Questions About What Ambassadors Do
Many Reno residents say they’re uncertain of what exactly downtown ambassadors do and how they treat those without shelter. The ambassadors are hired through a company called Streetplus, which contracts them to the private, non-profit Downtown Reno Partnership. The partnership is a business improvement district bounded “roughly by Interstate 80/9th Street to the north; Wells Avenue to the east; the Truckee River, California, and Moran Streets to the south; and Keystone Avenue to the west,” according to the City of Reno.
If you’ve ever wondered what an ambassador’s duties are, reporter Lucia Starbuck shadowed Ambassador Kristuffer Richmond for one day. What started out as an ordinary day, checking in on businesses in downtown Reno still open despite coronavirus, ended up in a mad scramble to help a man lying on the streets get urgent care.
Richmond has been an ambassador since the end of 2019 and like many other ambassadors was homeless himself.
From Prison to Becoming One of Our Ambassadors
Richmond, 46, was born in Northern California but has lived in Reno since 1985. In Sept. 2019, Richmond got out of prison after spending five years incarcerated for the fraudulent use of a debit card. He said he’s had dozens of convictions in his life. Since then, though. Richmond, who is now also pursuing a social work degree at TMCC, says he’s turned his life around.
"There's plenty of security guards in these casinos that have recognized me from my past and now they see me now. I've talked to quite a few of them and they're really accepting," Richmond said, "I used to go to sleep in the casino bathrooms a lot. I used to [do] whatever it took to survive.”
Richmond now checks in with casino staff as part of his duties. On our walk, he chatted mostly with corner store owners. I also saw the more mundane tasks; cleaning up trash like mini alcohol bottles, discarded clothes, empty cigarette packs, and filing graffiti removal requests to Reno Direct.
Richmond stops to talk to a worker at Jashan Market. This corner store is located on N Virginia St. in downtown Reno next to Mcdonald’s has remained open. The ambassadors monitor about 120 blocks, engulfing just about all of downtown Reno. They are hired by the Downtown Reno Partnership, a business improvement district, through Streetplus, which manage ambassadors across the U.S.
Complications with Coronavirus
One call on Richmond’s walkie-talkie stung more than the others. A request was made for an ambassador to tell a houseless man lying down in front of the Little Nugget Diner to move. Richmond said this is the most difficult part of his job. The partial closure of the Record St. Shelter’s campus means houseless individuals are no longer allowed to hang out in the common outside areas during the day.
"Due to the Coronavirus, the part where people used to get to just sit there and kind of relax, they closed it down. One of my challenges with this job is telling people that I know don't have anywhere to go, that they have to like go somewhere. It's pretty hard," Richmond said.
The conversation between Richmond and the man lasted less than a minute. Richmond quickly told him that he had to leave. The man simply said, “Okay,” and then Richmond walked away. Business owners and managers are usually the ones who call to remove people from their property.
Richmond said he and a lot of the other ambassadors have been homeless themselves, so they can empathize. During our walk, for the most part I watched Richmond check in on people and make sure they were alive.
"I try to give them as many ideas for resources as possible. I try to tell them that if I can change, anybody can because to be completely honest, over 20 years, I have 40 convictions. I've squandered away my family's lives. My parents are both deceased now. It's never too late for somebody until it is. If you have a breath in your body, you can change," Richmond said.
Richmond said it’s a mixed bag. Some days people are happy to see ambassadors, he says, and other times, not so much. Here he checks in on two houseless individuals he knows by name. He congratulates them both on being almost a week sober.
A Roundabout Circuit for A Man In Urgent Need
After a seemingly normal day, Richmond and I started heading back to Record St. to part ways. We were in the shade of a long patio along the Truckee River when we saw a person lying on the ground. They were completely covered up by a stained, brown sleeping bag. The walk up to the person was slow. It was a horrifying feeling not knowing if this person was alive or not.
After calling to the person, a man who I’ll refer to as D stirred and woke up. D had a hospital bracelet on and said he has severe brain damage. He told us if he doesn’t receive care that he would take his life.
"Anytime that somebody feels hopeless, I tend to understand them a little better than probably the average person because I know what hopelessness looks like and I know what it feels like. I know that it's really hard to see the other side when you're in that," Richmond said.
Richmond called two other ambassadors and the three spent over an hour assessing the best course of action for D. Richmond carried out what’s called a ‘Safe Walk,’ and linked arms with D, who could barely stand. He then walked him about a half mile to the Well Care Foundation Community Triage Center, which helps to stabilize people in crisis situations related to substance use.
Richmond was told that D couldn’t be helped unless he was detoxing from alcohol or drugs. Well Care Foundation Community Triage Center’s security guard then drove the three of us to West Hills Hospital. On the drive, I couldn’t stop thinking that if D was by himself, getting told no from Well Care Foundation Community Triage Center would’ve been the first and last barrier for him to get treatment.
Despite limited resources, Richmond said he tries his best to help at least one person a day.
Trying to Help as Best He Can
Richmond didn’t have luck finding D a safe place to sleep and mental health care at West Hills Hospital either. D couldn’t be admitted until he was screened for Coronavirus. So we all climbed back in the white van and ended up at the Emergency Room at Renown Regional Medical Center. D was taken into a room which didn’t allow visitors. We were left without an answer of where D would end up sleeping that night.
"I would like to be able to go into West Hills or any one of these hospitals and say, 'This guy is sick. He needs help,’” Richmond said. “This guy, he has a hard time holding his urine, holding his feces, holding all his stuff. But what happens is, they end up staying on the streets and struggling. It's crazy to me. There has to be a way to put it all together and help him.”
Richmond said his goal in the meantime is to find D again, and give him a blanket if he’s still sleeping outside.