Sacramento Loaves & Fishes

Our Thanksgiving Meal is just around the corner and we are all so excited to share it with our guests. This year we will welcome our guests to an outdoor physically distanced meal made possible by your donations and support. There are several ways to help this year: 1. Donate to our meal needs by dropping off items listed below. 2. Help us shop by making a donation by mail or on our website.... 3. Volunteer your time. While most of our Thanksgiving Day opportunities to help are full, there is plenty to do to help us prepare for the meal on November 19, 20, 23 7 AM - 11 AM, November 23 11 AM - 2 PM or November 24 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM. For more information on volunteering contact: [email protected] or 916-637-2444 Please note that all volunteer positions are first come first served. Grab a friend and come volunteer, physically distanced and masked up. This is sure to be a year to remember!

Sister Libby joined us today to honor our veteran neighbors experiencing homelessness and opened with a prayer, "May we see God in the eyes of every person we meet bringing a sense of dignity, respect, and value. And may we be the Spirit of God bringing healing, presence, and love, especially to our veterans who find themselves homeless on this day. Amen."

This year, our annual Thanksgiving Meal will be held as an outside dining event due to the pandemic. We are determined to serve our guests more than ever as many Thanksgiving meal services are cancelled. Donate to our meal needs, or for volunteer opportunities, contact: [email protected]. https://sacloaves.org///10/Thanksgiving-Meal-Donations.pdf

A resident of Sister Nora's Place, our overnight, long-term shelter program, obtained permanent housing and officially moved out last month! The resident expressed immense gratitude for Loaves & Fishes as a whole and accomplished every (very big!) goal she set for herself during her short time here at Sister Nora's. We couldn't be any more proud of all that she has accomplished. We will be sharing #miracles all month long with just 27 days to go for Giving Tuesday!

Abraham Lincoln believed that Elections belong to the people. Elections belong to the people who vote. Please vote today if you haven’t already! The right to vote is important for everyone, including those who are experiencing homelessness. In the buildup to election day, Loaves & Fishes hosted multiple efforts to register and empower our many guests to vote. Everyone has a voice. Make sure that you use yours to speak up for what is important. If you are in Sacramento County, you can click on the link below for resources on where to vote as well as for election results. https://elections.saccounty.net/Pages/default.aspx Please vote safely, and wear a mask.

"Their lives change, but do not end." Today, in the center of Friendship Park, the Dia de los Muertos ceremony remembered 777 names of the guests we have had the privilege to know and serve while they were living.

A livestream of the annual Dia de los Muertos event will be airing today at 9:30am. Join us as we honor the lives of our neighbors and share a prayer for those who have died while living on the streets of our city.

Save the date! Giving Tuesday is December 1st and this year our theme is "Miracles on North C Street.Co-Founder,Chris Delany always tells us that miracles happen everyday on our campus. Former Executive Director Sister Libby breathed this work as being a part of the miracle that is all of Loaves & Fishes. Libby defined what we mean by "miracles" when she wrote about it in the 2017 newsletter: "This Miracle of Loaves & Fishes happens each day when a staff member, a volunteer, another guest; touches someone else feeling a little lonely, valueless, unworthy, confused, or afraid. The Miracle happens with a simple smile, a gesture of acknowledgement, a real presence of care and passion for the other!"

At Loaves & Fishes, people experiencing homelessness are the fabric of our campus community and when a guest dies, the campus collectively mourns and remembers their spirit. Flanking the main walkway of Friendship Park are fountains etched with the names of adults and children Loaves & Fishes guests over the past 37 years who died while homeless. On October 30th at 9:30am the names of all 777 people will be read aloud as part of the annual Dia de los Muertos observance. This year, the event will be livestreamed on our Facebook page. Read the full press release here: https://mailchi.mp//press-release-bdog-2020-radical-roots-.

Richard, from our Warehouse Program is ready to take in turkeys. Come help us set our table! You can find our holiday needs here: https://sacloaves.org/needs-list/

Not a day goes by we don’t have women coming to us to report physical violence, sexual violence or domestic partner violence. People at the city and county level need to lean into the expertise of those of us who are working on the ground with these women. We need to remember these women are people with hopes and dreams and desires. They deserve just as much support as a housed person. - Maryhouse Program Director, Shannon Dominguez-Stevens. Programs such as Maryhouse and Sister Nora's Place remain essential spaces of respite for women escaping violence. Visit: www.sacloaves.org to learn more and get involved. #DVAM

From 2000 to 2005 we served 4,900 clients and had 17,000 hours of community service, but when we look at what we did just last year alone, we served over 2,000 clients and 10,000 hours of community service. At this rate, we will double what we did from 2000 to 2005 in the clients we serve and triple the amount of community service...When I think about COVID, we need to take a pause. Our unemployment rate is higher than ever, people are homeless that were never homeless befor...e. The homeless pandemic is increasing because of COVID and the need for services from our legal clinic to survive and make a difference in people’s lives is so important right now. - Reflections from Board Member and Public Defender, Tiffanie Synnott at yesterday's 20th Anniversary Tommy Clinkenbeard Legal Clinic Event. We’ve come a long way with the clinic and none of the services we provide could be possible without our volunteers and the support of the community. To support the clinic, please go to www.sacloaves.org/donate and select Legal Clinic from the campaign dropdown. See more

Rain or shine, pandemic or not, the Loaves & Fishes Dining Room has stood the test of time. Over 7 million meals later and we're still going strong! #ThrowbackThursday Sign up to volunteer today! Contact [email protected] for more information.

We're still in need of volunteers! Sister Nora's Place is in need of once-monthly committed dinner volunteer groups to prepare and deliver dinner for residents (currently, there are seven days per month we are in need of meals). At the moment we have nine residents but have the capacity for sixteen women (so you would be tasked with preparing meals for large groups!). Pre-COVID some of these volunteer groups would prepare the dinner in our kitchen and eat dinner with our residents. However, we are now requesting all meals be dropped off the day of (it's ok if it's not right at dinner time, as we can reheat!). For more information email Kansas at [email protected] or call 916-669-7001.