My name is Brian Bliss and I’m the executive chef at Hospitality House, responsible for ensuring every man, woman and child in our care receives well-balanced, nutritious meals. This is much harder than it sounds, as throughout the pandemic we have been serving not only Utah’s Place, but people displaced in motels around town as well as Sierra Guest Home, which is a senior complex we opened back in October. On top of this, up until very recently, we had been cooking offsite for nearly a year, due to construction at Utah’s Place. Lastly, as many know, for over two years, we had no choice but to suspend our volunteer program, which largely centered on cooking support. To say we’ve been stretched thin these last few years has been an understatement.
Thankfully, as of April, volunteer cook groups and individual volunteers have been slowly returning to the kitchen and as of this July, I’m finally back to cooking at Utah’s Place. It’s been a tremendous relief having extra help again from our volunteers. In order to cook for dozens of people per day, having help in any capacity is so greatly appreciated. In addition to our volunteers helping again, guests at the shelter have been instrumental in ensuring everyone has food in their bellies too. One such guest that has made a huge difference in our ability to provide meals is a woman I’ll refer to as Greta.
Greta has been volunteering to help me in the kitchen a few days a week for as long as I can remember. She’s an excellent cook and highly knowledgeable. Prior to joining me in the kitchen, Greta went through our Recuperative Care dorm, which is a dorm we operate in partnership with Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. When someone is injured and homeless, they are released by the hospital into our care for recovery. Greta previously had a serious back injury, but after recovering in our shelter, she’s been working on her case management plan and spending much of her time in the kitchen with me as she works to return to housing.
As a homeless services provider, we can’t be picky on the types of food we will accept or use, so as long as the food isn’t expired, we will find a way to put to use. Utilizing every food donation we receive is highly important to our organization, because any dollar we can save on food, is another dollar we can spend on additional services. However, at times, it can be challenging to utilize every ounce of food.
As an example, we recently received a large donation of fresh basil. Fresh basil does not have a long shelf-life, and while I typically use basil for seasoning, we would let it go to waste if we didn’t think of something bigger to use for it. Greta suggested we do a large batch of pesto sauce, which freezes great, so if we couldn’t use it all for one dinner, we could use it for future dinners too. However, we didn’t have any pine nuts, which is a key ingredient of pesto, but Greta reminded me we had an abundance of sunflower seeds donated, so we whipped it right up. We served one meal to all our guests this week with it and additional pesto is now in the freezer for a future meal too. This is just one example of many where almost daily we are coming up with new ways to utilize our ingredients to the max.
With Greta, it’s been so wonderful to have her help. She is always eager to create new dishes and try new things, but very soon, Greta will be moving into her new home. I am so happy for Greta to take this next big step, but at the same time, I’m sad to lose one of my primary kitchen companions.
For those taking the time to read my update, if you have an interest in cooking or increasing your own cooking abilities, I’m always looking for like-minded volunteers to come in and help out. I have a heightened need for help between 9am and 12 pm. Volunteering in the kitchen is a great way to take your palette to the next level and to feel good at the end of the day, knowing people without a home have food in their bellies because of you. To learn about our opportunities, please call (530) 615-0852 or email info@hhshelter.org.
A big thank you to everyone who has been donating toward our Brunswick Commons drive. As of today, we have 23 units sponsored! With 50 people scheduled to move into new housing, it’s not too late to sponsor a family or individual in their new home and many items on our Target registry are still needed. Our registry can be explored in detail here: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift/brunswick-commons. Learn more about this opportunity on our website: https://hhshelter.org/special-donation-drive-help-families-and-individuals-celebrate-their-independence-during-independence-week-on-july-7/.
I’d also like to thank 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:
- Men’s shorts, t-shirts and underwear (underwear must be new)
- Depends / adult diapers
- Bottled water
- Towels
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!