Covenant House Michigan Honors Its Executive Director

Asked how he feels about having a building dedicated in his name, Sam Joseph responds the way he does to most things: “If it helps Covenant House I will do it.”

Despite his resistance to the idea, donors pushed to honor the Farmington Hills resident, who has been with the organization since it started in 1997. He now serves as Executive Director.

“I always say this is God’s work and a lot of wonderful people worked with me and built this up with me,” Joseph said.

Covenant House Michigan (CHM) will be dedicating its volunteer residence to Sam Joseph in a ceremony on May 12. The volunteer house is the latest campus addition at CHM, which provides shelter and services to homeless, runaway and at-risk youth ages 13-22,

Joseph, who lived in India until he was 29, started work with troubled youth when he came to the United States. He also worked with homeless people who were mentally ill in New York before coming to Michigan. He wanted more freedom; state funding put restrictions on programs.

 “Feeding and clothing doesn’t help them,” Joseph said. “You need to teach them how to live. When I came here that was my way of running this place. It is a very individualized plan for each one of them”

Joseph was hand-picked to start the Covenant House of Michigan by the organization’s international office. True to his humble manner, he did not even know he was being considered until he got the call.

“What attracted me in Michigan was all the kids who come here come voluntarily,” said Joseph, who did not know anyone in Michigan before arriving. “It means you can work with them because they want to be here.”

Joseph can’t pick out one memorable moment from his time at Covenant House, because there are too many, but he does recall one special student who went on to attend Ferris State after his time at CHM.

“Around Easter time I saw him back here playing basketball ... He said ‘Mr. Joseph I came home for my spring vacation'," Joseph said. "For him to call this a home, it’s like your own child coming back for spring vacation. It’s a very touching feeling personally for me.”

Joseph believes in caring for each of the kids that come to the Covenant House as if they were his own.

 “These are God’s children,” Joseph said. “When you look at them you see like your own child. And we do our best to help them.”

The dedication ceremony will take place at Covenant House's campus at 2959 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulveard in Detroit at noon on May 12, 2011.