Laura

Tragedy and abuse brought Laura, age 18, to CHM in November of 2010. Pregnant at age 16 but living with an abusive mother, Laura petitioned to be an emancipated minor, and moved in with her boyfriend and father of her unborn baby, and life was happy.  But tragedy struck six months later when icy winter driving caused the car to slide off the road and flip over, ejecting Laura’s boyfriend and killing him. Laura awoke in the hospital to find she had lost both the baby—a son—and the love of her life.  Grief stricken, she did the best she could to keep up with the bills, but her income alone could not cover all the expenses and she found herself moving back in with her mother. Within months the abuse continued, up until her mother had pushed her down the stairs, causing severe knee injuries that required knee replacement surgery.

Once released from the hospital, Laura spent months sleeping in cars, couches of friends, and even the park until the November weather turned cold and bitter and she called 1-800-SHELTER, where she was referred to Covenant House, one day after her 18th birthday. She recalls life on the streets and the friend she made who helped her by giving her food and shelter. “He was my angel,” she reminisces through tears. “It was scary. You don’t know who you can trust. There was a developmentally disabled guy who was always hitting on me. I was always afraid he might hurt me someday for rejecting him.”

When Laura entered the Crisis Center eight months ago, she said she was numb, physically and emotionally. She felt like she was just standing still in her pain and grief. Today Laura has been in the Rights of Passage (ROP) program after moving from Crisis four months ago. She attends classes at the Central Academy and plans to graduate in January. Her goal is to save money, move out on her own and hopefully get a car. She also plans to attend college to earn a degree in Wildlife Biology so she can one day work in the National Park System. She said the hardest thing right now is she often finds herself holding back and fighting her own progress when she’s flooded by memories and grief. “Sometimes it just seems too hard to move on.”

Laura calls CHM a blessing and inspiring. “I had to take a chance on Covenant House, and they are taking a chance on me. We are all learning to trust each other.” She believes lives are changed here, if one is ready to embrace the change.

Thank you for giving Laura a safe place to heal and start over. Please remember her and all the Covenant House kids. They all have different stories but they share the need to be loved.     

Donate now to help Laura and other kids in our programs.