Public Health in Housing is this month - it's a day to look at the connection between housing and health. In Downtown Reno, there's a housing community that's dedicated to getting people off the streets and into healthier habits. It's called Hope Springs, the first bridge housing project in Northern Nevada featuring single-occupancy tiny homes.
Nine months ago, Hope Springs resident Stanley Allen didn't have much hope at all.
"I was homeless, addicted to drugs, just didn't have a good life," he said. "I was a burden on society."
Then one day, he was found.
"A dog found me when I was homeless and ignited a spark for me to get clean and take care of this dog like I should," Allen said. "I heard about this place, proceeded to get in, and the rest is history."
Hope Springs provides all kinds of wraparound services and a support network to the people getting back on their feet there.
"We have a full behavioral health team that assists with the behavioral health needs of our residents," said Julia Cross, Director of Hope Springs. "We have a medication-assisted treatment program that assists with people who are trying to exit substance use and abuse. We have the medical team that helps stabilize short-term and long-term medical conditions. We have full wraparound services, intense case management services to help them secure housing, employment, and other social benefits they might be eligible for."
The housing and support services are free, but everyone in the community is expected to pitch in.
"The only thing we ask is you participate in our group sessions, do your chores, and participate in the programming we have here," Cross said. "We do encourage everyone here to gain employment or other sources of income while they're in the program but yes, it is free while they stay here. If you have no other place to stay, you're homeless and you need assistance stabilizing your life, then this would be the place for you."
The place has been filled since it opened in 2021 and there are a lot of success stories so far.
"It very quickly becomes a community," Cross said. "Partially because of the setting. Everyone has their tiny homes, but we have a main community building. Everyone cooks together, cleans together, grows together. Everyone's challenges are different, so residents are often able to help each other. Someone may be strong in one area but weak in another; we have a variety of resources within the community that we have created here."
And the goal is to use those resources to prepare the residents for their next steps. Right now, Allen and his dog Lucy are off to their new home, a two-bedroom house.
"I'm a little overwhelmed," he said. "This is the first place I've every had by myself. But you know with the support I have here and just the experience I've gained while being here, I think I'm going to be fine. I'll be bittersweet, but I'm ready. I do have a future today. When I came here I was hopeless and now I have a lot of hope."
Hope Springs has walk-in hours at its East Fourth Street campus on Thursday and Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
More information: https://www.nnhopes.org/hopesprings/
