By Caleb Wheeler | Staff Writer
The Cove — a local nonprofit that helps young people who are homeless or experiencing housing instability — recently celebrated seven years of service.
“The aim is to help them in a nurturing, caring, supportive way,” executive director Dr. Timothy Packer said.
Packer said The Cove served 109 individuals in 2021 and 173 individuals in 2022. As of September, it has served 105 individuals this year.
“For the youth that we serve, a big misconception is they’re sleeping under a bridge or holding a cardboard sign at the intersection, and it’s not really like that,” marketing and fundraising director Harold Brown said. “A lot of kids that we work with are either the family has been evicted, or they’re doubling up with families.”
Brown said the youth may also be runaways from abusive situations, be part of a family who had power, water or other utilities turned off, or be without a guardian altogether.
“How we find these kids is every school district is required to have a homeless liaison, staff member or a counselor or someone that recognizes the signs that a kid may be homeless,” Brown said. “When we partner with a school district, we can have access to all the information about the kids.”
According to its website, once The Cove identifies a student facing homelessness, it meets with them individually and presents them with available resources. The Cove operates Monday through Friday, and buses stop at the location at the end of each route so that students can maintain privacy regarding their living situation.
“It’s a very common thing that [students facing homelessness] have an increased number of absences compared to their peers,” Brown said. “That’s all across the board, and so we offer attendance recovery. So depending on the school district, for every hour they spend here, they can make up to three hours. They can recover basically, and that is with missing assignments and then also getting the credit.”
The Cove has a fully stocked pantry, an exercise area, a communal space and a shower, in addition to one hot meal served each day. The Cove also has a computer station for students to work on FAFSA forms, schoolwork and college applications.
“The Cove’s mission is about providing the after-school drop-in and outreach — kind of nurturing environment to help young people experiencing homelessness thrive,” Packer said. “Our mission is to help young people in this transition from high school into post-high school. And what we know is that failing to graduate high school is one of the main contributing factors to why people experience homelessness as an adult, because it has so many knock-backs and consequences to future earnings, future health outcomes and continued instability in their life.”
