For close to three years, Washoe County's HOPE Team has embarked on the journey of helping the homeless.

HOPE stands for:

  • Homeless
  • Outreach
  • Proactive
  • Engagement.

The team goes out to encampments to try and get unhoused people connected with resources, and they say building a bond with them is the key.

"Obviously we wear the cop uniform, so at first there is some hesitation when interacting with them, but as we continue to build that relationship and we continue to show up, they know when they see us, they know we're not there to harass them or move them along," said Andres Silva, Deputy Sheriff, Washoe County HOPE Team.

Last year, after more than one thousand contacts were made, 943 accepted services and six arrests were made.

The team put 158 people into housing.

This is what regular week looks like for them.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Deputy Silva, Deputy Levi Smith, and two Washoe County Case Managers go out to get these people on a case load.

They try to get them things such as IDs, appointments, or connect them with shelters or other resources.

Then on Wednesdays and Thursdays, just the two deputies go out to check in on everyone.

"Put yourself in somebody else's shoes," said Levi Smith, Deputy Sheriff, Washoe County HOPE Team. "Like they could be going through their worst moment in life and that helping hand such as us reaching out for resources to them might be that deciding factor that changes their life forever."

Deputy Silva has been with the HOPE team for about two and a half years. For Deputy Smith it's only been about two weeks and he says it's bigger and more fulfilling than his last job.

"I think this is the perfect spot for me," Deputy Smith said. "I finally get to reach out and I get to build rapport and I get to put people in housing and get them resources like an ID card just so they can move forward in their lives."

Deputy Smith says that Deputy Silva's longer tenure has helped him a lot in those weeks.

In March, the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners passed a proposed camping ordinance from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office.

The ordinance would ban camping on county owned property within 1,000 feet of the Truckee River.

However, Deputy Silva says that it won't change their approach for the future.

He says it will be used as a last resort to mainly target those who are service resistant.

"That positive pressure of, okay, 'I have this citation. I need to follow up with the community court judge and he's going to sentence me to get an ID,' which is a huge barrier for our clients," Deputy Silva said.

The deputies say that it takes about 15 to 20 contacts with a person before they accept resources.

When somebody does accept them, they say about half the time they don't show up.

Transportation can be a huge hurdle for them as most of them only have bikes.

However, last week they brought a bus to take some of them to their appointments and many didn't take them up on the opportunity.

A big issue they often see with people is that most of them don't have IDs.

"Without an identification you can't get a job, Medicaid, your snap benefits, housing," Deputy Silva said.

While the rinse and repeat process they say can be mundane and repetitive, they keep on trying.

"The anticipation that hopefully one day they're going to take me up on it," Deputy Silva said. "It's kind of like gambling, you know? I might lose most of my hands but I'm going to win one." Â