← Broadway Breakdown
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- [00:00]
Ariana Grande
Hi, I'm Ariana Grande. Hi, I'm Cynthia Erivo and you're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit BPM FM to discover more.
- [00:14]
Chanel
Discover Kanban podcasts, conversations and audio documentaries imagined by Chanel that explore what inspires fashion, literature, cinema, dance and savoir faire. This series of rendezvous gathers artists and friends of the house. Listen to combo podcasts at chanelpancomme and on the streaming platforms.
- [00:38]
Matt Koplik
Hello all you theater lovers both out and proud and on the DL. And welcome back to Broadway Breakdown of podcasts discussing the history und legacy of American theatre's most exclusive address, Broadway. I am your host, Matt Koplik, the least famous and most opinionated of all the Broadway podcasts hosts. And we've got a little special treat for y' all today. It is not a deep dive, it is not a review. It's not even updated on my own personal life, which I know you all are beggin for. For more information on that, please join the substack or the Discord Channel in the description box for this episode. But no, no. Today we're talking about something far more exciting, far more real, if I'm being honest. I want you to help me welcome a new guest to the pod, Mr. David Hovey, who works at Covenant House. Hi, David.
- [01:22]
David Hovey
Hi.
- [01:23]
Matt Koplik
Do you go by David or Dave?
- [01:24]
David Hovey
David, usually.
- [01:25]
Matt Koplik
David, usually. Okay.
- [01:26]
David Hovey
Either is fine.
- [01:27]
Matt Koplik
Is it, though?
- [01:28]
David Hovey
I won't get mad.
- [01:29]
Matt Koplik
Like, outwardly, would you get mad if someone called you Davey?
- [01:32]
David Hovey
Actually, no. I think I prefer that over Dave.
- [01:35]
Matt Koplik
Interesting.
- [01:36]
David Hovey
I know, right?
- [01:37]
Matt Koplik
Is it? Because Dave is like, let's meet at the bowling alley Dave.
- [01:41]
David Hovey
It's very heteronormative.
- [01:43]
Matt Koplik
And you're not heteronormative?
- [01:45]
David Hovey
I try not to be.
- [01:47]
Matt Koplik
You wake up every day and you think, how can I try to go against the heteronorm?
- [01:51]
David Hovey
That's the gay agenda.
- [01:53]
Matt Koplik
That is the gay agenda. I didn't get my newsletter this week, so I forgot. What's on the agenda this week?
- [01:58]
David Hovey
Well, yeah, if it makes.
- [01:59]
Matt Koplik
I mean, I don't like going by Maddie, but I don't think that's because of heteronormativity. It's just. It makes me feel like I'm seven and not in a way where I'm like, baby.
- [02:08]
Cynthia Erivo
Right.
- [02:09]
Matt Koplik
You know? You get it. You get it.
- [02:11]
David Hovey
Me too. I do. There's a time and a place for Maddie.
- [02:14]
Matt Koplik
1,000%. David, you work at Covenant House?
- [02:17]
David Hovey
I do. I do.
- [02:19]
Matt Koplik
Some people might know or have heard of the name Covenant House because it's frequented the circles of Broadway you just had an article come out on playbill.com, but we are here to talk about Covenant as well as a special event you guys have coming up in August.
- [02:36]
David Hovey
Two events.
- [02:37]
Matt Koplik
Well, one in July, one in August. But before we get even to those big things, David, what is Covenant House?
- [02:45]
David Hovey
That is a great question. So Covenant House, to give it like a general overview description, is the world's largest provider of housing support for youth facing homelessness and human trafficking in the world. So mostly privately funded. On any given day, we have 2,400 youth waking up at a Covenant House bed in North America. So that's United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. And we're about to enter our 35th city at the end of this year, which will be Boston. So, yeah, we provide housing stabilization services at the core of what we do. Really trying to help youth here in America, in New York City, ages 18 to 24 really stabilize and, you know, get on their feet, get experience and mentorship and leadership skills that maybe they did not have access to earlier in their life, and then hopefully get them in a stable housing situation, a stable working situation. And we're really good at it and we see a lot of really fantastic results for our youth and we just get to see them blossom and become really impressive humans in their own right.
- [03:59]
Matt Koplik
Yeah. So earlier, 90 seconds ago, I was doing what we call acting when I asked what Covenant House was, because, full disclosure, I've gone to visit Covenant House. I met David there.
- [04:11]
David Hovey
Covenant House, New York.
