Elijah’s path to Covenant House Texas, like most of our youth, was filled with uncertainty and struggle; but his incredibly calm demeanor shows a young man who is working hard to overcome the stressful life he led before arriving here. At a young age, Elijah’s family was forced to leave their home, seeking refuge here in the United States. Elijah’s parents divorced shortly after arriving, leaving his mother to care for Elijah and his other eight siblings on her own. As one of the youngest children, Elijah was forced to fend for himself since his mother was often away working. Elijah began having behavioral issues as he got older, running afoul of school administration and his mother. Tension between Elijah and his mother came to a head one night when she asked him to leave the house at the age of 14. For the first time in his life, Elijah found himself without a home.
Initially taken in by relatives, Elijah stayed there for a while before getting a job so he could provide for himself. High school and work became a constant juggling act and, because he did not want to overstay his welcome, Elijah took a chance on renting a room through Craigslist. “Looking back on it, you can only be so wise when you’re sixteen years old,” Elijah lightheartedly observed.
Cycling through odd jobs, Elijah remained laser focused on his goal of completing high school. He found some escape through his coursework, and particularly his history class, where he enjoyed debating and playing chess with his professor. Elijah’s academic work inspired him to use his limited free time to read classical literature and discover his favorite book, “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. During his senior year, Elijah was able to get a higher paying job and move into a place of his own. Sadly, just two weeks before his high school graduation, Elijah was laid off and forced to surrender the keys to his apartment.
In the short time before Elijah was forced to move out, he began plotting how best to survive on the streets. “I began screenshotting different areas where I could sleep and logging the coordinates so I could get to them by bus,” he said. Keenly aware of the dangers that come with living on the street, he would pick places near bus lines, but far enough from the normal spots so no one would bother him or take his belongings. “Fun fact, the safest place to sleep at night is near a church; it must be the holiness,” he remarked with a smile.
Elijah’s resourcefulness kept him safe long enough to find Covenant House Texas online and take a bus to Houston this past June, arriving just in time to escape summer’s brutal heat and Hurricane Beryl’s extreme rain and wind. Elijah’s experiences have not dampened his spirits or his ambition. Eager to pursue forensic science as his major, Elijah has received his high school diploma and has started on his undergraduate career using the Career Center. As Elijah gears up for college, he’s been able to take up his reading habit again and play chess in the resident common area. Asked about his time here, he shared, “Covenant House has just been a blessing, a real blessing.”
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