I’m Fred Skeen, and I’m a Case Manager at Hospitality House, helping individuals in our shelter with their next steps to move from homelessness to housing.
I’d like to share a story of a woman that I will call Nellie. Nellie is 73-years old, suffers from early dementia and has been living in the shelter a little less than a year now. She was living in homeless camps, battling alcoholism and her health was deteriorating. We are now proud to share with you all that Nellie is now sober, and has attended some AA meetings. She has also received assistance from the Freed Center for Independent Living by attending their Grief Support groups, as she had lost a long-time partner to cancer last Fall. But most of her soberness has been achieved through her self-motivation and inspiration through wraparound case management services at Hospitality House. I’m involved in Nellie’s case plan by scheduling and taking Nellie to her various doctors’ appointments. She recently found out that she had some cardiac problems, of which she was previously unaware, and are now very manageable. Additionally, she was able to get much needed referrals for a mammogram, an EKG, upper GI Endoscopy, and a bone density test. She is also now set to get brand-new dentures from Chapa De Dental Clinic. Nellie receives Social Security retirement income but due to her early dementia she needs assistance managing her finances. Nellie has volunteered to agree to enroll in a formal “Payee services” program, as endorsed by her physician, which allows her to receive weekly spending money and set aside money in a savings account to be used for future housing plans. She doesn’t want to go back to living in the woods or even stay at the shelter. She wants a place of her own. She is also now looking forward to reconnecting with her family in Oregon and hopefully she will soon save enough money to enable her to find a place to call “home.”
The 14th Annual Night of Giving is here! Night of Giving is our hometown holiday Christmas party and musical benefit for our shelter, featuring over 30 of Nevada County’s favorite performers. We are featuring artist such a Petty Luv, Rita Hosking & Sean Feder, Sierra Master, Chorale, Shay Dylan, Ivan Najera and many more talented local artists! See the whole line up on our Facebook page.
When: Saturday, Dec. 21
Where: Miner’s Foundry
Time: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
See hhshelter.org for details and a big thank you to BriarPatch Food Co-op for sponsoring Night of Giving again this year.
This past week, we were blessed by many caring individuals who prepared meals and we are beyond grateful. I’d like to give a big thank you to Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains, Divine Light Spiritist Center, The Home Team, Unity in the Gold Country, Seasoned with Love, Choppers and Abundant Life Community Church. To everyone who donated our most needed items last week, thank you as well!
Now down to the nitty gritty needs of the shelter for this week…
• Men’s sweaters, sizes L and XL
• Men’s jeans, sizes 32, 34 and 36
• Men’s sneakers, sizes 9.5 and 12
• Men’s steel toe work boots, size 13
• Women’s jeans, sizes 10, 12 and 14
• Women’s winter shoes, sizes 8-10
• Women’s leggings, sizes L and XL
• T-Shirts, sizes L and XL
• Warm gloves
• Hand warmers
Please drop off urgent items to Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way. For all other donations that may benefit a homeless guest or the shelter in general, please take them to the backdoor of Bread & Roses, our thrift shop, located at 840 E. Main Street, directly next door to Sierra Cinemas. Guests at our shelter are given shopping vouchers for the store to buy what they need, so your donation directly helps them. All other items are sold with 100% of the sales supporting the shelter’s operations. If we all stick together, we’ll get what we need. Thank you!