Senator Sullivan (R-AK) spoke on the Senate floor last week, to give recognition for Alison Kear, who was the Alaskan of the Week. She runs a special organization in her state called Covenant House Alaska, where their goal is to help youth homelessness by providing short-term and long-term housing, with the inclusion of additional resources to help teens in need. Sullivan proclaimed in positive remarks of congratulations to her for serving 25 years within the organization.
The senator noted that Alison did not grow up in Alaska, rather she was born and raised thousands of miles away in the state Florida where she grew up in her youthful life, before moving to Texas to pursue her college education. From there, she decided to move to Alaska in 1994 after attaining a graduate degree in healthcare management, working in a local hospital in the state. Although her initial plans at this point of her life had no intentions to be a part of the Covenant House Alaska organization, nor was staying in Alaska a future plan. Alison thought she would one day move to the lower 48 states, with the dreams of running a hospital on her own accord.
“But like so many before her, her plan started to change. And like so many before her, the change of heart towards Alaska started making her think ‘Maybe I’m going to stay here. Maybe I have a great life ahead of me in the great state of Alaska.’ It happened a bit slowly. Alaska grew on her, as it does for many people,” said Sullivan.
He continued telling Alison’s story of how she moved into a house with friends, skied, and enjoyed the great outdoors Alaska had to offer. She then reached out to a friend who was the executive director of what was then at the time 25 years ago, a crisis shelter struggling to stay open. In doing so, Alison would dedicate her time on a volunteer basis to the shelter helping with grant writing. As weeks turned to months, and months turned into years - three to be exact - that same friend asked Alison if she could stay permanently. So in 1997, Alison started working in the Covenant House for $9 an hour with no health insurance, and possibly little-to-no benefits. “So started kind of at the lower levels of Covenant House and started to work her way up, and then the mission that she never knew she needed, found Alison.”
Yet there was one event in Alison’s time at the facility that meant the most to her. An event where she found the importance of love. During a Thanksgiving celebration, a boy shared a personal story about his family:
“‘I don’t think my mom ever loved me,’ he [the boy] told the group, ‘But I’m glad that she had me because you guys here at Covenant House love me.’ That’s powerful. That’s very powerful. That simple statement hit Alison. She called her mother, Mary Woodmore that evening, crying to her mom. ‘You always love me,’ Alison told her mom. When she internalized that and realized how important that love is, the concept of who she was, and what she could be changed forever.”
Because of the love in which Alison’s mom gave her, remarked Sullivan, “she realized too that she had a big enough heart for love, especially at that wonderful organization. And Alison spread that love, that devotion and commitment to thousands of Alaska’s youth since that time.”
In terms of progress for the Covenant House, Sullivan reported that when the organization first started as a crisis shelter, they had a budget of $900k. Soon as Alison took over, with the help of expanding to other workers, they now have a budget of $15M. They also included ways to create a job training center, employment services, and educational opportunities. From this model, Sullivan said, “It has also become a nationwide model for helping youth. Through sheer tenacity, determination, and grit, and through deep partnerships throughout the communities - not just in Anchorage but even beyond - Alison has led that effort.”
