“We hope to see some results by October 1st,” Natalie Handler said as public comments closed earlier today, before reappointed chair of the Community Homelessness Advisory Board Alexis Hill called it a “great” meeting.
Several long term advocates for the unhoused pleaded for the Record Street community center to be reopened as a shelter for women and families, and for plans to open a multitude of 24/7 warming centers across the region before colder weather kicks in.
“We’re basically asking for proactive movement that will save lives,” Jake Maynard said. “We’re worried about winter and a lack of preparedness,” Ilya Arbatman said. “It’s a life or death situation,” Tara Tran said.
When questioned by appointed Reno councilwoman Kathleen Taylor, who was chosen as the board’s vice chair, Monica Cochran from the city of Reno said the Record street location was not “turnkey” at the moment, with a faulty elevator and leaky roof, with repairs which could cost in the millions of dollars.
Handler later wondered why several dozen veterans had recently been staying there, and wanted an actual assessment of what repairs would cost. Bill Simms said he was disappointed at the lack of urgency for getting that location operational again, with the Our Place shelter for women and families usually full.
In terms of the warming center, Taylor seemed content with the one at the Nevada Cares Campus scheduled to open in November.
Handler said efforts should be made to have more of these warming centers, including creating partnerships with faith communities and businesses owning underutilized spaces, with incentives added to help vulnerable citizens.
Lilith Baran said it was “time to take some of the kids gloves off,” and wondered why someone with lived experience wasn’t on the board as was previously discussed. She and others lamented the fact the board no longer meets monthly as it used to, with recent accounts of people overdosing in different locations and dying on the streets of Reno.
There were discussions about the Senior Center and how more unhoused people are gravitating there, prompting Dana Searcy, now the “Division Director of Housing and Homeless Services” to say there are ongoing discussions to create a new section for vulnerable people at the Cares Campus.
She said the group of unhoused seniors is growing in the region, posing new challenges.
Maynard wondered why there wasn’t a bus giving people staying at the Cares Campus an opportunity to travel to the board meeting and testify to their experiences themselves, while Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson repeatedly called the compound a “beacon of hope.”
“Not good enough,” Dani DeRosa said at the end of the first phase of public comments.
Advocates said the number which matters the most is the number of people dying on the streets of northern Nevada because they are poor and unhoused.