Carson City nonprofit Spirit of Hope provides housing for people with illnesses, disabilities or who are in recovery.
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Spirit of Hope is asking the community to help 75 residents this Christmas.
The nonprofit partners with Carson City’s courts and mental health agencies to provide a housing-first model to low-income individuals.
“We have 15 homes we rent, and we have rents that we have to pay,” Executive Director Ellen Jackson said. “We don’t have special prices, so with all the prices going up the way they have, our overhead has shot up thousands of dollars every month. It’s been more of a struggle.”
Carson City Health and Human Services funds its services to men and women age 18 and older who are fully independent, including seniors who have disabilities or are living with mental illness, according to Bailey Gonzales, counselor and case manager working on staff part-time.
“The only income we get is from the individuals to pay rent, and we have explored ideas of becoming a certified facility with the Department of Behavioral Health so that maybe we can bill Medicaid, but that takes a lot of time,” Gonzales said.
Spirit of Hope has been trying to restructure and rebrand so other community services can send referrals, Gonzales said.
“Spirit provides for the individuals living in homes and transportation for grocery shopping,” she said. “More people are focused on utilizing their benefits from Medicaid for transportation.”
But the holidays have been difficult and many community members aren’t even aware Spirit of Hope exists, Jackson said.
“It’s about quality of life,” she said. “We have to love one another enough to take care of each other. Some people have no one, whether they never had children or never married, and they ostracize each other because of addiction or mental health.”
Spirit would like to provide a motel with a commercial kitchen. This year, staff ordered and delivered precooked Thanksgiving meals to the residents, who live six per home.
“We’re the cheapest in the whole of Northern Nevada at $600 (for rent) and with gas, electric, Wi-Fi and TV and we offer transportation to grocery stores, but we try not to be the glorified taxi service,” she said.
Services cover all 15 homes in Carson City, so transportation is limited for clients to about every two weeks unless there is a need for weekly service.
There is no limitation on long a resident can remain in a home, Jackson said.
“Our paperwork reads day to day, week to week, month to month,” she said. “That way, if we have to, we can ask someone to leave because they’re using, drinking or if a mental health issue is causing problems in their home. We run a tight ship and that keeps everybody safe. We’ve had folks with us for 12 years already.”
One client, Jeff Grigg, came to Spirit of Hope in July after purchasing a Dodge van in disrepair and couldn’t exchange it for another vehicle of equal value. He began living in his car with his cat and soon learned he had stage four rectal cancer.
“I’ll be battling it for the rest of my life,” Grigg said. “If I manage, I get around and I can’t lift like I used to, and I can’t do what I’d like to do.”
Grigg received a referral to Spirit of Hope.
“I think we got along right off the bat, and here I am,” he said. “It’s all been good. I’ll be here for a while.”
“He knows there’s not an end date,” Jackson said of Grigg. “We don’t ask people for 30-day notices. A doctor goes, ‘You’ve got 18 months to two years.’ I’m not going to give up because he’s going through chemo(therapy).
“This is it, no surprises, just straightforward taking care of folks,” she said. “We love our people. We make sure everybody is safe and fed. To me, it’s about the quality of life.”
A highlight is making everyone feel special through birthday or holiday gifts.
“Specifically speaking about Christmas, we’re struggling to even get people to get our clients Christmas gifts, and they don’t have a lot,” she said. “We try to get gift bags for individuals’ basic needs.”
Gonzales said Spirit also seeks volunteers to help with transportation and the organization of donations.
“We do get community needs from churches for linens or other items,” she said. “We are looking for volunteers actively.”
For information or to donate, go to spiritofhopeincnv.org or call 775-461-3331.