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This post is sponsored by State Farm®.
I’m so excited to share that I’m working with State Farm for their Neighborhood of Good® initiative over the next few months–they gave me the opportunity to choose a local charity that was close to my heart and I decided on Covenant House California. Covenant House is an international non-profit that provides sanctuary and support for homeless and trafficked youth, but they are so much more than just a “homeless shelter.” I recently visited and got a tour of the LA location and it was so inspiring–beyond housing, they have so many other supportive resources to really set their youth up to be self-sufficient. They teach life skills; help them secure GEDs, jobs and learn financial responsibility; they have an on-site health clinic for check ups and medical care; they even offer arts education and exposure and have dedicated rooms for music and painting. I went in expecting one thing and was totally blown away by how much they do–I’m so glad such an extensive program exists with people who truly care about the well-being and long term success of their youth.
I asked the staff how I could be of service, and they said that they would love for me and my friends to come and clean some of the apartments that their youth transition into after they’ve successfully gone through the on-site program. These apartments definitely needed some TLC, and the youth deserve to come home to a clean apartment that makes them feel good and motivated to continue their hard work. I jumped at the opportunity to help, and my friends and family were of course more than happy to chip in!
We broke our group into two and spent the next few hours deep-cleaning the apartments–the difference after we were done was honestly amazing! We were all proud of the work we’d done, and knowing we made a small difference in the quality of life for these youth was a really great feeling.
I can’t wait to keep working with Covenant House over the coming months; the work they do is truly unique and incredible, as are the people in the program. I will definitely keep sharing more here and on social media as we continue to find new ways to help.
It’s a pretty scary time in the world and things can feel overwhelming, but I find that helping others is a way to feel more grounded and remind ourselves that we do have the power to make a difference, even on a small scale. It matters. I definitely encourage you guys to visit Neighborhood of Good® and see if there’s a local cause you can volunteer to help!
This post has been sponsored by State Farm – Here to help life go right.™ Turn caring into doing and find volunteer opportunities in your neighborhood at NeighborhoodofGood.com.