I’m Nicole Lescher and I’m a Case Manager at Hospitality House, setting goals with clients to help them transition from homelessness to housing. Every week we share a story, so folks in the community can get a view into what we do.
Power Outage – All of Nevada County has been affected, one way or another by the PG&E fire prevention power outage. But the shelter has continued to serve our homeless neighbors these past few days, and have kept our usual operations running, by providing food and shelter to our guests. We have been powering our fridge, freezer and ice machine with a generator, keeping manual logs and have been using lanterns to light our paths at nighttime. We used our gas stove to make dinner last tonight, and guests enjoyed a full dinner of mashed potatoes, turkey with gravy, green bean salad from our garden, ice cream and hot coco to keep everyone warm. We recently acquired solar panels for our shelter, donated by Good Son and Cal Solar but due to final safety inspection delays we have not been able to put these in use but looking forwards to having these running soon.
Guests need Housing – Utah Philips used to talk about something he called, the “Long Memory”. This Long Memory is a story that weaves throughout time and people’s lives – this memory holds the spirit of life. Everyday I bear witness to the Long Memory when I get to stand next to, listen to and help our guests at the shelter. Right now, I have the privilege to serve five women in the shelter, each one of them has shared their story with me. Their stories speak about love, family, travel, career, friendships and also loss, trauma and pain. These five very mature women have experienced homelessness on and off for many years and deserve a warm home to live in with dignity. I am calling out to landlords in our community, are you listening to this right now and feel compelled to help? Ideally, I am looking for is a five-bedroom home to allow each of these ladies to pay rent, live as independently as they still can and enjoy life. The other perk of this, so the landlord doesn’t have to worry, is that they will all have ongoing case management services, including help to medical appointments and budgeting support. If you’re curious and want to hear more about how this could work as a homeowner, please call me directly on my cell at 530-228-9127
Coming up tomorrow! Hospitality House is joining forces with County of Nevada, City of Grass Valley, Nevada County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) and Grass Valley Police Department (GVPD) to offer the shelter’s most collective community cleanup effort to date. Tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 12, all parties will clean and beautify private land and abandoned homeless camps in the Brunswick Basin as well as mitigate for fire with support from volunteers in the community.
When: Tomorrow from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: 900 Block of Plaza Drive
What to Wear: Long pants and shirts that you don’t mind getting dirty as well as work gloves (if you have them) and closed-toed shoes
If you want to volunteer to help us, then show up tomorrow and join one of our cleanup teams, tabling at the beginning or end of the event, or on the day-of volunteer management team. All volunteers are required to take safety training onsite and sign a waiver to participate, and we will provide breakfast burritos and bagged lunches.
This past week, we were blessed by many caring individuals and I’d like to give a big thank you to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Nevada City United Methodist Church, Interfaith Food Ministries, Sierra Presbyterian Church, The Home Team, Kitchen kutUps, and Repeat Offenders for coming out to cook. To everyone who donated our most needed items last week, thank you as well!
Now down to the nitty gritty needs of the shelter for this week…
- Women’s jean, sizes 10 -14
- Women’s sneakers, sizes 8 – 10
- Women’s and Men’s underwear, sizes S, M & L
- Men’s T-shirt, sizes L & XL
- Men’s jeans, sizes 34 – 38
- Men’s and women’s warm jackets, sizes L & XL
- Socks
- Blankets
- Warm gloves
Please drop off urgent items to Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way. If we all stick together, we’ll get what we need. Thank you!