GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids homeless shelter that serves young people works to offer the stability they need to change their circumstances and move forward with their lives.

“They’re looking for something where they can just breathe and just feel comfortable and safe,” Kelvin Jackson, a shift lead at Covenant House, said.

Covenant House, which has 34 locations across the country and two in Michigan, held a candlelight vigil at its Grand Rapids campus Thursday evening, with a program of singing and sharing stories to draw attention to the problem of homelessness among young people.

The shelter on Antoine Street SW near S. Division Avenue serves people ages 18 to 24. In about five years, it has worked with 326 people, including about 80 this year. Leaders say 154 young people have found jobs or stayed with existing jobs, and 136 have moved to stable housing. Currently, 28 people are staying at the shelter.

They’re people like 23-year-old Demetrius, who News 8 met earlier this week as he shot some hoops while the weather held. It’s his pastime when he’s not working as a cook. He lives at Covenant House now, but he spent five years homeless after he says he fell in with a bad crowd and made some bad decisions.

“Sleeping in parking lot stairwells, like parking lot garages, and I was also getting locked up for that for that, too: trespassing,” he recalled. “It was tough for me. There was days I didn’t eat nothing.”

He has worked hard to move past that period in his life.

“When people see me, I want them to (think), ‘That’s a godly person,'” he said.

Keasia, also 23, has been at Covenant House for only a week. She’s studying to become a nurse, hoping to finish up in 2026.

“My sister has sickle cell and so growing up, I’ve been in and out of the hospital with her, and I see this stuff all the time and just me being around it, I just really grew to love it,” she said.

She said she tries to look ahead, but is often reminded of what led her to where she is now.

“I’m kind of disappointed in myself because I feel I could’ve done better. I could be in a better situation, in a better place right now,” she said.

Seventy-five percent of the youth who come into the shelter have mental health challenges and 33% have foster care history. Jackson, the Covenant House shift worker, said many of the young people’s stories have similarities.

“A common thread is brokenness,” Jackson said. “A lot of young people are broken … and it stems from some traumatic (circumstance) or the hand they were dealt.”

That was the case for Demetrius and Keasia.

“I was homeless at 18 and had no family support,” Demetrius said.

“My dad, he’s not in the picture,” Keasia said. “He suffers from drug abuse.”

Softspoken, she has a hard time sharing details. But what’s important is the choice she made.

“I got on a bus and I just came here,” she said.

Jackson said young people sometimes just need a push in the right direction.

“I can’t move forward,” he described their mindset. “They’re stuck, like caught in mud. They’re not quite developed as of yet — mentally, spiritually, emotionally.”

Keasia is trying to find a job as a certified nursing assistant and wants to save up money to buy a car. She’s reminded of what she needs to do to reach those goals when she looks at the words painted on the windows at Covenant House:

“Accountable, action, acceptance, appreciation, ambitious,” she read.

Demetrius said he’s not going back. His focus is moving forward, “really just focused on trying to love myself right now.”

“I definitely need to do what I need to do and (the people at Covenant House) are going to help with it, but you got to make sure you’re applying yourself, too,” he said.

After three months at Covenant House, he will be leaving soon. He hopes to find an apartment of his own. He said he’s learned a lot and is ready to pass that on to others.

“Don’t give up. Just stay focused. God’s got a bigger plan for you,” he said. “It’s going to be OK.”

Covenant House is hosting a Thanksgiving meal drive, with a match for all donations made online at CovenantHouse.org by Nov. 30.