Warmth Warriors of Reno with Coffee and Blankets

Spreading Warmth During a Chilling February

The group, Coffee and Blankets, recently set up a donation drive on Lake Street near the 4th Street bus station, not far from other services for those without shelter in the Biggest Little City.

They propped up two folding tables for hot drinks and granola bars. A tarp was set on the ground covered with blankets and clothing items.

“I personally decided to do it because I don't like being cold,” Reno resident Brent Woodley said of creating the group with his friends last year and hosting several similar events since then. “I don't usually do any winter sports … I pretty much hibernate in the winter and not everyone has that luxury, to be able to go into their home and get under a bunch of blankets. So I just figured, for all the people that don't have that option to actually a have place to be warm and comfortable, maybe we can help them a little bit.” he said.

This windy morning there were dispensers serving coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Woodley said that they gave away 60 cups in just an hour and a half. “All you have to do is walk down the streets of Reno to see that there's a lot of people in need,” he said. “I don't feel like our city leaders are doing a good enough job to address it. So we kind of have to start grassroots and see if we can build momentum until people take notice and notice that the community is willing to do the work. So our leaders should be able to also.”

Helping People Battle the Winter

Alongside the hot drinks, Coffee and Blankets Reno also hosted a warm clothing and accessory donation drive. On the blue tarp there were jackets, fleece blankets, shoes, and socks. However, this isn’t good enough for Woodley. He says that he would like to see more funding go towards helping people without shelter get by during the winter.

“For the most part, I would like to see developers look at doing small-tiny houses, affordable living, maybe even having warm shelters for the winter months. Our shelters are totally inundated with people. They cannot keep up with the demand. So mainly, I would like to see just more effort and more...funding for things that seem like simple solutions but all they really need is actions,” Woodley said.

To acquire the necessary items to give to people, Coffee and Blankets Reno collects donations from people dropping off clothing at their events, including blanket drives. Some volunteers donate items from their own homes.  Woodley calls himself and the other volunteers who participate in this form of direct action, “Warmth Warriors.”

Shermi Tam was one of the warmth warriors who showed up. “Anyone who's interested in joining us and helping us distribute either; just cleaning out their closets or start helping us serve coffee. We’re all volunteer-based so a Warmth Warrior is anyone that wants to come out and help warm people,” Woodley said.

Plans for a Mobile Cart

Woodley asks people who stop by the table about their circumstances. He says some people only expect to be without shelter for a month, while others fear they will be much longer. He says that people need resources to break the cycle of homelessness. Woodley wants to explore options to help people get back on their feet.

“A lot of what they (people living on the streets) say is that they just don't have access to jobs, clothing for a job interview, an email address, a PO Box, they don't have the things that are required to apply for a job. So that's one thing in the future we might look at doing is trying to help get people established with an actual location and some contact information so they can apply for work,” he said.

Before winter ends, Woodley wants to transition into a mobile cart and deliver coffee to people during especially cold times like early morning and late evenings. Woodley’s agenda doesn’t stop there. During the summer, he wants to continue helping the community by delivering cold water to people.

“All you have to do is listen to the appreciation of the people when you do something very simple as give them a cup of coffee and how appreciative they are. Just to see the smiles and a lot of the people come up to us and they ask us, you know, ‘Which church do we belong to, what do I have to give to you in order to get these free coffee and blankets?’ It's just amazing that they're so surprised that they actually don't have to do anything all I have to do is; pick out something they like and we do the rest,” Woodley said about how giving back makes him feel.

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno