A Los Gatos business owner donated a Thanksgiving dinner to a local homeless shelter for young adults.
The families and youth from the Santa Clara County branch of Covenant House, an international nonprofit organization that supports homeless young adults, will have Thanksgiving dinner together thanks to an $850 donation from Mary Guercio, owner of Out of the Envelope.
“How do you not, especially this time of year?” Guercio said. “I have seven children, and I can’t imagine not knowing where my children are for Thanksgiving.”
Covenant House’s Santa Clara branch serves 30 youth. The organization dates back to the 1980s, when it first started in New York City.
Bobby Guillemette, a former Catholic priest and development consultant for the nonprofit, said the organization supports young adults who are aged out of foster care.
“Instead of ending up in encampments and homeless shelters with 30- and 40-year-old gentlemen, Covenant House has built a space for these young people to begin a new transitional life,” Guillemette said.
The organization provides these young adults with shelter and food security, and each are assigned a caseworker who helps them with everything from getting a job to mental health and substance abuse support.
The Santa Clara location has a career center, a meditation and therapy room and outdoor space with basketball and volleyball courts.
The Thanksgiving dinner is an annual event for the Santa Clara group.
“As families are meeting across the world, these homeless youth have bonded as their own kind of family,” Guillemette said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com