I’m Danna and I’m the Medical Case Manager for Hospitality House. I connect our guests with medical services as well as handle their medical insurance needs. I also help guests who own animals connect with our Pet Program, which provides full care for animals.
This month I have had the pleasure of assisting a family who have been down on their luck for some time. The mom is taking care of two little kids under five years old herself as her husband passed away unexpectedly. Their family dog also just had puppies within the last two weeks, all while they were living out of their small car. They made their way to our shelter, and we were able to make arrangements for them to stay in one of our local motels. While they have been at the motel, we have provided meals and case management. The family returned to our shelter earlier this week and were placed in our Family Dorm for the interim. I will be working with them to establish Medi-Cal services and other general assistance benefits in order to better help them get on their feet. It is hopeful that between Hospitality House and the other agencies who we engage with, we will be able to pull together to get this family the support needed and hopefully they will gain access to permanent housing in the near future. Learn more about how to support our work at hhshelter.org.
As we head into winter, we are already gearing up for our 15th annual Night of Giving, so save the date for Saturday, Dec. 19! Night of Giving returns this year as a virtual evening of musical entertainment and merriment to raise awareness and support for our homeless community. Thank you to Clientworks, Inc. for signing on to be a sponsor this year. We appreciate you!
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 Unitarian Universalist of the Mountains, Simple Truth, IFM Impastas, Jazzercise, The Home Team, Sierra Pines United Methodist Church and Crossroads 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)
• Hand sanitizer
• Towels
• Women’s and nen’s *new underwear
• *New pillows
• Blankets, twin size
• Watercolor paper and small palettes
• Sweatshirts and hoodies
• Poligrip and Polident
• Men’s shoes size 10 and up
• Bottled water
• Guitar picks and guitar strings
• Blood pressure device (all in one unit or a separate B/P cuff & stethoscope pair)
• Diabetes test kits (Glucose meter & test strips)
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. In the words of Utah Phillips, “If we all stick together, we’ll get what we need.” Thank you!