- [04:12]
Matt Koplik
Exactly. And I got to tour the facilities and get a, you know, in depth look at everything from David himself. And it's a really amazing facility. I was, I feel like it's, it's a little condescending to say, like, I was impressed, but I was impressed.
- [04:26]
David Hovey
It's impressive.
- [04:27]
Matt Koplik
Yeah, it's a very impressive building. And I feel like a lot of people when they hear, you know, housing, shelter, whatever, they. There's always a. Everyone has their own stigma on it. Right. But this is really a very beautiful, very well kept facility with so many amazing options for youth. I was just, I was like overwhelmed when I was there. Yeah, I didn't seem overwhelmed when you met me. Right. I was, I kept it together.
- [04:50]
David Hovey
You kept it together. You kept it together. But yeah, we are one of the shelter here in New York. So the first Covenant House ever was the Covenant House here in New York over 50 years ago is when we were founded here. So Matt got to visit our Crisis shelter on 41st street, which houses about 120 youth every single night. And it is one of the world's first purpose built youth shelters. And so we built the building from the ground up. We rebuilt it, I should say about four years ago from our old space. And so a lot of shelters are repurposed buildings, you know, repurposed, you know, prisons, schools, things like that. This building was made to be a shelter for youth. And so the youth had a lot of input into what has gone into there. There's a lot of light. There's multiple floors of outdoor space. We have a full gymnasium in the basement.
- [05:40]
Matt Koplik
I was about to say it's not just, you know, bedding. You guys have many, many, what's the word I'm looking for? Facilities, I guess Amenities.
- [05:48]
David Hovey
We can say it.
- [05:49]
Matt Koplik
Amenities. That's what I was like. It begins with an A. I swear. Amenities. You have many amenities. You have the gym. Tell the listeners what else you guys have.
- [05:58]
David Hovey
We have the gym. We have a recording studio, care over public records, which is fantastic. Multiple art therapy rooms, a multi faith space, large gathering space. Obviously we do have services too. And so, you know, we, we want to get our youth stabilized. A big part of that is giving them a normal life and giving them access to everything that we're able to. But then we have a lot of access to the things that they need to really get on their feet and get going. And so within 72 hours, they intake at our shelter. They're meeting with a doctor in house. We have a fully federally qualified medical center in the building. They get to meet with the social worker. So we have counselors on staff, therapists, psychiatrists, whatever they need, and then a full legal team too. And so if our youth are facing any sort of issues with migration, which a lot of them are going through issues with, maybe family of origin, maybe just even general law issues like, you know, jumping a turnstile, little things like that, we have a legal team there to help them. And then the last piece I'll mention that's really important at the heart of what we do is our workforce development. And so when Matt says we're more than a shelter, that's really what it is. We are more than beds. We have everything the youth that they need in the building. And you know, within the first two weeks of them getting there, we are getting them either back into school or, or we're getting them into job training. And so they're meeting with professionals to learn how to rewrite their resume or to have just general career conversations. I like to say, like, you don't know what you can become if you've never been exposed to it. So we just bring in as many volunteers to talk to these kids about how do you get to certain goals in life, just so they have that sort of knowledge. We do interview prep, and then we help them find jobs. So looking through listings, enrolling them in, like, three security training, we have partnerships with, like, Delta and Starbucks. So just as many different things as we can to give these youth a chance to just thrive. And then, you know, wait, there's more. Once they're, you know, really stabilized and the space opens up. In our transitional housing up in the Bronx, where we have about 300 more beds, that's when they enter our Rites of Passage program. And so they're basically living in apartment style, you know, living facilities. They're cooking together, cleaning together. They start paying rent to us, which we then save and invest for them. And so after a few years of being in Rites of Passage, when they're ready to get their first lease, we're able to give them that money back. They have that, you know, little nest egg then to do a first, last month's deposit. They already know how to pay rent, and it's pretty cool. So beyond that, 400 beds we have here in the city every day, we have thousands of more youth accessing our drop in services, alumni who still come back to us when they need things. And it's really our mission to end youth homelessness.
- [09:01]
Matt Koplik
Absolutely. You kind of cut me off what I was gonna say, because you used the word thrive, and I was like, God damn it. I had to think here. But just being there and seeing the space and you talking to me about everything that you do there, and then telling the listeners, now, it is a space for homeless youth to not just survive, but then thrive, which I think is very important. You know, it's not just about having a place to sleep. It's about having a world in which you can live and succeed in. And you guys. And you guys really do that. You give them the understanding and the tools and the connections, and it's a really wonderful facility. And again, it goes beyond just that one building and other shelters across the country, like you said, with the Rites of Passage housing up in the Bronx, which is just, I mean, so smart and so wonderful and so good, it really makes selfish assholes like me just feel even more awful. But the good news is that there is a way for many of us who are not directly working with Covenant House to help, because you have a string of events this summer, but one in particular in August that I want to make sure we talk about. But why don't you tell us sort of about the lineup of events you have this summer?
