Monthly News: Donations Doubled, Family Reunited, Man Battles Cancer with Community

Donations Doubled: Help More People Like Amanda 

Thanks to our generous community, Amanda and her son are safe and housed, but getting there wasn’t easy. Exposure to drugs was normal for Amanda growing up. When she was just 6, she watched her mother get arrested. By the time she was 12 and a 7^th grader at Lyman Gilmore, Amanda was addicted to methamphetamine. She partied, dealt drugs, and dropped out of school by 10^th grade.

Throughout her teenage and young adult years, drugs overpowered Amanda’s life and she was arrested off and on. When she became pregnant, Amanda achieved sobriety for a short while but eventually returned to her old habits, subsequently losing custody of her son. Following her last arrest, Amanda got clean through intensive inpatient and outpatient treatment and worked hard to regain full-time custody. However, when her living situation turned toxic, she left to avoid relapsing and found herself without a home. Close friends allowed Amanda to stay with them until she could find adequate housing, but high rents, stiff competition, her criminal past and poor credit limited Amanda’s options.

Case managers at Hospitality House met with Amanda, ran her credit and identified areas for credit repair. Amanda went from a 430 credit score to 660 with our help. Amanda also qualified for our Adult Re-Entry Grant Program (ARGP). The program is designed to help homeless people with minor criminal offenses get back on their feet and provides case management, employment help, and housing assistance with a goal to reduce the rate of recidivism and increase the rate of returns to permanent housing. With ARGP’s help, Amanda moved into her two-bedroom apartment in January. Having a permanent home and a separate room for her son was her last step to regain full custody. Because we believed in Amanda and gave her a little boost, she is reunited with her son.

“I don’t think I would have been able to get out of all the debt that I was in and as quickly as I did and start saving without the help of Hospitality House,” said Amanda. “It’s such a blessing.”

Amanda has been clean and sober now for three years and, in addition to earning her GED and attending Sierra College, she became a registered dental assistant (RDA) and a medical assistant (MA). Today, Amanda provides a safe and stable home for her son, who is overjoyed to be with his mom again full time. Amanda also works full time at a dentistry and a treatment recovery center where she helps people just like her overcome addiction. She’s now saving money and on track to purchase her first home in the year ahead.

Outcomes like Amanda’s happen with your help. Your gift today will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000 by local donors. $1 becomes $2 and gives two people each a warm and hearty meal. To help more individuals like Amanda, please give today>

Homeless and Recovering From Cancer: How Clarke Found Hope at Utah’s Place 

Clarke arrived at Utah’s Place as a homeless man in his 70s, with a pacemaker. His income could barely cover the cost of renting a room in Nevada County. After his arrival at Utah’s Place, a medical diagnosis created another challenge. Find out how Clarke is overcoming incredible obstacles with support of the local community.

Read Clarke’s journey of hope in The Union.

Happy Birthday Utah Phillips

We celebrated Utah’s birthday on May 15th. Utah was one of Hospitality House’s founders and, although we continue to miss him, his legacy lives on through our work. Thank you all for your support of Hospitality House and for upholding Utah’s vision of caring for homeless residents of Nevada County.

Please consider giving a gift in his memory.

Take a Virtual Mini Tour of Utah’s Place 

Although Utah’s Place emergency shelter is currently closed to the public due to Covid-19 restrictions, there is a lot going on inside the shelter walls. Homeless individuals are recovering from hospital stays, connecting with vital services, finding hope and getting housed. In this 10 minute video, take a tour of Utah’s Place and learn more about some of the services we provide.

Click here for the mini tour (10 minutes).

Click here for the comprehensive tour (40 minutes).

Business Appreciation: Telestream

This month, we would like to recognize and thank the team at Telestream for their support of Hospitality House and for their strategic partnership. Telestream specializes in products that make it possible to provide video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed or viewed.

Telestream helps our local community by providing ongoing financial support, furthering the efforts of Hospitality House. The company’s unrestricted contributions help where the need is greatest, including emergency shelter, food, clothing, outreach, job training, customized case management and housing assistance. Thank you, Telestream, for your continued support of Hospitality House.

We Are Taking it to the Streets

The Union recently called attention to Hospitality House’s efforts to increase peaceful and purposeful interactions between officers and people unsheltered through two new efforts: (1) the introduction of Peace Officers and Standard Training (POST) curriculum, which is statewide homelessness best practices training available to all law enforcement with a goal to assist officers in addressing the complex set of challenges surrounding homelessness, including causes, mental illness and substance abuse, in addition to providing de-escalation tactics and leveraging available community resources; (2) the launch of the California Violence and Prevention (CalVIP) taskforce, a grant that pairs one full-time GVPD officer and one full-time Hospitality House social worker, together responding to homeless-related calls for service with a goal to decrease homeless-related violence while increasing mental health services accessibility to those unsheltered.

Union staff shadowed the CalVIP taskforce throughout the day to learn more about our partnership and available POST training, writing in part: “Nevada County law enforcement officials and advocates for homeless people are applauding a training program designed to improve police officer’s interactions with the homeless.”

Click here to read the full story of what they uncovered>

Help us continue these efforts. Give today>

Volunteer Spotlight: Nancy Holtz

We would like to recognize Nancy Holtz (above) for being awarded Volunteer of the Month for May.

The needs at Hospitality House are many, and Nancy and the Pine Tree Quilt Guild help to fill the need. For several years, the Quilt Guild has given quilts to our shelter, providing covering and a gentle hug to those who need warmth and security.

Nancy has been involved with Pine Tree Quilt Guild for five years. For the past two and a half years, she has been the chair of Community Service team. “Community Service is a caring group of volunteers who help every month in various capacities,” explained Nancy. She and her fellow volunteers sort fabric donations, sew on labels, match backs to donated tops, cut batting and sew binding. “Creating a quilt and giving such a gift is a group effort,” she added, noting that she and the Community Service provide quilts for Hospitality House and other organizations.

Nancy has fifty total years of nursing experience, with the last twenty as a nurse practitioner. Her experience and passion has led her to volunteer in the community. Nancy has administered Covid vaccines, volunteered with California Care Force in both Grass Valley and Sacramento clinics. She continues to work two days a week in a family practice office with no plans to retire any time soon.

“I have a heart for helping others,” said Nancy.

Thank you, Nancy and the Pine Tree Quilt Guild, for sharing your skills, passion, and love for the homeless individuals in our care.

Fellow Guild members holding quilts their club created.

Legacy Circle: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Future 

Writing a will is preparing a gift to give to future generations. Although it may be difficult to think about, your decision will leave a lasting impact. Have you considered including Hospitality House in your will? Speak to an estate planner to learn how doing so can mitigate tax liabilities and penalties for your heirs. We hope that you will continue to walk alongside and support Hospitality House now and into the future. To express interest or find out more about our Legacy Circle, please click here->

Giving Hearts, Lending Hands

Although shelter expenses have continued to rise due to Covid-19, members of the Hearts & Hands Club provide a baseline of consistent monthly support for Hospitality House, allowing us to continue to provide essential food, shelter, services and care for guests. Hearts & Hands Club members give an amount of their choice every month.

Sign up here to join the club or donate now.

Stop By and Thank These Generous Local Sponsors!