Cheryl Hamilton-Hill is the CEO of Covenant House Illinois and has committed to serving communities and youth for over 25 years. Covenant House is a homeless shelter that helps transform the lives of homeless, runaway and trafficked young people by offering housing and support services to youth in need. According to Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the total number of unaccompanied homeless youth, ages 14-24, totals 11,067. Many are left to the streets, and there are only 375 units of housing in the city to support this exceptionally vulnerable population. Covenant House’s Youth Development Center is open for daytime programming seven days a week and a 12-bed residential facility offers interim housing for youth ages 18-24. Jakari is an example of one of the thousands of youth who received help from Covenant House. Covenant House had an opening in the residential program and gave him a new sense of hope. Since settling in at Covenant House, Jakari has a part time job and has been able to apply himself to his creative aspirations, including creative direction on videos for the “Women Unite” Sleep Out.

“Women Unite” Sleep Out takes place on Thursday, June 13 at 7:00 pm through Friday,  June 14 at 7:00am at the St. James Plaza. To donate to the Sleep Out or participate, please visit https://www.covenanthouseil.org.