I’m Chase Smiley, a case manager at Hospitality House. I work specifically with homeless victims of crime which is a common occurrence for a lot of our homeless population.
I would like to share a story about Susan, a 66-year-old woman who has been in and out of the shelter over the past 18 months with her present stay currently at four months. Susan struggles with persistent mental health conditions, intermittent drug use, and extensive trauma. However, I am pleased to say that since Susan arrived here in June, she has been clean and sober for over four months now. When Susan first arrived to us, she was sleeping an excessive amount, multiple trips to the hospital, extreme paranoia, and had a difficult time building positive relationships. Over these past four months Susan has slowly began to regain her independence, vivacious spirit, and goodwilled nature. She helps with chores around the shelter daily, she has built great relationships with other guests and staff, and she has a renewed commitment to find permanent housing. Susan now has a Housing Choice Voucher from the Regional Housing Authority and is next on the list for a local senior apartment right here in town. It is clear, that with a little companionship, stability, and caring staff members, Susan has really moved in a direction that will ultimately help her go from homelessness to housed. I have had many conversations with Susan over these past months and she is always very appreciative of the support Hospitality House has given her. I believe this is true for many of our guests who find refuge here at the shelter.
While it’s only October, we are already gearing up for our 15th annual Night of Giving, so save the date for Saturday, Dec. 19! Night of Giving returns this year as a virtual evening of musical entertainment and merriment to raise awareness and support for our homeless community and right now we’re looking for local businesses who’d like to help sponsor the event. Please contact our development team at 530-615-0852 or by email at info@hhshelter.org to get involved. Thank you to B&C Ace Home Center, the helpful place, for signing on to be a sponsor this year. We appreciate you!
Normally at this time we also thank all the cook groups who came and cooked over the last week, but to keep our shelter safe amid COVID-19, our cook groups are supporting our meals by donating financial support and food, and Chef Chris is safely cooking all meals instead. We’d like to thank Alta Sierra Latter-Day Church, Twin Cities Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, Mountain Stream Meditation, Kitchen KutUps, The Home Team and Abundant Life Church for all their recent help. 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…
· PPE masks and gloves, (please keep donating these)
· Hand sanitizer
· Towels
· Women’s and Men’s *new underwear
· *New pillows
· Blankets, twin size
· Watercolor paper and small palettes
· Sweatshirts and hoodies
· Poligrip and Polident
· Men’s shoes size 10 and up
· Bottled water
· Guitar picks and guitar strings
· Blood pressure device (all in one unit or a separate B/P cuff & stethoscope pair)
· Diabetes test kits (Glucose meter & test strips)
Please drop off urgent items 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, “We all need the best in each other. And if we can find it. And if we can give it. The rest will soon follow. If we all stick together, We’ll get what we need.” Thank you!