My name is Brian Maes, and I’m an overnight advocate at Utah’s Place, Hospitality House’s emergency homeless shelter. My role is to ensure that the guests at the shelter are safe and following the rules. The majority of my nights are relatively quiet, with most guests feeling exhausted and relieved to have a full belly and a warm bed to sleep in for the night. Therefore, the bulk of my interactions with guests are in the early morning hours, when they are getting ready to head off to work for the day. One such guest is someone who I’ll refer to as Jackson.
Like most guests, Jackson has had a pretty hard life so far. At 30 years old, he hasn’t been handed many advantages and, as a result, he’s learned to work hard for what he wants. Right now, what he wants is a “normal life” and a permanent home.
Seven years ago, Jackson moved to the area to work, and live on a ranch owned by his fiancé’s family. For over six years the couple thrived on the ranch and he learned many skills, among them how to fell trees and cut wood. When the family sold the ranch and moved away, Jackson subsequently lost his ranch job and he and his fiancé moved into an apartment. Without a job and the social support of her family, the two of them started flailing and related stress contributed to using drugs. That’s when things started going downhill. Eventually they broke up and Jackson showed up at the shelter, looking for help with housing and sobriety. He found both.
In the three months Jackson has stayed at the shelter, he has gotten a job, started his own tree cutting business, secured a handful of new clients and applied for housing in several local locations. He attends Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings regularly and has taken on voluntary responsibilities at the shelter, such as organizing the donations closet and the supply closet, and cleaning the Outreach Dorm once a week.
Jackson is driven to turn his life around and is making use of every tool offered to him by his case manager. If you would like to help Jackson, and others who are working to get back into permanent housing, please consider giving today.
During extreme weather events, like the cold and snow we’ve been experiencing lately, giving to Hospitality House can mean saving a life. There are many ways to show your support to those without homes. You can donate money, which allows us to continue offering outreach, emergency shelter and case management services. You can volunteer, offering your time, energy and compassion in whichever role suits your strengths. Or you can donate items on our wishlist (below).
On that note, I’d like to thank the amazing volunteers who have generously helped out this week: Hilary Dart and Kathy Perkins helped our Culinary Specialist, Brian Bliss, by grocery shopping for the shelter. On Saturday, the Telestream cook team also supported the shelter kitchen, serving up their (always incredible) lasagna dinner with salad, garlic bread and dessert. The residents of Sierra Guest Home benefitted from the calming spiritual support of Bill Blount. Larry Gruver worked in the administrative building, helping to keep us organized. Thank you, all! If you’d like to volunteer, individually or with a group, we welcome you to email us at info@hhshelter.org or call (530) 615-0852.
Now down to the shelter’s wish list of the week:
- Twin-size blankets
- Sweatpants -men’s and women’s (all sizes)
- New pillows (we are unable to accept used)
- Men’s winter coats, jackets and hoodies
- Hand warmers
- Bottled water
DONATION HOURS AND DROPOFF LOCATION: Donations from our needs list above and all unexpired/store-bought foods are accepted at Utah’s Place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am – 3:30pm 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!