TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 9 2 TMC | PULSE Vol. 6 No. 10 November 2019 President and Chief Executive Officer William F. McKeon Communications Director Ryan Holeywell Pulse Editor Maggie Galehouse, Ph.D. mgalehouse@tmc.edu Assistant Editor Cindy George cgeorge@tmc.edu Staff Writers Alexandra Becker Britni R. McAshan Shanley Pierce Photojournalist Cody Duty NEWSROOM 713-791-8812 news@tmc.edu ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Joseph Gray 713-791-8829 newsads@tmc.edu distribution@tmc.edu READ US ONLINE tmc.edu/news FOLLOW US @TXMedCenter @texasmedcenter @thetexasmedicalcenter TMC Pulse is an award-winning monthly publication of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Permission from the editor is required to reprint any material. President's Perspective WILLIAM F. McKEON President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Medical Center Mark Mulligan/© Houston Chronicle. Used with permission. I magine you're a high school student and you dream about attending college when you graduate. Your financial needs are significant— you know college will require scholarships—but, fortunately, your grades are strong and your extracurricular achievements are considerable. The future looks bright. Then, the news hits you when you arrive home from school one afternoon. Your 18th birthday you were looking forward to next week? There won't be a celebration. Your foster parents inform you that, since you soon will be an adult, the guardian- ship payments they receive for caring for you will end. As a result, they say, it's time for you to move out—immediately. For a while, you find temporary refuge with friends. But as the months drag on, and through no fault of your own, you eventually end up living on the street and fending for yourself. Suddenly, you're homeless. Every year, young men and women in every city in the United States become part of the homeless community. The scenario described above is all too common. More than a quarter of foster children become homeless within a few years of leaving the foster system. These young adults—in some cases, teenagers—are likely not the people you see panhandling on street corners. In fact, you probably won't see them at all, as they're in the shadows—especially vulnerable and afraid. Fortunately, here in Houston, the nonprofit Covenant House Texas provides a safe haven for these young people. Staff and volunteers travel the city daily, searching for young adults and pro- viding them with food, housing, job training and life skills lessons, as well as medical, dental and mental health care. The stories I hear when I visit Covenant House are heartbreaking, but they also fill me with a renewed sense of purpose and hope. I'm always impressed with how ambitious and eager these men and women are, despite the obstacles they've encountered. As I drive through our city each day, I'm reminded of these young people who face tremen- dous adversity and I'm hopeful that we will find them before they fall victim to even greater harm. I am proud to work closely with Covenant House. I invite others to join me in supporting this important organization that defends some of our community's most vulnerable residents. SLEEP OUT: EXECUTIVE EDITION More than 4 million young people in the United States will face homelessness this year. You can help. Join business leaders in Houston who are raising critical funds and awareness to ensure these young people have a safe place to sleep at Covenant House. On November 21, spend part of the night getting to know the youth whose lives will be better because of your work—then spend the rest of the night sleeping on the street in their place. For more information, email fbroussard@covenanthouse.org or call 713-630-5670.

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