GRASS VALLEY, Calif. — Since opening its doors in 2005, Hospitality House has helped 262 veterans experiencing homelessness in Nevada County. Their average stay was 19 days, and 80% of them moved into a home. Over the past year alone, Hospitality House provided shelter, meals, case management, and financial help to 34 veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
One of them is Karen, an Army veteran staying at the Hospitality House emergency shelter. Karen was a driver stationed at Fort Ord and Fort Hunter Liggett. “They wanted me to go into air-assault, and I said, ‘Why would I want to drop out of a perfectly good helicopter? I’d rather be behind the wheel.’ So I drove everything from jeeps to tractor-trailers. I was proud to serve,” Karen said.
Karen lost her housing last year—the first time she had ever been homeless—and her VA disability benefits didn’t stretch far enough to cover rent in today’s market. Running in boots on asphalt during her service wrecked her knees, and Karen is now recovering in the shelter’s Recuperative Care program. While at the shelter, she volunteers as a laundry caretaker, helping others and doing her part to contribute. In December, Karen will leave the shelter and move into a Hospitality House interim home she’ll share with four other women. It’s a major step. From there, she’ll keep working with her case manager toward a permanent home of her own.
The same sense of duty and self-sufficiency that serves people in uniform can keep veterans from asking for help. Many of the veterans the Hospitality House Street Outreach team meets see accepting benefits as a sign of weakness, and some go without support they earned.
Rachel, a Hospitality House case manager who is a veteran herself, works with other veterans at the shelter and is helping Karen get on every housing list possible. “When a veteran finds out I served too, the conversation changes,” Rachel said. “They don’t have to explain why asking for help is hard. I already know.”
Hospitality House works closely with the Nevada County Veterans Services Office to connect veterans with the resources available to them. When the Stagecoach Motel renovation is completed, the County will have another 10 units to offer veterans experiencing homelessness. Veterans in need, or anyone concerned about a veteran, can call Hospitality House at (530) 271-7144 or visit 1262 Sutton Way in Grass Valley.
About Hospitality House
The mission of Hospitality House is to bring homeless people in Nevada County into a circle of community caring that offers shelter, sustenance, advocacy, opportunity, dignity, and hope as they transition from homelessness to housing. The organization is supported by their Community Champions Pawnie’s Home Care, Creekside Builders, KNCO and YubaNet. For more information about Hospitality House, visit hhshelter.org.