My name is Brandy Douglas and I’m a post housing case manager at Hospitality House, assigned to Brunswick Commons, which is a 40-unit subsidized apartment complex that opened last month with several partner agencies.
One of the clients who recently moved into Brunswick Commons is a man who I’ll refer to as Skip. Skip experienced intermittent homelessness for a number of years, largely due to alcoholism. We helped him get clean in the past, but he unfortunately relapsed.
For the last year-plus, Skip was in our shelter, staying true to his sobriety, personal health goals and housing case management plans. He was a huge help in our shelter, cooking almost daily alongside our culinary assistant, providing hundreds of meals every week to fellow homeless men, women and children.
But all of that changed for Skip in recent weeks when he received the keys to his new home. It’s been a wonderful joy to watch Skip move from our shelter into Brunswick Commons. He recently ran into an old friend that was holding on to some of his stuff for over the last six years, throughout his struggles with homelessness. Skip was so excited to hear he had held on to all his stuff for him. He got back a set of chef’s knives, along with his high school tassel that had the year he graduated on it. He does not know how it got in there, but he was so surprised to see it and it made him smile.
Skip is over the moon about the move and loves his new apartment. He still says it doesn’t feel real yet. I want to thank supporters of Hospitality House for making this homecoming possible for Skip and for dozens more like him. If you’d like to further our work, please consider a donation today.
Save the date! Our next big event is Night of Giving, which returns Thursday, Dec. 15 at The Center for the Arts. After two years of virtual shows, this is the first in-person Night of Giving since 2019 and one you won’t want to miss! If you or your business might be interested in sponsoring Night of Giving, please email info@hhshelter.org or call (530) 615-0852.
Right now I’d like to give a shoutout to our two volunteer food shoppers, Hilary Dart and Marna Duncan, for helping us with shopping needs each week and to Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains for cooking last Friday night for all of our guests. If you have an interest in volunteering, we have several opportunities available in our culinary department, including grocery shopping, cooking, food delivery and dish washing. Call us at (530) 615-0852 or email info@hhshelter.org to learn about our opportunities. A special thanks also to our partners for providing ongoing food and/or financial support: SPD Markets, BriarPatch Food Co-op, Telestream, Interfaith Food Ministry, the Bishop Store (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nevada City) and Food Bank of Nevada County. To everyone who donated our most needed items last week, thank you as well!
Now down to the nitty gritty needs of the week:
- Winter Clothing – Long-sleeve shirts for men and women; sweaters for men and women; weather-resistant coats/jackets only for men and women (sizes L, XL most needed); beanies for men and women; and men’s pants sizes 30-36 only. NO scarves; NO socks.
- Twin-size blankets and towels
- Hand/Feet warmers
NEW DONATION HOURS: To streamline our donation process, donations are no longer being accepted at our shelter (unless it’s food). Please drop off items from our needs list on Tuesday or Thursday, 830am – 5pm at our admin office, located at 488 Crown Point Circle, Suite 100, Grass Valley, Ca 95945 (admin is closed weekends and all major holidays). 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!