2 weeks Ago By Haley Parnell
If Homeward Bound Shelter wasn’t in the community, Jayden Moher said she would be homeless. Moher was first introduced to Homeward Bound Shelter at age 11 and found herself there again six years later, at age 17. Homeward Bound is a 24-hour emergency shelter in Covington that operates under Brighton Center.
It is the only direct-access emergency shelter for youth under 18 in Northern Kentucky. “I was living with my great grandparents [at age 11], and it wasn’t a very good environment at all for me and my siblings, so I had told a counselor at school that I was not eating at home,” Moher said. “She told the resource officer that, and they reached out to DCBs [Department for Community Based Services].
” The same day the Department for Community Based Services visited her home, Moher and her brother were sent to Homeward Bound Shelter. She was there for three months and then was put into a residential foster care home for three years. “I went home because they had nowhere else to put me after that, and I kind of went on a downward spiral because I was home and I didn’t have any meds, and home is a very rough situation, and I hadn’t been home in a long time,” Moher said.
“I didn’t have no meds, nobody to talk to.” Moher said she ended up overdosing and was put in the ICU. After that, she asked to be placed back at Homeward Bound Shelter.
If Homeward Bound wasn’t an option, Moher said she doesn’t know where she would have gone and speculated that it could have been the streets. Keep up with the latest NKY news with our daily newsletter Sign up “I’m pretty sure I’d probably be homeless,” she said. “I can’t lie because my grandma didn’t want me in the house, and that’s the only family I have is my grandma.
And she lives in a one-bedroom house with six people in the house.” Brighton Center Youth Services Director Kate Kassis said the shelter is licensed to hold 16 children at a time, though it typically has around five. The average stay is usually a month, but Kassis said it depends on each child’s situation.
“Obviously, there are housing issues in our area—shelters will get full, and if families are homeless, there might not be a place for the whole family to stay, so rather than all of them sleeping in a car or somewhere outside, the children can stay with us,” Kassis said. “The family can come and visit if they want, but then we can help make sure that they’re still connected to schools, getting where they can be and additional services.” Kassis said the shelter accepts walk-ins.
It also has a case manager and counselor on staff. Last year, Homeward Bound Shelter served 44 homeless and runaway youth, and 91% of youth admitted to shelter care remained in their home school. Kassis said the shelter works with McKinney–Vento liaisons to keep kids staying at the shelter in their school of enrollment.
Moher said when she came to the shelter at age 11, she was able to stay enrolled in Campbell County Schools. Kassis said they are trying to improve the perception of youth shelters. Homeward Bound is in an old apartment building.
It has a living room with a gaming system, a dining room where everyone eats, a craft room, a private meditation space and a computer room. Moher is now 18, so she couldn’t stay at Homeward Bound Shelter anymore. Brighton Center worked with her to place her in their independent living program, which pays for an apartment for her to live in as long as she is enrolled in school or working.
Moher works part-time and goes to Northern Kentucky University part-time for business and marketing. “We’re so proud of Jayden,” said Resident and Individualized Learning Plan Case Manager Ashley Coulter. “She has come a long way, and over the seven months that she was here, she had some ups and downs she has stayed strong.
She has stayed true to herself. The whole time, she’s been a wonderful advocate for both her and the other kids here. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.
” Moher said when she first came to Homeward Bound at age 11, she told her brother she didn’t want to talk to anyone. She said the situation was scary, but the staff made her feel welcome. Brighton Center Community Relations and Event Specialist Jamie Koch said it is important to have a shelter that’s only for kids.
“It can be a lot safer than when there are a bunch of adults who are also living there that you can’t necessarily account for all the time,” she said. “I think it can also be intimidating being a child and being in a shelter with other adults. I think having kids your age who are going through a similar thing is definitely helpful.
” Homeward Bound Shelter can be contacted by calling (859) 491-8303. The shelter is located at 13 E. 20th St.
in Covington and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.
m., except holidays. The emergency 24-hour phone number is (859) 581-1111.
“All these kids are struggling,” Moher said. “They’re not bad kids at all. When you’re a child, and you get put in a bad situation, and you’re growing up in that bad situation, and you get put here, it’s just kind of hard to accept that there are people who actually care about you and people who want to do right for you.
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