I’m Tyson Powers, and I’m the Job Placement Case Manager and I’m honored to be the last representative of Hospitality House to provide weekly news on the air. Outside of our weekly updates, my main priority is to help homeless individuals find a job that helps them transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
Today, I would like to tell you a story about Greg. Greg came to us shortly after the start of the pandemic. He had been very active through volunteering in the community and had a great job and home. Unfortunately, his substance use overcame him, and he lost everything. He showed up at Utah’s Place with only what he could carry in a few bags and on his back. He made a decision at that point to do everything he could to get back his former life. Greg started working with the case management team at Utah’s Place and began to gain his confidence back. He began looking for work and found a job! Greg was working on finding housing when he relapsed. The recovery process can be long, but Greg didn’t give up. He used the support at Utah’s Place to find his footing again, stand tall, and I am happy to report he has found employment! We are working with Greg and connecting him to local organizations in the community to help him maintain his sobriety while also assisting him in locating a housing situation that is best for him.
If anyone listening right now might have an interest in helping other individuals by renting a room, studio, apartment or house, I invite you to call me today. Also, we encourage landlords that are curious or accepting Housing Choice Voucher program to please call me directly for more information at 530-798-6465. To learn more about the work we do in the community, this Sunday, Jan. 31, everyone is invited to go behind the scenes of our shelter on a virtual tour. Virtual attendees will have a chance to meet staff members; learn about our programming and services; see the dorms where local men, women and children sleep each night; and hear directly from homeless individuals receiving help at the shelter. Viewing options include Public Access Television (Comcast channel 11 or Suddenlink channel 16), hhshelter.org, Facebook.com/hhshelter and YouTube.com/hhshelter. Learn more about this opportunity at hhshelter.org and we hope to see you virtually at 6 pm this Sunday!
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 Wolf Creek Co- Housing, Telestream, The Gourmet Squad, Meals by Heels, Peace Lutheran Church, The Home Team and Seventh Day Adventist Church 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)
•*New pillows
•Blankets, twin size
•Bottled water
•Hand sanitizer
•Hand warmer
•Nail care
•Alka seltzer
•Toilet paper
•Paper towels
•Headphones/earbuds
•Triple antibiotic ointment
•Travel bags
•Cough drops
•Brushes and combs
•Women’s underwear
•Men’s jeans
•Men and Women sweatpants
•Winter gloves
•Plastic shower curtain and attachment rings (For our outreach dorm bathroom shower)
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. As this is our last regularly scheduled weekly radio report, I’d like to remind everyone that weekly updates on Hospitality House can be found at hhshelter.org as well as on our Facebook page. KVMR also plans to list our urgent needs regularly on Thursday nights following the Braveheart show. Thank you to everyone who has faithfully tuned in every Friday for updates. In the words of Utah Phillips, “If we all stick together, we’ll get what we need.” Thank you!