Mikail Graham has been producing "Night of Giving," every December in the community of Nevada County for 12 years. Because of his friendship with Utah (Bruce) Phillips and Joanna Robinson, he knew about their project to open a homeless shelter. It was when a close musician friend stepped up to suggest doing a benefit for their cause that "Night of Giving" was born. 

"Night of Giving" is a Nevada County together-ness event....

Stormy May grew up in a household where she had the support to do whatever she wanted to do. So Stormy decided to think big. She is very serious about creating world peace and ending world hunger. She clarifies, saying she believes she will see the end of resolving conflicts through physical violence. She states that the emotional violence will take a bit longer.

She is currently working on a documentary film, "The Path of the...

Debbie McDonald has been involved with Hospitality House for the last 10+ years. She started as a volunteer when it was a nomadic shelter, and grew her relationship with the shelter so that now she serves as staff.

Susan and I worked with Debbie to set up a spa day for the women guests at Hospitality House, which included our Purses with Purpose. It was a special day for all of us. The appreciation the women expressed for "thin...

While living in Sacramento, CA, Joyce Rasmussen reached out to help homeless families through a program called Family Promise. Joyce helped her church bring this program in Sacramento, and talks about when there were a few workers but no clients yet. It is now a thriving program and so needed in our world today.

The model of the program for the 10 years that Joyce was involved, included a day center and 13 churches providing a...

It's in John Foster's DNA to be a servant to the community. His heart is huge! He started out wanting to be James Bond, secret agent. When he pursued that course, he was steered towards law enforcement and found he loved it.

He understands struggle from his own upbringing, and therefore knows not to judge someone on the surface. He talks of being in law enforcement as being kind of like social work. He has heard lots of stories...

When I first met Pastor Roland Meyer, my own perceptions of what people "should" look like showed up. He didn't look like I expected him to look. He looked too young to be a Pastor. Wow, I was surprised at my own judgments. Here he is with his beautiful wife. They have two adorable little boys too.

Pastor Roland has a beautiful way of expressing his passion for helping homeless people, without judgments. He refers to them as ho...

Clint Lovelady, from the Grass Valley Police Department (GVPD), sat down with us to talk about the law enforcement side of homelessness. He applied and was accepted in the Strategic Response Team with the GVPD in 2014. 

What he has learned about working with the homeless as a police officer is to BE A HUMAN, and let people get to know you. He can approach homeless people and have a conversation with them to build a relationship...

Heidi Hall became a District 1 Nevada County Supervisor in January, 2017. She immediately took on the issue of homelessness, and began bringing agencies together to identify the gaps in services for this vulnerable population. Her efforts have resulted in positive moves, and there is better communication among the agencies involved.

Finding solutions for homelessness is not an easy issue. One of the things that Heidi says is so...

Suzanne Marriott had a very big role in the project "A Place to Call Home." She was the consultant and retired grant writer who helped us receive monies from both California Humanities and California Arts Council. We are so grateful to have gotten that financial start to make all of this possible. Thank you Suzanne!!

Suzanne is a writer and one of my neighbors at Wolf Creek Lodge, a co-housing community. We sat down to discuss...

Julie Lang, LMFT has served as a mental health therapist in the Grass Valley Community for 20 years. She has a local private practice and currently is the mental health therapist at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility. She counsels inmates and heads a Mindfulness Program. She has a Master’s degree in both Psychology and Counseling Psychology. 

Julie shared with us that there is significant mental health issues among homeless peop...