Father Ed

As a new Air Force chaplain serving in North Dakota, Father Ed happened upon a Covenant House newsletter lying open on a table. Intrigued, he picked it up, started reading, and was quickly moved to give to our cause.

That chance encounter in 1976 became the catalyst for Fr. Ed’s long support of Covenant House’s mission to care for children and youth facing homelessness. He has journeyed with us for most of the life of Covenant House, which was founded just four years before he opened that brochure.

Now Fr. Ed has decided to leave an enduring legacy with Covenant House by remembering our young people in his estate plans. “What better good could I do with my money?” he asks.

Fr. Ed says he is remembering Covenant House and our young people in his will because “I believe the work is of the greatest importance. If it can be done better, more widely, and reach a greater population, I think that’s what the Gospel calls us to do. And it’s so needed. The need won’t go away.”

Fr. Ed encountered Sister Mary Rose at the Dominican Sisters’ center in Menands, New York, when Fr. Ed led a retreat there. Sr. Mary Rose had retired from Covenant House, having expanded our mission to 10 new cities in 13 years, and was living at her order’s motherhouse nearby. After the retreat, she asked Fr. Ed to be her spiritual director.

“We met on a monthly basis,” he says. “It helped me to be in the presence of this living saint. She was awesome, a blessing to me. She was just such a compassionate and giving person.”

When he first picked up our newsletter all those years ago, Fr. Ed says, “I was completely unaware there were all these homeless kids.” He supported our children and youth when we had only one house—in New York City. Today, we have 31 shelters in six countries, and Fr. Ed is still with us. His legacy gift will help us grow our mission and improve our services into the future.