Fall 2014 For special friends of Covenant House By Jessica Harman Jewish Day School & Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy Come Together To Help Others Last February, an enthusiastic group of Grade 6 & 7 students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy banded together to make a difference in the Downtown Eastside. Together, they were an outstanding display of two cultures working happily together as well as an inspiration for us all to reach out to help others. The students handed out food and clothing and engaged with the people they met. They formed a strong connection with one gentleman in particular, Fred Miller, who inspired them to be grateful for what they have, trust their parents and work hard in school. Fred was touched by the kindness of these students and was overwhelmed by the love they showed him. He was also inspired by the way they had come together, despite their cultural differences. Jessie Claudio, a teacher from Az-Zahraa, invited Covenant House to come and speak with her students. Last spring, they had won an award for their random acts of kindness and were thinking about donating the $3,000 award to Covenant Continued... Students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy 1
House Vancouver. When I arrived at the school, I was delighted to meet Fred Miller who had inspired the students to support Covenant House. This stellar group of young people donated their $3,000 award to Covenant House Vancouver and they were so excited about the opportunity to double the impact of their gift by donating their award during The Conconi Covenant House Matching Challenge. When the students arrived to present Covenant House with their donation, they also brought along gifts for Fred and boxes of shoes for our youth. In addition to their incredible donation, a member of the Shia Muslim Community matched the students donation and presented Covenant House with another gift of $3,000! Thank you to all involved, especially the students for their kind generosity. One student from RJDS really summed up the spirit of the day when he said: I woke up this morning feeling good, knowing what we were about to do. Students from Richmond Jewish Day School and Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy ChristmaS Backpack Program Needs Your Support! We are very grateful to have donors who support us in many ways. Every month, Covenant House gives away more than 700 pieces of clothing and toiletry items to our young people, and we would not be able to do this without the generous gifts we receive from donors like you! Each holiday season, we provide all of our young people with a Christmas backpack filled with new clothing, toiletries and small gifts. We hope that you will consider supporting our backpack program this Christmas and make the holidays special for our Covenant House youth. This year we have two new ways you can support the backpack program: You can be a Christmas elf this year by volunteering to help sort donations and pack Christmas backpacks! Contact Amanda at 604-639-8920 or aemes@covenanthousebc.org We have teamed up with Army & Navy to make donating even easier. Contact Amy at 604-639-8937 or acotton@covenanthousebc.org for details. For general information about our Christmas Backpack program visit www.covenanthousebc.org. This spring, a challenge was issued and our donors responded enthusiastically. Throughout the month of June, Bob Conconi and The Robert L. Conconi Foundation partnered with us to match all donations up to $150,000 and together with our supporters, we reached our goal! A Huge Success! Thank you to all of our amazing supporters: caring individuals, community groups, schools, foundations, corporations and more, who came together to join the Conconi Covenant House Challenge! The funds raised will go a long way in helping our youth become healthy, independent adults. Special thanks to Bob Conconi, his family, the Robert L. Conconi Foundation and all the Conconi Covenant House Challenge supporters for their incredible community spirit! 2 3
Jillian s Story House Vancouver as the beneficiary. This way her estate would receive the tax receipt and Covenant House would receive the gift without waiting for it to go through probate. Jillian was in good health, a non-smoker and was able to set up a $100,000 policy at a cost of approximately $200.00 per month. The policy will be paid off by the time Jillian is 55. For more information on giving a gift of life insurance or to discuss other ways to leave a legacy, please contact Michelle Bernard, Gift and Estate Planning Officer at 604-639-8915 or mbernard@covenanthousebc.org Calculations provided by: Ross Young, CA, CFP Secure Capital Management Ltd. Jillian is a 45 year old single woman who has no children of her own, but was once very close with her niece Megan. As Megan moved into adolescence, her parents divorced and she was devastated. Megan soon became a troubled young person, rebelling, getting into trouble and was very much at risk of becoming homeless. Although Jillian tried desperately to take her niece in and give her a more stable home environment, Megan s mother decided to put her into foster care. Unfortunately this was the beginning that she had written down the name of of Megan s journey down the wrong the youth worker with whom she spoke. path. Megan ran away from the foster Jillian decided that she had to support home and ended up living on the Covenant House and the young people streets, owing money to dealers for who turn to us for help. drugs and having to prostitute herself Jillian became a monthly donor to to pay back the money she owed. Covenant House Vancouver, but also