I’m Rob Barker, Outreach Case Manager for Hospitality House, helping individuals living on the streets with their next steps to move from homelessness to housing.
I want to share with you a story of a man that I will call Marcus. Marcus is 60-years old, can’t walk, and lives in a camper. He has many medical conditions, and is admitted about one to three times a week to the hospital. His levels of ammonia increase when he doesn’t take his medications, producing confusion, and he lacks the ability to function by himself. Once he is admitted in the hospital, he stays there for one to three days. Ideally, he should be living in a nursing facility but that has not worked out. When he’s gone to skilled nursing in the past, he usually leaves after a couple of days following his recovery. Well, things have finally started to change. Hospitality House is part of the Homeless Outreach Medical Emergency team, otherwise known as the HOME team, in partnership with Nevada County Behavioral Health and Turning Point. Since we have an outreach nurse on HOME team, we have been able to bring Marcus medications three times a week to his location. It has allowed us to provide Marcus with regular intake of medications and he has not gone back to the hospital in two months now. That means that he has reduced his visitations and hospitalizations, and has stayed healthy and functional. We are so grateful to have an outreach nurse who can help individuals like Marcus who are disabled and are not able to help themselves. Our outreach efforts take time and we appreciate the community supporting our efforts to connect more people in need to critical services until stable housing is achieved.
Save the date! The countdown to the 14th Annual Night of Giving has officially begun! Night of Giving, an annual musical benefit featuring nearly 30 of Nevada County’s favorite performers, and benefit for our homeless neighbors. Last year, nearly 800 people came, and we hope we can count on you to come this year, too!
When: Saturday, Dec. 21
Where: Miner’s Foundry
Time: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Musical talent will be announced in the coming weeks, as well as ticket sales. Thank you Telestream for sponsoring Night of Giving again this year. We are still inviting business sponsors for our event. Please call 530-615-0852 for sponsorship opportunities. Visit hhshelter.org for updates on the event.
This past week, we were blessed by many caring individuals. I’d like to give a big thank you to Wolf Creek Lodge, Telestream, LLC, Eteam, Meals by Heels, Elevation 2477′ , The Home Team and First Baptist Church for coming out to cook. We are grateful to all of you, and of course, everyone who donated needed items.
Now down to the nitty gritty needs of the shelter for this week…
• Men’s jeans, sizes 32-36
• Men’s t-shirts, sizes L & XL
• Men’s long johns, sizes L & XL
• Men’s boot, sizes 9-12
• Women’s boots, sizes 8-11
• Women’s leggings, sizes L & XL
• Women’s jeans, sizes 10-14
• Men’s and Women’s long sleeve shirts, sizes M, L & XL
• Men’s and Women’s sweaters, sizes M, L & XL
• Men’s and Women’s heavy jackets, sizes L & XL
• Beanies
• Blankets
• Hand warmers
• Paper plates and bowls
• Hot and cold cups
• Disposable cutlery
• AA, AAA, C and D batteries
• Lanterns
• Gas cards for our generator
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!
