RISE, Still Helping Others Together During Coronavirus, But With Added Precautions

Fewer Resources Right Now than Before Coronavirus

With fewer resources available to the houseless population during the coronavirus outbreak, The Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality (RISE) is continuing their RISE and Dine program providing dinner to locals in need, which they now view as even more vital.

“[Since the coronavirus outbreak] I would say there are more people asking for services, but they’re harder to get to,” said one of the volunteers Catherine Macintosh, who is also pursuing a Masters of Social Work degree.  

In the weeks since the virus started spreading, she says she has seen many people without stable shelter struggle to find even the most basic resources needed for survival. “I have a lot more people [say] ‘I can’t find food, or I can’t find a place to wash my hands.’”  

“These are my people,” Catherine Macintosh says of the guests at the RISE and Dine event. “I really like [working] in the trenches, walking with people...shaking their hand instead of pointing a finger. (Note: Although with gloves on now, maybe). It just feels real to me. It...grounds me when I'm able to help other people.”

A Vulnerable Population Made More Vulnerable

“We’ve spent years over-policing and criminalizing homelessness”, five year RISE volunteer and hospital chaplain Jennifer Cassidy said.

“We do horrible things.  [A homeless person] gets set up and stable in a small community or encampments...and [then] they’re moved, sometimes in the middle of the night. I have seen survival equipment thrown away; I’ve seen excavators grab carts [full of belongings] and throw them away...So it’s been bad already.”

Cassidy says she believes these actions have left the houseless population more at-risk in times like this.

“We’ve worked really hard against a community structure for people who don’t have access to things...and now we close everything down,” she said. “So it kind of leaves people high and dry and stuck and alone without the things that they need.”  

She pauses for a moment before adding, “Honestly, it leaves them f***ked.”

Cassidy believes people without shelter have been made more vulnerable during the current pandemic because of how local authorities have previously criminalized them.

What About Using Empty Hotels and Motel Rooms?

“I think the biggest problem is that there’s zero stability”, Castro, the president of RISE, said of the difficulties experienced by those without stable shelter.  “There’s no washing stations, there’s no restrooms...right now everyone’s just in survival mode.”  

“Continuing to sweep the homeless population underneath the bridges and away from the tourist area...It’s failing...It has failed”, he said. 

One potential solution now raised by the volunteers would be to use the city’s vacant hotels and casinos as temporary shelter.  “We have a lot of empty hotels and motel rooms [that can be used for shelter]. I think that those should be offered. I think that people should have a safe, warm door that locks. I think that that's a given always, but I think it's especially true right now”, Cassidy says.

The lack of safe shelter and adequate resources further the risk of the coronavirus spreading through the community as people gather in larger groups wherever supplies are available, Macintosh says.  “I would like to see more meal sites so that we don’t have everyone traveling [together], taking the bus, or grouping up here”, she explains, “In other words, we [could] just spread out a little bit.”

“Somebody’s got [to help people experiencing homelessness], but I think the single greatest thing we’re trying to prove is that really anybody can do it”, Castro says. “It doesn’t take much; if you see a problem, you try to fix it. And if you’re doing it right then people will join you,” Castro said of the RISE initiative, and continuing even during coronavirus.

Walking with People in Your Community as a Fellow Human

“I think [the best way to help is] just keep taking care of each other, and hope that others follow suit”, Cassidy says, “I do this because this is my community. I want it to be the best that it can be. That doesn't mean...charity that means walking with people wherever they are.”

“I don’t think people are naturally selfish. We’re social animals. We do care about each other,” Castro said. To him, caring for the community is part of being human.

“Society wasn’t built because every person on the block was saying ‘it’s me versus you.’ It was built by human beings trying to figure out how we survive. And we figured out that we do this better if we do it together.”

Reporting by Luke Keck for Our Town Reno