Covenant House Toronto

Helpful organization providing emergency housing for youth, employment and additional services for visitors. The staff are understanding but distant for someone experiencing homelessness. I’ve heard they don’t do much about conflict within the shelter. I’ve never had a bad experience there and they’ve always seemed able to help out by providing me the right person to talk to or giving me hygiene products when in need.

multiple items stolen from me. other residents were overbearing and/or threatening. the staff lacked all forms of human compassion. one man who worked there even encouraged suicidal ideation in me. i slept there for one night and when i woke up my hands were covered in cuts that were not there before. very uncomfortable feeling throughout the place. also, lots of crime. frequent drug deals and stabbings occurring directly across the street. if you’re not a junkie or a criminal, try to avoid this place.

Great people doing great work assisting our youth going through difficult times in their young lives through o fault of their own ❤️❤️

Elaine - I hope you’re reading this - GET A LIFE.Covenant house has helped so many youth -including myself. When I was going through a terrible time and my parents didn’t want to help me - I went to covenant house. The staff were genuinely caring and doing the best they could with that they had. Covenant house saved my life.

Without Covenant House I would still be homeless today. Thank you Almaz, Alan, Brad and every other staff for everything that you did for me while i was there. This place will help you alot if you want it to! This is not just a shelter this is a place of opportunity!Again thank you for everything ❤️! I will never forget about how much you have impacted my life. I donate as often to Covey every month and have been looking at putting them into my will and it is my biggest hope that this money will help another young person the same way that other people have helped me. I believe that paying it forward is a very important thing to do these days.Thank you Covenant House for everything!~ Sage (formerly known as Cayleah)

I stayed at Covenant House as a homeless youth between the ages of 19-20 and I stayed for quite a while as I needed a lot of assistance at the time as a low skilled youth in a competitive job market. This was around 2011-2012.Through it's services, Covenant House helped me figure out my work situation with their job search program by providing a job search area, as well as meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, (which I couldn't afford, as I was unemployed) and even provided transportation fare to job interviews.They had a great 'Cooking For Life' program when I was there, which gave me enough cooking skills to get started working professionally in the cooking industry. Cooking skills in many youth are completely absent, so this was a great program for me and many of my peers.Covenant House provided me with support in many areas of my life that for some reason my parents were too negligent to provide. No offense, but some kids don't have the support that they need in life to succeed, and I was one of these kids.Personally, I'm a member of the LGBTQ community, and found that staff didn't discriminate based on any number of criteria, which is great. The staff are comprised of social workers that really care about the well being of the kids that end up at their shelter. It's a taxing job, I'm sure, but they really put their best foot forward -which is important because youth need help from people they can trust.While the rules at Covenant House can sometimes be a bit strict, I can understand that it's difficult to coral so many youths in a productive manner.Today I've graduated with a business degree in management among many other accomplishments in my life. I have good financial literacy, cooking skills, a competitive resume and I am thankful that a place like Covenant House was there for me when I needed them. At the time, I was dependent upon the charity of others in order to survive, and that charity luckily existed.Thanks Covy. :)

Your experience here will depend on a lot of factors such as who you are and the types of people you come accross. It's a homeless shelter for youth so not everything is sunshine and roses. The building is very large and feels more like a school or library. The food given to the residents is very good and always varies. There is lots of things offered to homeless youth if you just ask. For more info visit the covenant house website.

Always look after the youth people.. the next generation that have full of hope.. wish Government involver moe and put consullors to educate these young generation.

overall - this is a great place to stay at for those 16-24. It has all the services you need (dental, medical, mental health) and it provides a safe environment for those in need. The staff for the most part are very nice, but because it is a big facility; you have many different personalities and you may have a hard time in dealing with certain individuals just like any other place you go to. I was an angry kid but this place helped me alot and were very patient with me.

Best shelter in Canada.