I am Debbie McDonald with Hospitality House, which is the only emergency homeless shelter in Nevada County, with 54 beds for homeless men, women and children.
Transportation is a big issue in this rural area for people who don’t have cars, and many of our guests don’t. We are happy to announce that the United Way and the County of Nevada together have funded a Homeless Access Transport van. Hospitality House will be able to establish regular routes to supplement the bus system, reach outlying areas and help provide access to services. We are starting to look for a passenger van (with a lift would be ideal) so if you have any leads, let us know!
One of our homeless guests—we’ll call her Sheila—is working hard to save money and get out into a place of her own. She has been sober for a year, recently secured a full-time job working late into the night, and still shows up for the culinary job readiness program. With the help of her case manager, she also enrolled at Sierra College for the fall. Go Sheila, go!
Thanks to Telestream, St. Patrick’s church, Mt. Stream Meditation, Peace Lutheran, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Universal Unitarians for cooking and serving delicious meals for 54 hungry homeless people this week. And the Elks Lodge provided ingredients for the Wednesday night dinner, the Hospitality House culinary students cooked it up and the Elks served up pork chops and roasted potatoes. A great collaboration—thanks Elks!
We also want to thank all of you who dropped off items last week! Now down to the nitty gritty needs of the shelter for THIS week . . .
- Hand sanitizer
- Sunscreen
- New nail clippers
- New Hairbrushes
- Ladies and Men’s deodorant (note the dollar store kind)
- Tech-nu poison oak lotion
- Large brim hats
- Ladies shorts sizes 7-12
- Men’s shorts sizes 30-32
- Men’s sandals sizes 8-13
- Men’s shirts, size small
- A bike in good shape for someone who moved out last week and needs to commute to his restaurant job
Drop off your donations at Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way. Call 615-0852 with questions.
Hospitality House has two job openings: a Housing Case Manager and a Volunteer Manager. So if you are a people person and have a passion for service, check out the job description at hhshelter.org.
As you head out for your Fourth of July barbecues, stop by Bread & Roses Thrift for red, white and blue summer tops and decorations! Shop your way to helping homeless people. Open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. by Big A Drive-In and Sierra Cinemas.