Dear Community,
I thought you would be struck by Susan’s bright spirit—as I was!
Susan never expected to be the one who needed rescuing. She spent her life helping others—directing a preschool for twenty years, raising three children, working as a real estate agent, and running a cafe. She was independent and capable, so when she was driving to the food bank recently, she was shocked to recognize, “I am the poorest of the poor.”
She grew up in Tahoe and married young. Her husband served in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, and later became a fire science instructor. Although they divorced, they stayed close. She poured her energy into raising their children and building a life of purpose—until everything changed.
While dropping off food from the café, Susan was drugged, kidnapped, and assaulted. The trauma was devastating—and litigation forced her to relive it, until the case was dismissed on a technicality.
She fled to a safe house. When she re-emerged, long-haul COVID left her on oxygen 24/7—until her lungs healed enough to search for housing on her social security income.
The affordable Penn Valley rental she found turned out to be a mold-infested unit that was quickly condemned, leaving her ill once again. She then moved in with struggling relatives, who eventually lost access to water and electricity, causing Susan to live out of her car. Even during that difficult period, Susan propped her paint canvas in the car or their house, grounding herself through art. Maylee brought food, handwarmers, clothes, her mail and an invitation to receive more help. At 79 years old, she tried to pretend she was camping.
At her lowest point, Susan finally called Maylee, the Hospitality House case manager she’d met before, and told her, “I’m at my lowest. I can’t take it.” That call changed everything. “The Hospitality House case managers work with heart. They receive you with no judgment”, Susan shared.
With Susan’s goals in mind, Maylee signed her up for subsidized housing and a county program so that she could move into a room in a shared house. “Because she had a home base, we knew where to find her—which mattered, because this opportunity was time sensitive,” remembers Maylee, who coordinated with the county, FREED, and Communities Beyond Violence.
“It was humbling to be an independent person and need to be rescued. I just needed a place to live,” Susan reflected. She never turned to drugs or alcohol. “I had God, and God lifted things off me that I didn’t know were there.”
Three months later, Hospitality House moved Susan into a small studio apartment of her own—a quiet, safe space where her paint brushes rest in jars by the window and canvases lean against the wall. Her case manager gathered her belongings stashed in different locations and supplied practical items, like sheets and a new pillow to replace the two blankets she’d been using.
Susan is beginning to build community, forming friendships and finding belonging. She hopes to start a Bible study for residents and an after‑school art program for the latchkey kids in the building.
Susan’s story didn’t have to end with housing in a loving community. It easily could have ended in an emergency room, or her car alone.
What stood between those two endings was a case manager who answered with no judgment, and a community of donors who made sure the resources were there when Susan finally asked for help.
Your gift today means we can be there for the next Susan. The woman who never imagined she’d need rescuing. The person who waited too long to ask because she was too proud, too independent, too convinced she could handle it alone. They are out there right now — and what you do today determines whether we can answer when they finally call.
Donations will be matched up to $26,000– doubling the impact of your generosity!
$50 becomes $100, and $500 becomes $1,000.
Please give today—while your donation is matched.
In gratitude,
Nancy S. Baglietto, MSW
Executive Director, Hospitality House