One group of locals is braving the outdoors all night long for the next two nights. They are setting out on a 48-hour mission called, "This is Homelessness" to show the hardships the less fortunate go through.
It's a daily challenge being homeless, but when the sun goes down, the dangers at night make it even greater so the group will be sleeping by the river overnight to experience just that.
"I've never slept on the street in a sleeping bag and I didn't even bring a coat," said Debbie McCarthy from Reno. She is one of many members from the mission.
McCarthy is worried about how the next two nights will be, but she says she's thankful for staying together in a group and having the opportunity to share the stories of others.
“Tomorrow morning might be a different story. I'm afraid I'm going to be cold and I'm going to be scared. It's going to be hard to walk,” said McCarthy.
Being scared is just one of the things going their heads. They say, ending up homeless could happen to anyone. So for the next two days, they will be the voice for the homeless, bringing awareness to the stories of youth out on the streets.
Lynette Eddy is the founder of the Eddy House, a walk-in center in downtown Reno for homeless youth. She says, "These kids want to work. They want to get their degree. They're just coming from abusive home situations. The odds are against them and they don't have the resources that they need."
Young adults between the age of 18 to 24 are considered homeless if they don't have a home to go to at the end of the night. Guidance seems to be the main need for the homeless, who sleep in parks along the river and carry trash bags full of their belongings.
Pat Cashell is the Regional Director of Volunteers of America shelters in Reno. Cashell says that for every dollar we spend on the homeless, it saves the community 18 dollars for emergency services like the police, fire department, and REMSA. He wants the homeless to have a better knowledge about the services available in town like shelters. There are 300 beds altogether at the family, men, and women shelters on Record Street. But for Cashell, he himself lived on the streets over 10 years ago.
"It was the worst experience of my life,” said Cashell. “But it has given me what I have today. It's probably the best asset I have, working with the shelters and my past experience with addiction and homelessness."
He hopes to help people like Melanie Sandomirski, who came all the way from Detroit with her boyfriend. She was left to fend for herself after years of abuse. She says everyone has a different story about why they're homeless. Everything could change in a second before you know it. But with only one week at the Reno woman's shelter, Melanie has already started getting her life back on track.
"I have a job interview tomorrow and I've met a lot of good people who tried to help and offer different services,” said Sandomirski.
Ryan Cunningham is 24 years old and after struggles in the last couple years, he currently is living in a tent. "You can go look for a job or whatever, but people don't realize you're out here in the cold all night. You're worried about what you're going to eat in the morning, what clothes you're going to wear, shower. It kind of really kills your confidence."
"We're trying to get people to know, these kids are out here. This is the face of homelessness in Reno,” said Eddy.
You can follow the stories and social media from the experience by following the hashtag: #thisishomelessness
