Two More Homes of Our Formerly Unhoused Neighbors Furnished
Home 1 - Santa Rosa
James has been homeless since his brother, with whom he was preparing to move in, suddenly died. Since his early 30’s James has lived with debilitating back and neck pain. severely impacting his ability to work. His previous job as a forklift operator and general laborer involved physically demanding tasks that made it impossible to continue.
As a result of his injuries, he applied for disability. The timing coincided with the COVID 19 epidemic, leading to several years of homelessness, failed disability support and many other challenges that compounded both his mental and physical state.
Thanks to his perseverance and the support of his case worker at Catholic Charities, James was able to settle into an apartment at last. His case worker said, "This man is so deserving. He’s never had a place in his life. He had a challenging childhood and has been on his own for a long time.”
James is truly grateful for all the support he has received from his case worker at Catholic Charities and to Welcoming Home and our donors for making his new apartment a home. The furnishing of his apartment was sponsored by Jill Hill, retired Coldwell Banker real estate broker.
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James was blown away by the elegant apartment that was now his. When we first met him, he had shown us a photo of a painting that meant a lot to him; he wondered if we knew where he could find one like it. One of our volunteers found a source that turned photos into wall art and had a piece made for his home. He was beyond touched when he saw it.
The day after his Welcoming Home event, James texted the following, along with a picture of the art hanging in his bedroom. "Good afternoon, I'm reaching out to you and your team with an extended thank you for all your help and support. This was the icing on the cake -very special to me. Thank you all.”
Welcoming Home Volunteers
Left to right:
Page Monty, Laura Kenig, Susi Heidenreich and Executive Director Michael Cushing
Home 2 - Petaluma
Geoffrey, an engineer, was a self-employed construction professional who also designed sound systems for concerts. His work took him around the world, where he created projects from desalination plants in Libya to a digital sound studio for a band in Mexico. He built a solid career, supported himself, and was even able to buy a small home.
About five years ago everything changed. His home was robbed and completely trashed; he lost almost all of his belongings. Around the same time, he suffered a serious back injury that limited the kind of construction work he could do. With his home left unlivable and his income curtailed, the bank foreclosed on his home. For the next four years, Geoffrey lived on the streets.
Recently, he was finally able to move into a small apartment through the help of Catholic Charities - an opportunity for which he is deeply grateful. A neighbor lent him a few pieces of furniture, including an armchair with upholstery held together by safety pins. Beyond that, he had very little when we first visited him. He was so looking forward to having his place fully furnished, not just for comfort, but so he could focus on rebuilding his sound studio business and go back to supporting himself.
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A quiet man, Geoffrey was obviously pleased with his “new” place when he returned. He said he hadn’t expected it to look so nice. He was especially grateful for his desk, “I can definitely get back to work here.”
When he saw the pictures of his favorite musicians (Elton John, Snoop Dog and Pete Townsend) on his bedroom wall, he rewarded us with a huge smile and “Oh yeah.”
A couple of days later, we got a text from him saying: “This really feels like home. Thank you to all involved."
Welcoming Home Volunteers
Left to right: Joachim Vobis, Linda Sargent and Welcoming Home Executive director, Michael Cushing.
The furnishing of Home 2 was generously sponsored by a couple who wishes to remain anonymous.
About Sponsored Welcomings
"Sponsorship" means paying for the brand new mattresses, box springs and frames; the cost of the movers; the Starter Kit of necessary items that the individual or family needs in the short term, and any needed items that aren't donated. To enable us to help more people, we need more organizations, groups of friends, schools, etc. to sponsor Welcomings.
Click here or contact info@welcominghome.org for more information.