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Meet Leotha

Leotha has been on her own since age 16. Despite this, she still managed to do well in high school, until she started hanging out with the wrong friends, and ended up dropping out of her senior year, giving up a college jazz scholarship. After moving around a lot and working dead-end jobs for a while, she finally called her old school last summer to find out about getting her GED.

Leotha talked to one of Covenant House Missouri’s In-School counselors, who picked her up that day and took her to the Community Service Center. By the next morning she was enrolled in GED class. Her goal was to pass her GED by the fall so she could start college. Meanwhile, she was juggling multiple jobs supporting herself and her sister. After a barely missed attempt at the GED test in the fall and some encouragement by Covenant House staff, Leotha started studying again and passed her GED with flying colors this summer.

All the while, she was working various jobs, including Covenant House’s Garden Rangers program, where she set herself apart as one of the hardest working and most reliable workers.

Now 20 years old, Leotha is enrolled at Allied Medical College to become a dental assistant, and has further plans to become a dentist. When asked what she thought about Covenant House, Leotha’s eyes light up and she says, "It’s awesome — it’s cool to go somewhere where people actually care about you and what happens to you. Most places just don’t care."