12 Kids of Christmas: Meet Antione

Reason to give #3: Get Kids Off the Street

If you could SAVE a kid from the streets, wouldn’t you? 5,000 kids sleep on the streets of Michigan every night. They sleep in abandoned buildings, cars and other unsafe places. Winter is here and you have the opportunity to save a young person’s life. Please support our Outreach Program so they can find these kids before it’s too late.

Meet Antione.
Antione is 19 and lives at the Crisis Center.

We asked him his story, here's what he said.

Why did you come to Covenant House?
Before I came to Covenant House I was sleeping behind schools, drug houses, and abandoned buildings. I was surrounded by drugs, I saw people getting shot, robbed, and nearly beaten to death. My future seemed grim with no light at the end of the tunnel. The lowest point of my life was when I called Covenant House because I was thinking, “Wow I’m going to a shelter!" With the help of Covenant House I was able to enroll at Wayne State University and the staff at Job Club helped me and others to find a job. I left Covenant House the day after my 19th birthday. I got a place of my own but unfortunately the landlord was involved in illegal activity and the place was shut down. I was then homeless again. I went to a friend of mine who I had met at Covenant House. He let me stay at his house while we called the Outreach Team
for help.

If you could pick one thing that Covenant House has helped you with, what would it be?
The best thing Covenant House has helped me with is getting into school. I'm starting school again on January 11th at Oakland Community College. I'm just working out my financial aid and I will be doing work study.

What are you grateful for?
I'm grateful that there are people in this world that care about homeless people. That people understand that we all come from different walks of life and that we all weren't given the same opportunties, but we are all human.

What's your best memory at Covenant House?
I have a few. The Calling All Angels fudraiser was really nice, I had the opportunity to break out of my box and see something different from Detroit. I enjoy open mic because I have been able to share my poetry and see the talents of the other residents. I liked the basketball game at University of Detroit Mercy because I love basketball and it inspires me to play basketball in college. Being a part of the Channel 2 interview was really nice because it was good to tell my story and inspire others to help homeless people. The Vigil was really nice too because there were a lot of people that cared about homeless people there.

And finally, what do you want to accomplish in the new year?
Get a job, continue going to school and doing work study. Meet new people and get more involved in the community. Save money. My ultimate goal is going to MSU or UofM.

Yes! I want to give today to get kids off the street and help all your kids, like Antione, succeed!

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