Over 200 kids a day, and thousands a year come through the Covenant House Alaska, with many teens in America facing difficulties within their family due to abuse, addiction, foster care, especially looking for a place to rest. Senator Sullivan emphasizes this topic in detail:
“Unfortunately a lot of teens have that problem in America. And in Alaska, remember how cold it is, often below zero in the winter, and how horrible it is to sleep outside. So many of these kids are from rural parts of our state and have had to travel hundreds of miles to get to Anchorage. So now they’re in the big city. They’re likely to be traumatized, confused, lonely, it’s bitterly cold outside. They gave no place to go. These are children, and it’s heartbreaking, whether you’re in Alaska or anywhere else in the lower 48…”
With Covenant House Alaska, they have established an outreach program with a team of dedicated servants to help kids walk the streets, go to malls, and other places so that they are able to get food, and basic essentials. Alison’s team has found a way to develop relationships of trust because many youthful children hardly had the opportunity to have a trusting-and-stable adult in their lives. When a person comes into the Covenant House, Sullivan expressed, they are greeted by people who welcome them with a smile, treat them with kindness, and treat them with respect. If one comes hungry, they’ll get a meal. If one is dealing with trauma, they’ll talk to a counselor. If one wants to pursue an education (high school or G.E.D.), they’ll be provided a classroom. If one is pregnant or already had a baby, they’ll learn positive parenting skills. Sullivan also applauds their inclusion with other Alaskan organizations at their sites, on what’s called their wrapped-around services, where kids won’t need to go back on the streets. “These different partners who work with the Covenant House offer everything a teen needs to learn about in terms of life skills that so many of us take for granted. And what’s so amazing is that someone at Covenant House will stay with you for as long as you need it,” said the senator.
Henceforth, Sullivan expressed an important point in his address on the Senate floor:
“This is really important! Even after you leave the shelter, to help these teens navigate the system, apply for jobs, get an apartment, get transportation, get them through a crisis that they might be having, all the things that we as parents do for our own kids, Covenant House does in so many ways for these kids. Almost everything they might need to have a chance, an opportunity, a bright future…”
But not everything is easy, Sullivan noted, for he pointed out some of these youth have experiences unspeakable trauma, especially human trafficking. He remarked in which a study from Loyola University from 2017 found that 28% of young people who came to be served at the Covenant House were survivors of human trafficking. “Many of whom have been lured out of their village, with the promise of a better life, and they have been lured into trafficking. At Covenant House, the leadership has to shied away from these statistics, and I think that’s a testament to Alison and her leadership.”
Sullivan addressed that the leadership within the organization are willing to talk openly about the issue, for they studied it and have worked tirelessly, endlessly, and diligently with the support of law enforcement agencies statewide to address the issue, not only in Alaska, but nationwide as well. “Importantly,” expressed the senator, “they make these survivors, and all the young people who come to Covenant House, feel sale. They call it, ‘Creating sanctuary for the youth’ at Covenant House, and it works…”
Alison had been grateful to share many stories of progress from those who once walked into Covenant House Alaska in crisis, trauma, or scared, have become graduates of high school and college academia, are back working with their own families, or doing good things for the state. Some have also come back to the center as staff to help out those in similar situations from their past.
“I’ve had the honor of meeting a number of these young Alaskans who are contributing so much. Alison is the key reason why this is all - this has all happened successfully. She’s tenacious, smart, stubborn. That’s not my language madam president, that was her own language. Ambitious and loving for her kids. Joe Hemple, Covenant House Alaska’s chief development officer called Alison, ‘A visionary for kids.’ He’s known her for 25 years, and Joe said this about Alison, ‘One thing hasn’t changed in over 25 years. She has never taken no for an answer, and she still doesn’t. But her heart leads. When you talk to her, she’ll tell you that love is truly the answer for all that ails our communities, and certainly for all that ails our young people in them.’”
To which Alison is quoted by Sullivan stating, “How great it is to create a space where someone can feel love… to take it and to give it… It’s the only thing that is truly - that has truly changed communities when you think about it. Homelessness is not a singular experience. It’s about a void in relationships, it’s about a void of love.”
Senator Sullivan concludes his remarks by thanking all the staff at Covenant House Alaska for doing such a great job year-round, especially to his wife Julie, who had the honor to work with Covenant House for many years, seeing the great things Alison and her teams has done for Alaskan youth.
“So again, to all of the Covenant House, thank you for walking alongside our youth, who have not had love in their lives, and yet who are resilient and working hard to find a positive path. The Covenant House team is making that happen. And of course thank you to Alison for leading this exceptional team… I know your birthday is coming up, so happy birthday, and most importantly thank you again for being our Alaskan of the Week.”