Spirit of Hope

On Thursday, March 21, the Carson City Leisure Hour Club recognized two outstanding community organizations for improving the lives of local residents. Recognized at the club’s dinner meeting were Spirit of Home, represented by founder Ellen Jackson, and English Language Learners In-Home Program, represented by founder Florence Phillips. Both groups were presented with $500 donations in support of their extraordinary work.

Meet Delores, a 94-year-old resident of Spirit of Hope, who would love to hear from you this Valentine’s Day. Spirit of Hope residents like Delores are often isolated from friends and family.

You can make a positive difference in our community with a simple gesture, by sending the gift of a Valentine’s Day card.

January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and according to Carson City’s Advocates to End Domestic Violence, the best thing you can do is be informed of the warning signs.

The newly elected Board of Supervisors, including Mayor Lori Bagwell, Supervisor Lisa Schuette, Supervisor Mo White, and appointed supervisor Stan Jones, along with Supervisor Stacey Giomi, met for their first board meeting of 2021 on Thursday.

A proven way for communities to effectively reduce homeless populations is to provide secure, safe, and comfortable long-term housing in residential neighborhoods.

Employing this housing-first philosophy through its nine properties, Carson City’s Spirit of Hope does just that. Spirit of Hope provides housing for homeless people if they are willing to be clean and live a better life.

The next Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 17 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Sierra Room of the Community Center, located at 851 E. William Street.

Items for discussion include new shade structures in the downtown area, grant funding for fuel reduction, surplus city funding, and more.

Fifteen Carson City non-profits were awarded nearly $800,000 in COVID-19 relief funding via the CARES act during the Board of Supervisor's meeting held Thursday.

The State of Nevada through the CARES Act has allocated over $10 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds “CRF” to Carson City. Carson City’s Preliminary Plan of Expenditure allocated $1 million to be awarded to non-profit organizations located in Carson City.

Carson City’s Ellen Jackson understands the homeless. She also understands what it takes to reduce homelessness one client at a time.

Spirit of Hope, the nonprofit Ms. Jackson manages, was founded in 2010 and has since been dedicated to providing long-term living arrangements for needy populations in Carson City.

On July 25, Joe Tummarello, a long-term client with Carson City-based sober-living facility Lyfe Recovery, passed away at Carson Tahoe Hospital. By all accounts, a month before his death he had been in fine health for a man of 76. He dealt with COPD and needed an oxygen tank to breathe in the high altitude of northern Nevada, but a check-up with his doctors during May of 2019 showed he was nowhere near the brink of death.

However, after being relocated to Carson City from Lyfe Recovery’s Reno facility, Joe’s medication was withheld and he was denied medical intervention after a rapid deterioration of his health, which ultimately, it is alleged, led to his death.

When Joe Tummarello moved into a sober living home in Carson City called Lyfe Recovery, his friends and family thought he was doing well. However, at the end of July, he wound up in the hospital after his health declined rapidly. His family says this was due to severe neglect at the hands of the owner and manager of the facility. By several accounts, he was denied medical treatment until a senior living home provider stepped in and took him to the hospital, where he died a week later.

The question is: did Joe Tummarello die before his time? And if the answer is yes, then is someone responsible for his demise?