Tucked away in the outskirts of downtown Sacramento, next to a busy highway and in between large industrial buildings, lays a tiny little village where generosity continues the whole year through.

This tiny little village, provided by the privately funded Loaves and Fishes, is a safe haven for the homeless and needy. Upon entering the bustling alleyway on North C Street, crowds of women, men and children of various ages make their way into one of the many buildings that include a dining hall, bank, library, school, clinic, shelter, park and Maryhouse.

Maryhouse, which will be celebrating its 20th anniversary early next year, is a safe haven for women and their children.

“Maryhouse started when Loaves and Fishes had been operating for a couple of years just doing their lunch program, and they found that there were more and more women, and women with kids, that were coming to eat. They decided they had to have some place for them to stay,” said Connie Frank, co-director of Maryhouse.

Frank started working in the dining room of Loaves and Fishes 20 years ago.”I was a stay-at-home mom, and I found that while you might originally think you have nothing in common with a woman who is homeless and struggling with difficulties, I found something that we have in common ?” we are both mothers,” Frank said.

Maryhouse offers a variety of services, including showers, shelter, drug and alcohol counseling, quiet rooms, household supplies, toiletries and emotional support.

Monday through Friday, various organizations and members of the community volunteer to cook breakfast about once a month for all of the guests in Maryhouse.

Mondays and Thursdays, the kitchen serves French toast, Tuesdays are grilled cheese and Wednesdays and Fridays are special.

Wednesday, the women enjoy grits and eggs. Once a month, the African American church group from the New Testament Church cooks up some authentic, traditional food.

“They make fantastic grits ?” just the way the women like them,” Frank said.Fridays are even more special. “Pancake Betty” prepares stacks of pancakes made from scratch and has been doing so for several years.

Every Thursday, Betty buys fresh fruit and fresh orange juice in preparation for Friday morning’s feast. She even arrives an extra hour early to ensure everything is perfect.

In addition to these services offered all year, Maryhouse does something really special for Christmas. During the holidays, other families from the community adopt less fortunate families.

“It is designed to almost be a reward for those people who have found themselves homeless and struggled to finally regain stable housing for their family, and it is a huge struggle,” Frank said.

The adoptees meet with their new family and provide holiday decorations, a Christmas tree, groceries to make Christmas dinner and at least one present for the children from their wish lists.

“Most of the families adopted ask for practical things for the kids ?” not toys ?” (but) clothes, underwear, socks and books,” said Karen Rossi, adopt a family coordinator.

In addition to all the material components of Christmas, the adopt a family program is designed to allow these women and their children to fill the emotional void of family support.

“When you don’t have the support of a family, we found that it is a wonderful thing at Christmas time to have somebody else adopt you, and not only give you some material things but also emotional support,” Frank said.

After the adoptee family completes a family profile form, which includes the name of the adults, address, phone number, directions to their homes, names of the children, sizes, wish lists and short description of the family, Rossi carefully picks an adoptive family match.

Most of the families that seek adoption during the holidays are not homeless, but are possibly a recent guest of Maryhouse (within one year), usually very poor, or single mothers and children.

“The typical family that is adopted is somebody who doesn’t have serious mental health issues, working poor and people who have possibly had domestic violence but have now reached the point where they have more stability,” Frank said.

However, there are those few special stories that tug at your heart strings. A young woman in her 30s, a recent guest at Maryhouse, is dying of breast cancer. This will most likely be the last Christmas she can spend with her 18-month-old daughter and a 3-year-old son.

The woman, once a guest at Maryhouse, still makes weekly visits for diapers and other commodities.

“I paired them with a really nice lady from the same area and she is actually going to do Thanksgiving with them as well,” Rossi said.

Another family, a single mother, lives in a small Elk Grove apartment with her five children ?” one of the children is severely handicap. Once a victim of domestic violence, she struggles to regain stability. With one income for a family of six, financial difficulties, especially during the holidays, are imminent.

The adopt a family program has had successful results for several years now. “Last year, this program matched 105 families with thoughtful community members. Thanks to our adopters, a total of 302 children were given a holiday they will not soon forget,” Rossi said.

Since Maryhouse is such a small organization, it is hard for them to pair more than a limited amount of families. After receiving publicity for the program in past years, they find a heavy flow of both families wishing to be adopted and those wishing to adopt that they can not accommodate.

Instead of becoming an adopter, Maryhouse asks that if you want to donate, use their wish list instead. The list includes gift certificates from fast food restaurants, Target, Wal-Mart, grocery stores, bus passes, new combs, brushes, sweatshirts, new ladies underwear, baby formula (powdered with iron), diapers, rain ponchos, knit hats, gloves, slightly used bras, back-packs and digital cameras for documenting domestic abuse in case files. Right now, Maryhouse is completely out of knit gloves, low on all sizes of bras, and frequently runs out of women’s underwear.

“People don’t think of us in mid-summer, we get 90 percent of our donations during the holiday season,” Rossi said.

In addition to the adopt a family program, Loaves and Fishes is having a Christmas Party for those not in housing as well. On December 15 at 8 a.m., the main dining room is to be filled with sounds of Christmas music and aromas of a hearty breakfast. As a gift, about 250 tote bags stuffed with various items – including sweatshirts, brushes and makeup – will be distributed to the guests.

The holidays usually evoke a need for family, friends and the desire to help those less fortunate in all of us. At Maryhouse those feelings last all year long. So this year, if you are looking for somewhere to make a donation, Maryhouse is a very deserving recipient.

Liz Gransee can be reached at [email protected]