Hospitality House receives $200,000 grant to help the homeless

Cindy Maple

Executive Director Cindy Maple said Hospitality House plans to use the $200,000 to provide more shelter nights. It is also considering expanding services such as case management, social-service assistance and life-skills training.

 Hospitality House has received a $200,000 federal emergency shelter grant, the largest award the non-profit has received since 2005 when it began providing shelter and assistance for homeless people in western Nevada County.

  “The largest grant we received in the past has been $10,000,” said Executive Director Cindy Maple, one of the emergency shelter’s founders. “This will relieve some of the day-to-day financial pressures we’ve had in keeping the shelter open and will mean fewer threats to the stability of our program.”

  We are still dependent on donations from our supporters, she added.

   Maple said it was a bit of a surprise to learn on Oct. 14 that the organization would receive the two-year grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development since they were told first-time applicants rarely received funds.

 “This money shows that our state and federal governments are putting a priority on addressing homelessness and that they view Hospitality House as an efficient and caring organization that can make a difference in the lives of the needy in our community,” she said. “Everyone deserves to have shelter and the grant endorses that commitment.”

  Folk singer Utah Phillips, who died in 2008, was among those who founded Hospitality House. The organization provides overnight shelter from Oct. 15 to April 30. Last year, it helped 328 people.

  The homeless meet at the Welcome Center on South Church Street in Grass Valley before being taken by bus to one of 25 to 30 churches or faith communities where they spend the night. They are provided with hot meals, showers, clothes and supplies by the host sites. Hospitality House estimates that 30 people use the shelter each night.

 Maple said Hospitality House plans to use the $200,000 to provide more shelter nights. It is also considering expanding services such as case management, social-service assistance and life-skills training.

 The economic downturn resulted in fewer donations last year and prompted Hospitality House to consider closing its Welcome Center during certain weeks of the summer when it serves meals. The Hospitality House saw a 20 percent increase in the number of guests seeking shelter last year and that number is expected to rise this winter.

  The nearly 200-page application for the federal grant was prepared by members of Hospitality House’s grant committee that was chaired by Karen Newell Young, who is also a board member. The other committee members are Jim Ward, the nonprofit’s treasurer; John Zwerver a Hospitality House volunteer; Michele Violett, a grant writer on loan from the county’s Human Services Agency; and Maple.

 The committee worked on the application for nearly six months.

 For more information on the Hospitality House, visit hospitalityhouseshelter.org.