Hospitality House is the only emergency homeless shelter in Nevada County, with 69 beds for homeless men, women and children.
I’m Tyson Powers 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 with you all the story of a guest who I will call Lisa. Lisa is 56-years old and arrived at the shelter in June 2018. Lisa was previously sleeping on the streets and suffering from ongoing hallucinations, and alcohol abuse. It was very hard to keep a lucid conversation with her when she arrived at the shelter. Lisa was immediately provided wraparound services, such as therapy and medical services, which helped her stabilize mental illness and assisted her in recovery from alcohol abuse.
Once Lisa was stable and feeling good, she applied for a Section Eight voucher, which is housing assistance to very low-income families, but the wait was becoming too lengthy. Luckily, one day, Lisa happened to be at one of our service providers, and a lady came in through the door announcing that she was looking to rent out a room in her house, and Lisa coincidentally happened to be looking to rent a room! Lisa has been now renting a room from the homeowner since January! She pays for her rent with her social security income. Lisa has been successfully living at her new home accompanied by her roommate and three dogs, which she absolutely loves. She has an amazing support from her roommate who kindly drives her to her medical appointments, or we will provide her with transportation with our Homeless Access Transportation (HAT) van. Lisa is now independent and doesn’t need a lot of help – she is proud to say that she now is saving to buy a car and is looking forward to working one day.
In honor of Bread & Roses Thrift and More’s three-year anniversary, Bread & Roses Thrift and More is hosting a celebration tomorrow, June 29 from 10 a.m. to 6pm. Spin the wheel and win merchandise and more! No purchase is necessary to win. All proceeds benefit Hospitality House Community Shelter.
Patrons will also be treated to refreshments, live music by two local artists, Tajlyn, a singer and guitarist known for her alternative rock flair, and Kellie Garmire, a singer, songwriter and musician with a folksy, bluesy with a dash of southern rock style. Visit brthrift.com for the event schedule or visit us on Facebook.
This past week, we were blessed by many caring individuals who prepared meals and we are beyond grateful. I’d like to give a big thank you to Telestream, Saint Patrick’s Church, Meals by Heels, Peace Lutheran Church, Seventh Day Adventist, and Wolf Creek Cohousing for coming out to cook. 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…
- Men’s jeans, sizes 28-36
- Men’s shorts, sizes M, L and XL
- Men’s T-shirts, sizes L and XL
- Men’s sneakers, sizes 10 – 13
- Women’s shorts, sizes 7 – 14
- Women’s T-shirts, sizes L and XL
- Women’s sandals, sizes 7 – 12
- Backpacks
- Blankets, smaller sizes for outreach
- Sunscreen
- Poison oak medicine
- Men’s deodorant
Please drop off urgent items to Utah’s Place, located in Brunswick Basin, past the DMV, at 1262 Sutton Way. For all other donations that may benefit a homeless guest or the shelter in general, please take them to the backdoor of Bread & Roses, our thrift shop, located at 840 E Main Street, directly next door to Sierra Cinemas. Guests at our shelter are given shopping vouchers for the store to buy what they need, so your donation directly helps them. All other items are sold with 100% of the sales supporting the shelter’s operations. Thank you for sticking together so that we all get what we need.