Seven Counties, One Shelter
Hospitality House offers regional assistance

By Cara Kelly

This is the third story of a six-part series detailing the role of the Hospitality House in the community, its clients and the newly initiated capital campaign that will enable the construction of a new facility.

Residents of Boone may know about the invaluable services provided by the Hospitality House for their surrounding community, but most are shocked to hear that the house caters to a population far exceeding the town alone.

The Hospitality House serves seven counties in the High Country, a staggering number that can not fully be taken care of with only 20 emergency shelter beds available in any given night. The coverage zone includes Watauga, Ashe, Avery, Yancey, Wilkes, Alleghany and Mitchell.

For the 2007 calendar year, the emergency shelter housed a total of 6,594; a sum calculated by multiplying 364 nights by the number of people sleeping in the shelter each night.

The transitional housing totaled 6,295 for 2007, and Rock Haven added another 2,894, making the grand sum 15,783 for the Hospitality House as a whole.

In addition to shelter, the Bread of Life program served 73,000 meals throughout the year. Two hundred and sixty four of those meals were prepared by a church or community group, with an estimated price tag of $19,800 paid for by the generous organizations.

However, only 73 percent of days were covered with at least one prepared meal, leaving 27 percent of days with nothing.

Five hundred and seventy food boxes were distributed for days the Hospitality House was not in service, which fed 1,439 people.

Food Lion, a Second Harvest Food Bank Provider, donated 27,971 pounds of food in one year.

The nights of shelter and food services provided were estimated to cost $31 per person per night last year.

Although these numbers are impressive for an organization operating out of three, one hundred year old houses, the future facility will break the glass ceiling of total services provided.

The food panty proposed in the blue prints alone will be larger than the kitchen of the little while house on 302 W. King St. A walk-in freezer is also in the works, along with a donation closet that will more than triple its previous counterpart. The dining room will dwarf the previous dining room in size, with a space for eight tables large enough to seat eight people each. Currently, the Hospitality House has one table inside the kitchen and one picnic table outside.

The kitchen will be equipped with industrial-sized appliances so mass production will be possible within the Hospitality House itself. Most groups who donate food to the Bread of Life soup kitchen must prepare the meals before bringing it to the house to be served due to the inadequate space and appliances, a problem that will be eliminated after the construction of the new facility.

Donations can be made to the Hospitality House in person or by calling the office at (828) 262-3461. Those wishing to donate to the capital campaign should ask for the campaign coordinator.