My name is Kristin Glanz and I am the Operations Manager at Hospitality House. I oversee our shelter, Utah’s Place, and help with housing opportunities. In my role, I have the privilege of working with guests who are currently receiving shelter at Utah’s Place; who are receiving permanent or transitional housing at Sierra Guest Home, owned and operated by Hospitality House; and Brunswick Commons, a 40-unit complex that opened this past September in partnership with multiple agencies, including Hospitality House, County of Nevada, Regional Housing Authority, and more.
Today, I’d like to share a little update about a guest who has moved through our continuum of care, who I’ll refer to as Mandy. We first met Mandy in 2018 and have provided intermittent services since that time. After repeated outreach engagement, Mandy began sheltering with us on a routine basis since last February.
When I met Mandy, she was angry and never smiled. Like many, Mandy never expected to one day end up in a homeless shelter and felt defeated, to put it mildly. Through ongoing case management, we built a plan for Mandy to return to permanent housing, but wanted to ensure when she moved into housing she’d be able to sustain it.
To help achieve this, in time, we temporarily placed her in Sierra Guest Home as a transitional housing opportunity. Mandy exceeded expectations at Sierra Guest Home and began to rebuild her dignity and self-worth, and we referred her as a permanent placement at Brunswick Commons.
Mandy moved into Brunswick Commons, her new permanent home, this past September. She has been a different person ever since and never stops smiling. She is so grateful to have a home again and living within a budget she can comfortably sustain. She’s even dressing different now and has taken more pride in her appearance. She often stops in the hallway to say hello to me, fellow staff and other neighbors, and is just genuinely happy and a positive person to be around.
It has been such a joy to see Mandy earn back her dignity and to see her flourishing at Brunswick Commons. This is her forever home and we thank the community for stepping up to make Brunswick Commons a possibility for her and dozens more. If you’d like to help us help others into, please consider a gift today.
Right now, I’d like to thank our volunteers who help us throughout the year. A big thank you to Marna Duncan and Hilary Dart for their weekly grocery shopping support and thank you to George Dunstan and Bill Blount for their ongoing spiritual support at Utah’s Place and our senior housing complex, Sierra Guest Home. If you have an interest in volunteering, please call us at 530-615-0852 or email info@hhshelter.org. A special thanks also to 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:
- Twin-size blankets – URGENT NEED
- New pillows (we are unable to accept used)
- Men’s winter coats, jackets and hoodies (all – sizes; no women’s attire at this time)
- Granola bars
NEW DONATION HOURS AND DROPOFF LOCATION: With construction finally complete at our shelter, effective immediately, donations from our needs list above and all unexpired/store-bought foods are now being accepted at Utah’s Place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 830am – 330pm and Saturdays from 10am – 2pm. Our shelter is located 1262 Sutton Way, Grass Valley, CA 95945. 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!