New Covenant House director identifies with youth

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

She’s young. She’s enthusiastic. She lived through Katrina and she has worked with struggling and underserved youth and young families.

Meet Rheneisha M. Robertson, the new executive director of Covenant House, a safe haven for homeless and human-trafficked youth ages 16-22 that provides food, shelter and support services to promote sustainable self-sufficiency. Robertson succeeds two-time, former director Jim Kelly.

“Rheneisha’s impressive qualifications, warm spirit and passionate advocacy make her the perfect choice to lead the way in this promising new chapter for Covenant House and our young people,” said Covenant House’s incoming board chair Deidre Hayes.  

Robertson’s background includes service with the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES), Girls on the Run NOLA’s board, the Greater New Orleans Breastfeeding Advocacy Coalition and Emerge LA.

“I bring something valuable to the organization and, hopefully, to the young people, that will have an impact,” Robertson said. “My experience as a Black woman, a New Orleanian, as someone who may have shared similar experiences with the young people I see – first hand or secondary in the work I’ve done – proves that representation definitely matters.” 

Instilled with faith
Robertson grew up in New Orleans East, attended St. Mary’s Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Xavier University of Louisiana. She holds the Sisters of the Holy Family’s influence at St. Mary’s in her heart.

“Mother Henriette Delille founded the Sisters of the Holy Family to provide excellence in education for young Black women,” she said. “That commitment, that bravery at her time, that foresight and forethought to do what she did has been instilled in me. The sisters instilled that pride and understanding of the commitment to serve and promote social justice – to be brave, bold and to believe in myself, my faith and in God. That has always been at the core of my identity.”

On top of her New Orleans youth work, Robertson spent 3 1/2 years in Chicago with the local health department, helping young moms with infants meet milestones.

She returned home in 2004, just in time to lose everything to Hurricane Katrina a year later and navigate the trauma surrounding it.

While in graduate school at Tulane University School of Public Health, where she earned a master’s degree in public health, she yearned to be part of New Orleans’ recovery. She interned as an adolescent coordinator at IWES and then spent 17 years advocating for the health and well-being of women of color and health equity. 

Youth have Katrina trauma
Robertson realizes some young adults she sees at Covenant House were the toddlers from Katrina. 

“The level of trauma many received through Katrina” – including maternal transmission of their mom’s trauma after being displaced, living in poverty, lacking health care, education and resources – lingered and “led to current instability,” Robertson said.

Array of assistance 
Covenant House’s many services include crisis care, on- and off-site housing, life and job readiness skills development, education and health care. Those services, Robertson said, promote the successful transition of young adults back into the community. No one youth’s experience is the same, so there is no cookie-cutter solution to provide the support and sustain self-sufficiency.

“It is challenging to place a young person who has just left an unstable environment,” she said. “These are youth who have not yet developed all the life skills and self-sufficiency skills they need to successfully be independent.”

COVID caused more havoc to the young adult population, Robertson said. Covenant House’s daily numbers have grown from 180 to 230, with noted increases in young and expectant moms needing help. Added precautions were put in place onsite at Covenant House to minimize the coronavirus spread. 

She said Covenant House is needed now more than ever.

“We were established to be that safe haven for homeless youth who were running away from some form of abuse and neglect or a young person trying to figure things out about their identity and ability to feel safe in their environment,” Robertson said. “That still exists, but there are even more experiences of all forms of abuse, neglect, young people experiencing extreme trauma.”

Lack of access contributes
Robertson’s social justice experience points to this escalation as a result of social ills and social inequity.

“We are at a point that we no longer can turn our heads and not acknowledge that there were huge inequities,” Robertson said. “There is a history of trauma experienced by certain communities. We must come together to work through and heal ourselves as communities, as a country, as a world and work toward a much brighter, better future for our young people.”

Robertson, her staff and the Covenant House clients are evaluating where service gaps exist.

“We are talking to young people and learning from their stories,” she said. “I believe there is so much we can gather just from listening to young people to inform what we are doing right in meeting their needs and where we haven’t quite met the mark.”

“We want to make sure we face the stressors faced by our clients – Katrina, COVID and social issues,” Robertson said, “and are ready to offer the resources and support our young people need to get them stable, be healthy and thrive in spite of the challenges they face.”

To guide Covenant House New Orleans’ future, Robertson harkens to past director Kelly and ponders, “What Jim would say? ‘Where is God calling us and what is God is calling us to do?’”

To learn more about Covenant House: go to www.covenanthousenola.org.

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