020, Chrissy immediately signed on to the waitlist for CHIL residential services. “I knew I needed somewhere to stay sane and solves problems so when I was invited to join the program in April, I decided to make the move from Gary, Indiana to Chicago.”
Chrissy didn’t know what to expect when she arrived at CHIL, but she knew she needed help and she hoped CHIL could provide the necessary support and structure to give her a chance at achieving her goals. “I felt down,” she acknowledges. “But Covenant House Illinois motivated me not to give up. They gave me and my family a way out of my situation,” she says. “And they helped me understand I don’t ever want to go back”
In less than three months at CHIL, Chrissy has taken that message to heart and has accomplished so much more than she initially thought was possible. Since arriving in the spring, she has graduated from high school, been accepted to Malcom X college, gained full-time employment, and found her own apartment where she now lives with her six-year-old daughter.
And she’s not done yet. “My goal is to earn my business degree and get a culinary certificate, she explains. “And one day I want to open my own restaurant.”
Visiting CHIL with her daughter on a recent Thursday afternoon, Chrissy explains that she often stops in to say hello and catch up with staff. “This place and the people here have done so much for me,” she says. “There aren’t the right works to describe what Covenant House Illinois means to me and other youth in my position. They tell you what you need to life you up and give you the lessons you need to move on.”