The current World Meeting of Families in Mexico City is rightly focusing attention on how the family serves as the nucleus of every healthy society.

But what about the plight of at-risk youth who have no families or homes of their own to protect and cherish them?

That’s where Covenant House comes in.

Serving such kids, in the spirit of love, dignity and compassion they deserve is the mission of Covenant House International, which began in New York in 1969 and since then has grown into the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas working in this area. Currently, the organization provides shelter and other services to “homeless, runaway and throwaway” youth in 21 cities in the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua youth.

Helping such children is also the life’s work of Covenant House’s new president, Kevin Ryan.

A Convenant House press release announcing Ryan’s appointment today details his impressive professional resumé of serving the needs of children in trouble.

Married and the father of six children, Ryan is a graduate of The Catholic University of America, the Georgetown Law Center and the NYU Law School. After earning his legal credentials, he worked for Covenant House from 1992-2002 as a counsel and advocate for teens in crisis in New York and New Jersey.

Ryan was appointed as New Jersey’s first Child Advocate in 2003, and in 2006 was asked by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine in 2006 to lead a reform of the State’s child welfare system.

In 2008, Ryan was appointed to monitor Michigan’s initiative to reform its child welfare system and he recently completed work in the District of Columbia to help stabilize and assess the City’s child and family services agency.

“Covenant House staff and donors all across the world have been moved by kids’ suffering and become icons of God’s love in the world,” Ryan said in the Covenant House press release announcing his appointment. “I’m coming home to Covenant House to rejoin their ranks and lead their fight against those who hurt our kids, especially those who exploit them and traffic them and throw them away.”

— Tom McFeely