I’m Elida, and I’m the ARGP Shelter Case Manager at Hospitality House. ARGP stands for Adult Re-Entry Grant Program, which, in the easiest of terms, means I help people with minor criminal offenses who are also struggling with homelessness. My main priority is to help homeless individuals transition back into housing, and I’m always looking for creative and permanent housing solutions.
I want to share a story with you, a story about a client who I will call Carol. Carol was referred to me in June 2021. She was raised in a normal environment, but at age 14, she started to drink heavily. While drinking she would blackout and exhibit outbursts of violent behavior. In addition, she struggled throughout school, but she managed to graduate from high school and moved on to community college. Over the next years, Carol maintained a normal, healthy life. She married, had three children, but at one point she and her husband began using substances and sadly, she became the victim of domestic violence. While Carol fled, she unfortunately went to the arms of another abuser and had a fourth children.
She was later incarcerated for one year, and upon release, struggled to intergrade back into our community as she no longer felt accepted, and her past made job placement more challenging. With the help our ARGP program, she is moving forward with our support to build a self-sufficient life and received a grant from us to help secure permanent housing. She is also returning to college.
“This grant will allow us to get our own place and provide house security,” said Carol. “I plan on bringing the fruition, my desire to reach out to other women struggling in this community, to become a Beacon of Hope.” Give today or learn more about our work at hhshelter.org.
If you haven’t heard, Empty Bowl is back this September with a safe new format. Tickets now on sale! Instead of a large gathering, patrons will visit a select restaurant to try a specialty dish and will keep an artisan bowl forever too (generously donated by local artists). Help people on their journey back to housing and support local businesses too. The restaurants participating are donating every meal to help make the event possible, so please patronize them. We’d like to thank Telestream for being a sponsor this year. Telestream specializes in products that make it possible to get video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed or viewed. Telestream products range from desktop components and cross-platform applications to fully automated, enterprise-class digital media transcoding and workflow systems. Thank you, Telestream! For additional details about Empty Bowl, please visit hhshelter.org. Tickets now on sale while supplies last!
We have a few more days help to create significant impact for our homeless Veteran community. Through Aug. 11, 2021, Friends of Nevada County Military will personally match donations to Hospitality House to help in the housing and care of homeless Veterans. Donations can be mailed to Hospitality House at 1262 Sutton Way, Grass Valley, CA 95945. Please write “Veterans” on the check memo. Donations can also be made online at hhshelter.org or by calling (530) 615-0852. Donations received between Aug. 1 and Aug. 11 will be applied toward the 11 days for 11/11 match. $50 becomes $100! Matching is available up to $25,000! Thank you!
Normally at this time, we thank all the cook groups who came and cooked over the last week, but to keep our shelter safe, our cooking groups are supporting our meals by donating financial support and food. Chef Sandro and Chef Assistant Gina are safely cooking all meals instead. We’d like to thank Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Nevada City United Methodist Church, Sierra Pines United Methodist Church, Kitchen KutUps, The Home Team and Repeat Offenders, SPD Markets and BriarPatch Food Co-op for all their help. To everyone who donated our most needed items last week, thank you as well!
Now, on to the needs of the shelter for this week are:
• Disposable masks and gloves
• *New pillows
• Blankets, twin size
• Bottled water
• Toothpaste
• Men’s jeans, sizes 32 and smaller
• Men’s and Women’s deodorant
• Men’s shoes, sizes 10 and up
• Men’s and Women’s sandals, all sizes
• Backpacks
Please drop off urgent items or mail them to Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way in Grass Valley. For a tax receipt, please ring the doorbell and wait for someone to come outside to assist you. We greatly appreciate the community’s help at such times of uncertainty. In the words of Utah Phillips, “If we all stick together, we’ll get what we need.” Thank you!