I’m Elida, the ARGP Shelter Case Manager at Hospitality House. ARGP stands for Adult Re-Entry Grant Program, which means that I help people with minor criminal offenses who are also struggling with homelessness. My main priority is to help homeless individuals transition back into housing, and I’m always looking for creative and permanent housing solutions.
Today I want to share a story with you about a client with a remarkable history, a difficult history, who is finally getting needed support through Hospitality House. I will call him Alex.
Referred to me by Project Heart, Alex is in his 60s and has a long resume of business ownership and community involvement, but also of substance abuse and jail sentences. He has been a member of our community for many years and was instrumental in the development of several continuing entertainment venues and media operations. However, he could not control his drinking and drug use, which led to altercations, police intervention, and jail time. As he says, “I became a habitual alcoholic and drug abuser to hide the shame and pain in my life and was always in some kind of trouble.”
That shame and pain came from a brutal childhood, involving physical and sexual abuse. At age 19 Alex escaped horrible circumstances, but he could not escape the message he had internalized as a child: he was useless.
Decades and many accomplishments and heartbreaks later, Alex spent his longest term in jail, wound up in rehab, got connected to Project Heart, then to me, and now he is sober, housed in a trailer park, and working toward restarting his life. Hospitality House assisted him with rent and connected him with AMIH for further rental assistance. We meet every two weeks for ongoing case management, explore avenues for work/income, and I offer him an empathetic ear. After a long, winding road of trouble, Alex is finally going to make it! We’d like to thank the community for supporting our work to help Alex and others like him return to housing.
If you would like to help Alex or additional men, women and children in need, this month we have an ambitious goal to welcome 25 new Hearts & Hands Club members. Hearts & Hands is a group of individuals who donate every month to support the efforts of Hospitality House. Club donations are allocated toward the greatest needs each month, including but not limited to shelter, food, clothing, outreach, housing assistance, case management, job training and emergency preparedness in response to COVID-19. You can become an honored club member by donating as little as $5 per month and change a life in the process. Learn more about the club at hhshelter.org/hearts-hands-club/ and sign up today!
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 cooking groups are supporting our meals by donating financial support and food, and Chef Gina is safely cooking all meals instead. We’d like to thank the Universalist Unitarian Community of the Mountains, Twin Cities Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, Seasoned with Love, Peach Lutheran Church, The 7th Day Adventist Church, BriarPatch Food Co-Op, and SPD Markets for all their recent help.
Due to increased COVID-19 cases and a construction project at Utah’s Place, donations of goods are still temporarily suspended to protect the people we serve and the greater community. Thanks to the members of our community who gave so generously during the holidays, we are able to enter this pause in donations with well-stocked shelves. In place of donations of goods, we encourage those who are still interested in giving to consider making a financial contribution at hhshelter.org/donate. 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!