I’m Elida, and I’m the Housing Specialist at Hospitality House. My main priority is to help homeless individuals transition back into housing and I’m always looking for creative and permanent housing solutions.
I want to share a story with you, a story about a client that I’ve been working with for several months, who I will call Joe. Joe suffers from mental illness and was previously living with his elderly mother and siblings but had to move out after a family feud. I met Joe at a bus stop here in town. I quickly did an assessment for him and noticed that he was not taking medication and was referred to Behavior Health for mental health counseling and treatment. Once he completed his treatment and went back to taking his medication, he was then able to move into temporary housing, thanks to our partners at AMI Housing, who provided the deposit and two months’ rent at a local motel. Joe is now on regular medication regimen with Casey, our outreach nurse. Although, it has been difficult for Joe to adapt to a routine and to a budget each month, he has been able to manage and sustain his own living expenses. But Joe was still struggling financially and had a hard time prepping nutritional meals as his room didn’t have a kitchen where he could cook. But we are now pleased to announce that we found a room in a shared house, that meets his budget and has a kitchen where he can prepare healthy meals and save some money. Joe will move to his new home on December 1! Joe is very grateful and thanks me every time I see him. Joe wants to thank everyone on the team for doing their best and thank our community for their kindness in helping him. Learn more about how to support our work at hhshelter.org.
As we head into winter, we are already gearing up for our 15th annual Night of Giving, so save the date for Saturday, Dec. 19! Night of Giving returns this year as a virtual evening of musical entertainment and merriment to raise awareness and support for our homeless community. Thank you to The Union for signing on to be a sponsor this year. We appreciate you!
Normally at this time we thank all the cook groups who came and cooked over the last week, but to keep our shelter safe, our cook groups are supporting our meals by donating financial support and food, and Chef Chris is safely cooking all meals instead. We’d like to thank Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital,Nevada City United Methodist Church,Holy Trinity Church – Episcopal: Historic Faith for Modern People, Mountain Stream Meditation Center, Kitchen-Kutups, The Home Team, and Repeat Offenders for all their help. 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…
• PPE masks and gloves (please keep donating these)
• Hand sanitizer
• Towels
• *New pillows
• Blankets, twin size
• Poligrip and Polident
• Triple antibiotic ointment
• Bottled water
• Razors
• Travel bags
• Women’s hair ties and brushes
• Men’s and Women’s sweatshirts, hoodies, and jackets
• Men’s and Women’s long sleeves
• Men’s and Women’s *new underwear
• Men’s and Women’s shoes
• Men’s pants
Please drop off urgent items or mail them to Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way in Grass Valley. For a tax receipt, please ring the doorbell and wait for someone to come outside to assist you. 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!