Community Spotlight: Anthony Conley/Covenant House California

Right from the start, Anthony Conley knew he wanted to help people.

He credits this trait to the influence of his “two fathers” – his biological father, an outgoing truck driver who taught Anthony to love his community, and a stepfather who was a Fire Captain with LACFD – and a mother who always modeled compassion for those less fortunate. Anthony refers to his parents as “giving people” who taught him how good it felt to be a giver.

In college, Anthony studied Communications and became involved with Student Government. He was also elected the chapter President of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the oldest historically African American fraternity, greatly expanding his network of friends and his desire to help his community.

After graduating college, Anthony moved to Hollywood and, by coincidence, wound up living just a few blocks away from Covenant House California (CHC). Beginning his professional career in the entertainment field, Anthony remained on the lookout for ways to support and plug in with his community. He was elected to the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council in 2016, where he rose to the position of Vice Chair. As HSDNC’s Outreach Chair Anthony made a point of familiarizing himself with all the local non-profits. His introduction to the world of homeless services came in 2017 when he took a tour of My Friend’s Place (MFP), an organization that’s been offering comprehensive services to unhoused young people between the ages of 12 and 25 since 1987.

After that fateful tour, the MFP team recognized Anthony’s passion for helping young people, as well as his ability to connect with their young clients of color. Although he kept his day job in the entertainment world, Anthony developed a weekly group called “The Hustle”, which involved him bringing in his successful friends to share their inspirational journeys with MFP’s clients.

Anthony was as inspired by these groups as the young clients were.

He realized he was ready for a career pivot away from entertainment and towards his lifelong calling of directly helping people and the community. In the Spring of 2018, he reached out directly to Bill Bedrossian, the CEO of his former neighbors at CHC, and offered to help with their programs in any capacity they needed. He was hired shortly after and has been a leader in the homeless services space ever since.

Anthony’s journey with CHC began as their Life Skills Specialist, where he worked closely with clients in their transitional living programs to help them develop the skills necessary to navigate their challenging lives.

It turned out that the life skills Anthony had developed in the 10 years he spent working in the retail and entertainment fields, not to mention his expanding network, made him a perfect fit for this job.

CHC recognized Anthony’s leadership and quickly promoted him to Community Involvement Coordinator. This role brought Anthony into greater contact with the community, while also deepening his organizational knowledge and his commitment to systems-change.

After helping CHC manage the difficult transitions in and out of the Pandemic, Anthony was promoted to Director of Supportive Services in 2021, a role in which he continues to serve to this day. 

While Anthony was happy to be given the H4WRD Community Spotlight, he wanted to make sure the spotlight shone just as brightly on the good work CHC is doing. As Anthony shared more about the organization, his excitement about their services was palpable.

Covenant House California offers a full continuum of services for youth between 18-24 who have experienced (or are experiencing) homelessness, incarceration and/or human trafficking, “in order to provide them with the best chance for success and independence.”

Amongst the dizzying array of CHC’s services Anthony oversees include:

• Employment Services
• Intake
• Street Outreach
• Human Trafficking Outreach
• Volunteer Services
• Donations
• Problem Solving program (helping clients navigate housing challenges like late rental payments, move-in costs, etc.)

CHC has 80 beds for their clients, funded alternately through LACDMH, LAHSA, and private funders, available to young clients facing a wide range of crises in their lives. Anthony’s face lights up describing CHC’s “Genesis Room”, a special room dedicated to serving human trafficking survivors until more permanent housing options can be found for them.

When their beds are full, CHC has a program called “Emergency Overnight” which ensures that youth showing up in crisis have somewhere to sleep – Anthony beams as he describes putting out mattresses in CHC’s multi-purpose room for this purpose – until more permanent shelter can be found.

The Emergency overnight program was installed because the CHC team recognized that the first 72 hours are the most critical for people on the verge of falling into homelessness.

For young people especially, those first 72 hours are often when they are at their most vulnerable, and are most susceptible to falling prey to human trafficking or violent crime. By focusing on providing “preventative support” to their clients during this critical 72-hour period, CHC has been able to prevent thousands of their clients from falling into homelessness.

As proud as Anthony is of CHC’s programming and how they help their young clients, he’s equally proud of their efforts to offer living wages to their team. None of their good work would be possible, he points out, without the tireless dedication and service of the entire team. Anthony is happy to see the homeless services industry slowly but surely responding to this crisis in our midst.

Anthony is also excited about the two new affordable housing units CHC has opened for youth in mid-City LA in the last year. They’re making sure to fill these units with CHC alumni, along with youth who may be aging out of the available TAY programs. One 31-year-old CHC alum is the building manager for one of these properties, which Anthony hopes will serve as a model for other programs to follow.

With all these success stories piling up, it’s no surprise that Anthony and Covenant House were recently selected as one of the Los Angeles Rams’ Playmakers for 2024. In accepting this honor, Anthony shared that one of CHC’s primary goals was to make sure their young clients have community.

“Without community,” Anthony added, “Moving into a place is lonely. So that's what we do the most, is offer unconditional love."

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From LA Rams Playmaker to H4WRD Community Spotlight, Anthony is clearly living up to his purpose as a lifelong helper.

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* For more information about Covenant House California and the many programs and services they offer, please visit: https://covenanthousecalifornia.org/