While all of this was going on, Jillian wanted to leave a legacy gift. She met called Covenant House and spoke with with a financial planner and although a youth worker who provided her she didn t have much in the way of with professional guidance and advice. assets, she was able to purchase a life Jillian never forgot this and she wished insurance policy naming Covenant Ways of Giving through Insurance If you have a paid-up policy that you no longer require because your circumstances have changed you may change the ownership and beneficiary to Covenant House Vancouver. In this case you would receive a tax receipt for the fair market value of the policy. You may purchase a new policy where Covenant House Vancouver is both the owner and the beneficiary. In this case you will receive a tax receipt for the annual premiums paid. You can retain ownership of a policy and make the beneficiary Covenant House Vancouver. In this case your estate would receive a tax receipt for the amount of the policy. This will result in tax savings for your estate and may result in your heirs inheriting more because your estate has paid less tax. Advantages of a Gift of Insurance A gift of life insurance does not reduce the value of your estate for your loved ones. Life insurance proceeds are paid directly to Covenant House Vancouver and are not subject to probate fees. You have the ability to determine how you want your resulting tax credits structured. Life insurance can provide an annual tax credit or a tax credit in the year of death. How you structure your gift will depend on where you may have the greatest need for tax relief. 4 5
3rd Annual Sleep Out: Executive Edition Cold, hungry and alone. The reality of sleeping on the streets is harsh and unforgiving. On November 20th we are Vanessa is one of the dedicated young people living in Covenant House Vancouver s Rights of Passage (ROP) program. She has faced multiple barriers to independence in her life, including a physical disability, a mental health diagnosis and homelessness. Vanessa has a job and also recently registered for school. At the beginning of her first semester, Vanessa was nervous about an upcoming test and thought she may not pass. At ROP, Covenant House Vancouver staff taught Vanessa how to manage her time so she could juggle both work and school. Thanks to her new time management skills and incredible dedication to her ROP is a long-term supportive housing program that leads youth to full independence. Youth learn life skills, such as how to care for their physical and mental health, prioritize their education and employment, budget, cook and clean. All of the young people living in ROP are required to either be working or going to school yet many of them are juggling both, just like Vanessa. To give youth the opportunity to successfully build a life beyond the streets, please consider a gift of $6,500 to the Give a Day, Build a Life campaign. You will provide 24 hours of support for every single youth in ROP to help them achieve lasting independence. A very generous supporter has offered to match all donations made to this challenging local executives, community luminaries and notables to Sleep Out for one night in solidarity with the youth we serve here at Covenant House. With only a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard, participants will get a small glimpse of what it s like to sleep on the street. Support participants as they each aim to raise enough money to fully fund 24 hours of care for our 54 bed Crisis Shelter. Each participant will raise money through their companies, colleagues, friends, family but you can help too! Our Thank-a-Thon program is starting up again for October and we need your help! Go to www.covenanthousebc.org and check out our participants. Covenant House sites throughout the United States and Canada will host Sleep Out events this fall to raise critical funds for and awareness of the issue of youth homelessness. Join the discussion on Twitter on November 20th with participants from all over North America using the hashtag #CHSleepOut. For more information please contact Stephanie Trimble at 604-639-8913 or strimble@covenanthousebc.org. Starting Monday October 20th, volunteers will meet at Covenant House every Monday and Tuesday from 5:00pm 7:30pm. You can sign up to volunteer for one Thank-a-Thon or as many as you like! future, Vanessa came home after her test with a huge smile on her face and said: Guess what? You know that test I had last week? I got an A! I can t believe it! The teacher even wrote great job on it! campaign so your gift of $6,500 will actually be $13,000 and will provide a full 48 hours of support for these young people! For more information or to offer your support to youth in ROP, please contact Jessica Harman at: 604-639-8925 or jharman@covenanthousebc.org Thank-a-Thon s are fun-filled evenings where volunteers get together and call our donors just to say thank-you. Because we are primarily privately funded, it is important for us to be able to reach our donors and thank them personally for the difference they make in our young peoples lives. If you would like to volunteer for our Thank-a-Thon program please call Amanda Emes at 604-639-8920 or email aemes@covenanthousebc.org. Thank-a-Thons are also ideal for families and school, church and corporate groups who would like to volunteer together. If you can give us a couple of hours of your time, we can guarantee you a positive, uplifting experience! 6 7
575 Drake Street Vancouver BC V6B 4K8 www.covenanthousebc.org Tel: (604) 638 GIFT (4438) Crisis Shelter: (604) 685 7474 Fax: (604) 685 5324 Immediacy Sanctuary Value Communication Structure Choice