- [10:10]
David Hovey
Yeah, yeah. So the big event coming up in August that we're going to talk about is called Sleep Out Stage and Screen. And so what is a Sleep out? Your brain might be wondering right now. Sleep out is this project that I get to help lead at Covenant House and it is one of our premier give back initiatives. And so Stage and Screen is part of a whole series of sleep outs that we end up doing throughout the year. It's actually the kickoff Sleep out to the series. And Sleep Outs are kind of what they sound like. Essentially, we ask folks to give up their bed for one night and sleep outdoors with us in solidarity with youth experiencing and facing homelessness. We stress very much we are not trying to imitate or emulate homelessness in any way. You cannot do that. It's a very safe, secure event. But it really is an experience. Experience to sleep outside in New York City on the ground to really get an idea of, you know, what is that like the experience itself from start to Finish is about 12 hours. Folks show up for stage and screen. Specifically it happens at Covenant House New York, which is really cool. You get to sleep out at the shelter itself. Folks show up around 8pm we have about two and a half to three hours of programming where folks get to hear, hear from staff speakers. We have panels with youth ambassadors on them, youth alumni on them. We have breakouts where you get to really get, you know, some more one on one interaction with these youth. And then we come back together, really sort of prepare ourselves for what happens and then we send you outside. It sounds really simple, but it really is profound. You really learn a lot about, you know, what that experience feels like. You think a lot about what you heard that night. You really walk away from it understanding that this could happen to anyone and should happen to nobody. And so yeah, we send you outside to sleep around 5:30 in the morning. We wake you up as best we can if you have slept or haven't slept. And we have a morning reflection. And so that's really a time for everybody to digest with each other. Like, what did we just experience? Why did we experience it? What does it mean now that we're moving forward and you go about your day for some sleep outs? They actually happen during the week. And so folks, you know, are challenged to go to work the next day. And that's really, really hard for the Stage and Screen Sleep out. We actually do it on a Sunday into a Monday. So if you don't have anything going on Monday, you might be a little more refreshed or able to refresh yourself later that day. But overall, the day after is still part of the experience. I'd say even two days after is when you really start feeling the ground and the lack of sleep. And so the whole experience is just an opportunity to interact a directly with the youth. That's really probably the most magical part of the experience is this.
- [13:23]
Matt Koplik
You.
- [13:24]
David Hovey
You get to hear from them about their lives, who they are, their dreams. We like to say, you know, them being homelessness is the least interesting thing about them. You. But it's important to, to see that and learn that. And so you, you can understand, like, homelessness is a thing that happened to them. It does not define them. They didn't do it. Especially a youth, like, they did nothing to get themselves in that position. And so when you get to meet these kids and really just see how incredible they are, you can't help but leave the next day feeling ready to fight for them. And that's why I don't mind, like, asking people to sleep out on the ground. Like, it sounds crazy, but, like, no, it's important. Like, sleeping outside is going to help these kids. It is also a fundraiser. We ask everyone to raise about $1,000. It's super, super doable. We have a full team of fundraising coaches. You get tips on your cell phone, we have an app. It's really, really easy. We make it that you shouldn't have to worry about the fundraising is what I'm trying to say.
- [14:26]
Matt Koplik
Who shouldn't have to worry about the fundraising?
- [14:28]
David Hovey
Anybody. Anybody who signs up. If you sign up, we will get you to that minimum and you will get beyond it and you will be so proud of yourself for what you've done.
- [14:38]
Matt Koplik
Well, so we bring all this up, David, because the sleep out, the stage and screen sleep out is happening on what day?
- [14:45]
David Hovey
August 10th.
- [14:47]
Matt Koplik
And are we allowed to say some of the folks who will be attending this sleep out? Well, some have been announced.
- [14:53]
David Hovey
Some have been announced. I can't give away all the attendees. This is, I should explain, like, this is an industry event. You know, stage, film, television. We have some illustrious, you know, performers on our board. And specifically for this event, one of our board members who goes by the name Audra McDonald, if you've heard of her. I don't work in Broadway, so I'm not sure.
