In light of the fact that so many of our recent stories have been from individuals at Grandma's House of Hope, let's talk about how amazing of an organization they are!
Below is a snippet about GHOH's founder, Je'net Kreitner:
"Grandma’s House of Hope’s founder, Je’net Kreitner, became homeless with her young son after she found the courage to leave an abusive relationship. After three years of homelessness, due to the love and support of those around her, she was able to find healing and stable housing.
She opened a grassroots emergency shelter in 2004 with a 10-bed home for women experiencing trauma and abuse. We offered a safe respite for elderly women, a place for healing and rebuilding. We welcomed them into our homes and our hearts. Since then, our program has expanded to bring even deeper healing to the community—providing restorative housing to unhoused individuals, offering tools to heal the soul and mind, as well as delivering meals and educational enrichment for kids."
Here is a video from Today.com of Je'net Kreitner speaking about the founding of Grandma's House of Hope:
Grandma's House of Hope offers 3 distinct programs: Rescued & Restored Housing, Nana's Kidz, & HopeWorks!. Their Rescued & Restored housing provides "safe, confidential emergency and transitional shelter/housing" for women and men18+ who are experiencing homelessness and in need of trauma-informed care and support. The women and the men have separate houses, of course, but are given the same care & resources.
Their housing services cover:
Survivors of Violent Crimes
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Survivors of Trauma
Mental Health Challenges
Substance Abuse Disorders
Formerly Incarcerated Re-Entry Housing
Recovering from Illness (Acute or Chronic)
Hospice Care
Senior Supportive Micro-communities
If you are in need of housing or care at Grandma's House of Hope, feel free to use the listed resources :)
To speak to an Intake Specialist, call (714) 455-9528
To call GHOH's Administrative Offices, call (714) 558-8600
To email in a housing application, contact intake@grandmashouseofhope.org
To directly submit a housing form, click here
GHOH's second resource, Nana's Kidz, provides "healthy meals to children and families living in motels, low-income housing or experiencing homelessness, on weekends and during school breaks." Many children struggle to eat enough food on nonschool days, as they rely heavily on their school's cafeteria lunches, so Grandma's House of Hope has created Nana's Kidz to help these children in times of struggle. They have found that since the Covid-19 pandemic, this issue has skyrocketed & they went from serving 10,000 meals a month to serving more than 60,000.
In order to provide as much food as possible to these children, Grandma's House of Hope partners with 9 distribution sites across 5 Orange County cities - Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, Fullerton, & Tustin.
In 2020, Nana's Kidz:
Expanded food bag distribution by 473%
Fed over 1,745 kids per month
Distributed 23,619 food bags containing 333,666 total meals to hungry children & families.
Lastly, GHOH's third resource, HopeWorks!, offers "at-risk youth after-school programs with tutoring, homework support, mentorship, & exposure to STEAM activities". They also offer adult education, early childhood development, and health/wellness classes. HopeWorks! Education and Enrichment Center (HWEEC) is located at a very low-income section 8 housing complex in Anaheim. Its address is 206 N State College Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92806.
To volunteer as a tutor at HopeWorks! or to donate STEAM supplies, contact samanthab@grandmashouseofhope.org.
For more information on any of Grandma's House of Hope's programs, click here :)
I also wanted to give a big thanks to Grandma's House of Hope for posting Tressa's story on their website! It means a lot that our work is making a difference in the world & we are so beyond excited to work with you more!
Stay tuned for more individual stories from people at GHOH over the next few weeks :)