Giving Rise to Our Place
Since stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines were issued across the country in mid-March to mitigate the novel coronavirus pandemic, the city of Reno had to change its ways in helping those without housing.
The Reno Events Center, closed due to the pandemic, became a temporary shelter where social distancing could be observed and alleviate the congestion of people staying at the Community Assistance Center (CAC) on Record Street. Individuals became subject to temperature checks and health screenings, and even testing, so that those exhibiting symptoms could be safely and appropriately quarantined.
Another opportunity was explored to use the Stead ex-military barracks, near the Reno-Tahoe airport, as a temporary shelter. But assessments of the barracks found that they were not structurally suitable, and so that idea was abandoned.
Now, as much of the country begins to open back up and the Reno Events Center is seeing a decline in individuals staying there, a new shelter called Our Place is preparing to open on what is still known locally as the Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services (NNAHMS) campus.
“The need for the overflow shelter [on Washington street] and the tent [on Record street during cold months] wasn't going away and there just wasn't enough space for everybody at the Record Street campus,” Amber Howell, the Director of Human Services Agency for Washoe County, said. “You have a mix of men, women, children, and daycare on a relatively small campus. So we started exploring alternatives and found a bunch of empty buildings at the NNAMHS campus. So because those buildings were vacant, we had the idea of remodeling those buildings and trying to create additional space for all of the friends and neighbors that are located at Record Street.”
Washoe County asked the state of Nevada to lease the NNAHMS campus and the county commissioners were awarded $15 million to rehabilitate the buildings on the campus. The Washoe County Commissioners then awarded a nearly $2 million 14-month contract to RISE to operate the new 100+ bed shelter.
A New Contract for an Advocacy Group
In late March, RISE, an area nonprofit that originally began as a volunteer-based potluck dinner service for the houseless, was approved to take on the project with a unanimous decision to run the new shelter to be called Our Place.
“We have been working with RISE over the past year, much more intensely [this year] than we had in previous years,” Howell said. “They are such a great partner of ours and we've learned a tremendous amount from them as they truly are experts in this field. They're extremely invested in this community and they have great relationships with individuals that are experiencing homelessness.”
“RISE started about nine years ago,” Benjamin Castro, Executive Director of RISE, said. “Throughout the years we went from food insecurity to food as a human right, from affordable housing to housing as a human right, and to just general houseless advocacy. More recently we had the great opportunity to partner with Washoe County to operate Our Place, which is going to be a women's and family respite over at the old NNAMHS campus.”
The Our Place campus will consist of five buildings. Three of them will be family-style apartment units with their own bathrooms but a shared kitchen. The next two buildings will be designated for seniors and women, respectively. In total: 28 families, 18 seniors, and 118 women will be provided emergency shelter on the campus.
By moving women and families to Our Place, Washoe County is looking to alleviate the congestion at Record Street while providing greater support and resources throughout its shelter system. Volunteers of America’s is continuing to operate the CAC shelter on Record Street, which will now primarily house the homeless male population in the area.
Striving for a More Resident-Centered, Family and Pet Friendly Approach
“What's great about us relocating the populations that we are, is that it allows us to get rid of the overflow shelter and the tent so that all men can have stable and safe housing within the shelter,” Howell said. “It allows them to increase their caseworkers to provide more intensive case management and more programming that's unique to what that population requires, so that's really exciting as well.”
The ability to reallocate resources to better serve the homeless population is just one element that the county’s partnership with RISE brings. Howell says it was RISE’s understanding of and relationship with the homeless community that made the 700+ volunteer network the unanimous choice to take on the Our Place project.
“One of the things that has been so helpful about working with RISE is understanding why individuals do not welcome shelter or housing,” Howell said. “We've learned that there are three areas that become barriers for individuals: they can't have their pets, they're worried about their personal property, and being separated as families.”
At Our Place, some of these barriers will be lifted.
“We are going to allow pets [at Our Place] because we understand the companionship and the relationship between individuals and their pets,” Howell said. “So we've been working with organizations to provide kennels in the rooms and outdoor areas and we're really excited to be able to offer that. That's something we haven't been able to do historically.”
Another barrier Our Place hopes to remove is the separation of families living on the streets. With three buildings on the campus designated for families, the eligibility of who and what constitutes a family is broadened to create more opportunities for families to stay together.
“The only eligibility is that there are children,” Howell said. “So it could be a single mom and her children. It could be a pregnant individual who's about to deliver. It can be a single father and his children. It can be a married couple or two individuals that have children together. It's less about the eligibility criteria of the parent and more about if they have children, they go into one of those three buildings.”
There will also be a daycare facility and classroom space in a stand-alone building on the campus for the children staying on the Our Place campus. There children can work on developmental milestones and curriculum in an environment where they can play and just be kids. Overseeing this aspect of the project is The Boys and Girls Club, continuing the same partnership currently in place at the daycare at the Record Street shelter.
In addition to a daycare, there will be a medical clinic on-site where eight caseworkers will be assigned to support residents. A domestic violence advocate will be available, as well as a food service for all the nutritional needs of residents. An additional partnership with the Department of Employment and Training Rehabilitation will be created to generate opportunities for residents to get on the path to employment.
Part 1 of a Series on Our Place by Scott King for Our Town Reno