- [15:17]
Matt Koplik
How do you pronounce that again? McDonald. Audra McDonald. Yeah, yeah, yes. But we're familiar with her here.
- [15:24]
David Hovey
I hear she's pretty cool. Talented, maybe. Yeah.
- [15:30]
Matt Koplik
I think the talent is debatable. The Thick Tonys. Some people don't get any receipts of their talent. Audra has several thousand. Yes, but she will be there.
- [15:40]
David Hovey
She will be there. So Audra is a longtime supporter of Covenant House. I think this will be her 10th time sleeping out. And so if you're sitting there like, I can't do that. If Audra can do it 10 times, you can try it once, maybe. Right, well.
- [15:52]
Matt Koplik
And so full disclosure, y' all, if you're wondering, like, okay, well, I am not in New York. I'm not in the stage and screen community. But I still would like to give back. Well, guess who's also gonna be at the event on August 10th? David. Who's gonna be there?
- [16:10]
David Hovey
Is it you? It's me.
- [16:13]
Matt Koplik
I was trying to get this set up. To quote Cynthia Erivo, it's me. Yeah. No, but I will have a page for Covenant House's sleep out. So you can donate to my page and contribute to this amazing event for this wonderful organization. So this all come. It's all tied together.
- [16:32]
David Hovey
We actually also do have a virtual option. So we have some alumni sleepers who will be at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. So they might form a team out there. If you're on tour, that could be a cool moment to form a team. I don't know, I'm just spitballing.
- [16:51]
Matt Koplik
This is the first time hearing about a virtual option.
- [16:53]
David Hovey
Yeah.
- [16:56]
Matt Koplik
You forgot to mention that.
- [16:57]
David Hovey
I should have told you that part.
- [16:58]
Matt Koplik
Yeah, no, that's great. It extends. Expands the network and the outreach. That's wonderful. But there are some events leading up to the big event on August 10th.
- [17:08]
David Hovey
Yeah. And so if you want to come get a taste of what Covenant House is like, what the Sleepout community is like. Audra McDonald's part of that community. Obviously. There are really a lot of cool people who are already involved in this. We have a few events coming up. And so on July 14, it is exclusive to participants. And so if you're really, really interested in sleeping, let me know and we can get you there. We are doing a summer self care celebration. So that's Monday, July 14th. And what we will be doing is we are setting up basically like a fun little tiki bar for the youth and creating a menu of different juice drinks. We're getting them crowns to decorate so they can all choose, like, what's one thing you want to celebrate for this, you know, year. And then we'll also have some self care kit making activities. I think things like salt scrubs and I think like a body mist kind of thing. So just some fun crafts. Getting a chance to really, you know, serve the youth. That's our whole hope is creating this little summer cafe moment. And that'll be a great volunteer opportunity to come meet other sleepers interactive with the youth. This will be happening at Covenant House New York. More details are forthcoming. They'll probably be out by the time this airs. And so we'll make sure to have.
- [18:31]
Matt Koplik
A link in the episode description box that people can click on to find you. And I will be in communication between now and then to make sure that'll happen. And then there's another event on July 27, correct?
- [18:42]
David Hovey
Yeah, that we're still nailing down the location, but that's just going to be a happy hour. That's once again, it's more so like a networking opportunity to meet a lot of the other sleepers who will be participating this year. Just come get all your burning questions asked about Covenant House or what Sleep out participation looks like. So stay tuned for more details on that as well. But July 14, July 27, two opportunities to come meet us in advance.
- [19:06]
Matt Koplik
Phenomenal. And is there any other outlets between now and August 10th that people can go to to learn more about Covenant House?
- [19:16]
David Hovey
Definitely. Check out covenanthouse.org and sleepout.org you'll be able to find a ton of information on there. You can sign up for our mailing list. Covenant House New York itself has a lot of monthly volunteer opportunities and so we can get you connected to that. If, you know, Sleep out might not be your thing, there's a lot of different ways to get involved. So if Sleep out is your jam, I'm so excited to take you on that journey. But if it's not, we would still love for you to come be part of the Covenant. The Cov Love, as we call it.
- [19:46]
Matt Koplik
The Cov Love with Hov.
- [19:47]
David Hovey
Oh my God. Yes. That's a T shirt.
- [19:49]
Matt Koplik
I say. I just made you a T shirt.
- [19:51]
David Hovey
Thank you.
- [19:51]
Matt Koplik
You're very welcome. When's your birthday?
- [19:53]
David Hovey
May 1st. So.
- [19:56]
Matt Koplik
Christmas.
