The Neediest Cases

A SHOVE TO THE RIGHT PATH FOR A TEENAGER ON THE EDGE

The seventh floor of Covenant House in Manhattan resembles a college
dorm. A dozen stereos blast music into a hallway where young men come
and go with backpacks slung over baggy T-shirts.

But Covenant House is a shelter that serves homeless or at-risk young
men. The seventh floor is their temporary home as part of Rites of
Passage, a transitional living program for men and women ages 18 to
21, a place where they can learn how to live and succeed on their own.

"We focus on work and education and the things that allow them to
make a living when they leave," said Bruce Henry, the executive
director of Covenant House. "How to dress, to behave on the job, what
to wear to an interview, how to go through a paper and find an
apartment, how to manage money."

For Travis Dortch, 18, the program has been invaluable. With the
lessons learned there - along with help from The New York Times
Neediest Cases Fund - he has gotten a troubled life back on track.

Since arriving at Covenant House four months ago, Mr. Dortch has
graduated from high school, begun his freshman year at the New York
City College of Technology, and been working at an Au Bon Pain restaurant.

He also opened a checking account and obtained his first state
identification card. As part of the program, he can stay at Covenant
House for 12 to 18 months as long as he has a job, stays in school
and pays $75 a week in rent. He can apply to get that money back for
a security deposit or for furniture when he moves.

"They keep driving you," Mr. Dortch said of the Covenant House staff
members. "If they weren't like that, I wouldn't be in school or
working. I'd be chilling."

"Chilling" is what got Mr. Dortch into trouble in the first place.
While on his block in the South Bronx in the spring, he got into a
knife fight and was slashed on his middle finger. That was enough for
his mother, a New York City corrections officer. Invoking some tough
love, she ordered him to go Covenant House. At first, he was resistant.

"Then I realized it was best for me," he said. "I gotta do what I gotta do."

He checked in the next day. His neighborhood provided too many
examples of where he would end up if he didn't. He said that his
older brother had been in and out of prison on drug-related charges.
And Mr. Dortch was no stranger to homelessness. When he was 9 he
entered the New York City shelter system with his mother and younger
brother. They spent four years living in one room before his mother
finally got an apartment in the South Bronx.

His new neighborhood was a wasp's nest of choices. Drugs were sold
outside his house, and most of the teenagers on his block, including
his older brother, had dropped out of school. There were also the
standard temptations of adolescence.

"I'm a teenager, I see things on TV and I figure I'm supposed to be
doing that," he said. "Drinking, smoking, fighting."

Mr. Dortch straddled two worlds. By day he was a good student, and he
secured a scholarship to Cardinal Hayes High School. After school he
would smoke marijuana and drink with his friends. When he got
involved with a gang and fighting ensued, his mother feared he would
end up exactly where his brother is.

Instead, he is studying biomechanical engineering and working 40 hours a week.

"If I don't work full time and go to school full time, I'm going to
do stupid things," he said.

Until recently, however, he still had one big problem: Though he was
determined to make it on his own, he couldn't afford to buy three
college textbooks, the cheapest of which was $55. His mother didn't
have the money, either.

But Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York came to his
aid. The agency is one of seven charities supported by The New York
Times Neediest Cases Fund. It tapped the fund and sent him a check
for $225 to buy the books.

"Yes, yes, yes!" he said while dancing around the Covenant House
office where the check was handed to him.

Later, he explained that the donation was worth far more than $225.
"It feels real good," he said, "knowing that people are trying to
help other people succeed in life."

He had a message for those who contribute to the fund: "Your money
will not be wasted. It could go to another adolescent like myself to
help them succeed in life."

Now Mr. Dortch is focusing on his future. He wants to start a
computer company after he graduates from college, and he dreams of
being the next Bill Gates.

"Forget Windows, forget Macs," he said. "I'm going to make the
fastest supercomputer there is. And it's going to be cheap, like
$300, so everyone in the 'hood can buy one."