The City of Reno and Volunteers of America have teamed up to help the homeless in Northern Nevada. You may recall that last winter the temporary overflow shelter for the homeless was vandalized and subsequently shut down. In an effort to get more of the homeless off the streets and under shelter the City of Reno has helped find another temporary overflow shelter. It's not the answer but it is a step in the right direction.
"Overflow shelters are more important than just more beds," says Sandy Isham with Volunteers of America. "They are a chance for us to get to some of the chronically homeless who are sometimes program-resistant. If we can encourage them to enter one of the regular shelters we can get them into the programs where counselors can work on everything from drug problems to life skills and get them on their feet again. We really can turn this around."
And she's adamant that ignoring the homeless is expensive.
"If we do nothing it costs us in police and in emergency services. But if we make changes and get people back on their feet we save time, money and effort in the long run."
The new temporary overflow shelter will help this summer. They hope to announce a permanent overflow for the community this fall.Â