- [19:57]
David Hovey
My husband has a cricket.
- [19:58]
Matt Koplik
Okay.
- [19:59]
David Hovey
I can take this into my own hands.
- [20:00]
Matt Koplik
Perfect. Perfect. There we go. That's. That's all we need. That's all we need. Well, David, this is wonderful. Any last words before I eventually rip you off of my microphone?
- [20:10]
David Hovey
I do just want to leave folks with hopefully one last year moment of inspiration. So I mentioned before that we really think and plan think we can and plan to end youth homelessness. And we're starting to like, prove it. And so we've already piloted to successful what we're calling affordable for youth housing, buildings, developments, units out in Los Angeles. And this year we will by the end of the year have 25 brand new units in Boston. So that will be our first new city in a long time. We'll eventually have 125 units in Boston. And as I mentioned, we're calling this affordable for youth housing. And so we are going to build as many units as we can that will be priced at 30% of a minimum wage salary and it will be exclusive to youth. So we're just getting started, but we're gonna try to do as much as we can and keep pushing. And so if you want to be part of that, helping us raise money is a really great way to do it.
- [21:14]
Matt Koplik
Absolutely. So always many ways to help. Donating is, you know, an obvious one to do, but one that anyone can do. So I say, why not? Why not do it? Thank you so much for this, David. This has been wonderful. Thank you. I hope you felt safe and welcome in the Broadway Breakdown Variety. Fantastic, guys. We'll make sure we have links to more information about this in the episode description box. I'm sure you'll see more updates about Sleep out and other Covenant House events online. Playbill, Broadway.com, they all, you know, post about it as well.
- [21:47]
David Hovey
Sunday, August 10th.
- [21:48]
Matt Koplik
Sunday, August 10th I will also be posting information about it as I get more information about it from David from Daveed, on my own Instagram at Koblick, usual spelling. And that's really it for this. This has been a nice little bonus pop up for the summer.
- [22:02]
David Hovey
I don't think we're going to have.
- [22:03]
Matt Koplik
Any others for a minute, but, you know, keep your ears peeled, keep your eyes on your phones to see if you see any surprise Broadway Breakdown episodes drop in. I don't know, maybe I'll be recording live from Sleepout and I'll be talking to Audra myself. I'll be convincing her in real time.
- [22:22]
David Hovey
To put the Ann back in the.
- [22:23]
Matt Koplik
Name it used to be Audra Ann MacDonald.
- [22:25]
David Hovey
Oh, that's a fun little fact.
- [22:26]
Matt Koplik
Yeah. From me to you, David. We close out every episode, even ones like this, with me putting D Va in post, you know, playing out a little song for us. I would imagine Audra is probably the one you would want to do for this.
- [22:41]
David Hovey
Oh, let's throw it to Audra. She's our queen. Yeah, our Sleep out queen.
- [22:45]
Matt Koplik
She needs another bone in this world, you know, she just doesn't have enough. She has the Tonys. She has the voice, she has the looks. She's got the husband. She's got the cute kids. Like you got that garden. She loves her garden. Yeah, let's give her another one.
- [22:59]
David Hovey
Let's give her another bone. She deserves it.
- [23:00]
Matt Koplik
Yeah. We'll close out with Audra. I'm thinking maybe Audra and Marie. Christine. That's really. That's a deep cut that you don't get. But it's fine. That's for me. That's for me alone. It's fine. It's fine.
- [23:09]
David Hovey
Enjoy it. Enjoy it. It's for you, it's for me, it's for.
- [23:11]
Matt Koplik
It's for all of us. And that's what this episode's been about. So thank you for listening, guys. I hope you learned a little something today and are excited to contribute and help out with Covenant House, not just for the summer, but moving forward. I know I am. And that's it. Thank you so much, David. And take it away, Audra.
- [23:27]
Cynthia Erivo
Boy, there's a way back to paradise There's a way Study all men Learn what they lack Sweet nature before you attack Put up a front and then slip through the back Be on your way back to paradise Long ago back in Egypt.
- [24:08]
Ariana Grande
Hi, this is Kerry Butler. Welcome to Breaking Broadway, an insider's guide to making it on Broadway. I get to meet a lot of aspiring performers at the stage door and through social media, and their biggest question is, how do I make it on Broadway? Well, lean in. I am going to give you the answer. There is no one answer. Everyone's journey is different. It's not something I can answer in one dm. And that is why I started this podcast. I'm gonna give you tips from all different kinds of professionals, Insider tips to help you find your way. So put on your dance belts, people. Here we go.