Meet Nikia

Instability has always been a part of Nikia’s life; she grew up in Michigan’s Foster Care system having moved through 11 homes by the time she turned 18. When she aged out of the system, she moved in with her grandmother, but, as Nikia put it, their personalities “clashed,” so she didn’t feel it was the ideal situation. She moved out on her own and at 19 had her first daughter. Raising her daughter “was hard,” and only got harder when her relationship with her daughter’s father became abusive. She was able to stay in a domestic violence shelter for a while, but when she returned home, the abuse continued. Nikia needed to move away from the situation, so her therapist found her subsidized housing. Within a year, she was evicted and on the streets. Reflecting on her time experiencing homelessness, Nikia says, “I was taken advantage of a lot. I was real gullible.”

After having her second daughter, Nikia realized it was time to turn things around. She left her daughters with their grandmothers and was referred to Covenant House Michigan. At first she didn’t like it here because she wasn’t used to all of the rules. “Then I figured out I wasn’t as grown as I thought I was. I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Now 23 year old, Nikia has been at Covenant House for 16 months. She is a part of the Rights of Passage program, where she has really become grateful for all the support Covenant House has to offer. As she said, she has learned a lot during her time here because she put in a lot of effort. She went to school for her Clinical Nurse Specialist certification and took two parenting classes, as well as classes to prepare for the GED. Her goal is to enroll at Madonna University and further her education in nursing.

In addition, Nikia is receiving assistance from the Covenant House staff to find her own housing when she exits the program.

Nikia is appreciative for this chance to work on her goals. She described that when she was caring for her children as a young mother, she really had no time for herself, and now she has been given the chance and motivation to accomplish her own goals and set higher ones for the future.