The Nevada Cares Campus opened last year. The 46,000 square-foot Sprung structure now has 604 people staying there.

"We are seeing a building that we never thought would get to capacity that was at capacity within about two months of opening and we have not seen that number drop since," Dana Searcy, Manager of Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services said.

Phase II of the campus is underway. The project includes new restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for the homeless population. 

"We're building a facility that needs to be flexible based on the need of the community and the growing numbers or changing numbers in populations," Searcy said.

The Sprung will switch from three large dorm areas to six smaller ones. It will include 153 5x8 cubbies to give people their own space and more privacy.'

"We know that by reducing the number of people working together, both with staff and the people staying here, we can create more trust and a little more community, a little more calmness," Searcy said.

That facility includes a growing number of women. The campus started out as place for men but evolved over the past year. Searcy says historically, women are 25 percent of the homeless population, nationwide. That number is now more than 30 percent. The expansion allows for flexibility.

"If we have a lot of women during one time, we could open up more sections of the restroom for them and if we're seeing a decrease, we can convert those back to men's facilities, pretty easily," Searcy said.

Michelle is a homeless woman who lives in the Safe Camp of the campus. That started out as a place for tents where the Governor's Bowl baseball field used to sit. That is being converted to allow for Mod Pods, which are small, hard structures. They have locks, so people can protect their belongings.

"I actually have a Mod Pod that has air conditioning and heat and less restraints than what they have at the Safe Campus," Michelle said.

Michelle does not stay at the Sprung. She says it is good that they are improving the amenities but she is more concerned about the type of behavior that she has seen there, like violence.

"I'm not sure how many improvements they're going to have to make to that place to get anybody that's like me to want to go there," Michelle said.

Phase II is expected to wrap up in March. Phase III will include a two-story Welcome Center. The first floor will have intake, a training area, case management and a dining hall. The second floor will have an administrative area, staff offices, breakroom and locker space.

Phase IV will have supportive housing, resource center and overflow capacity. The overall project is expected to be completed in about 2.5 years.

"We knew that the initial Phase I was about serving a population during a pandemic," Searcy said. "We needed the ability to social distance and provide enough capacity for everybody in need."

The plan was always to expand the shelter into a campus. 

"About 15 acres was purchased during that initial purchase period with the vision of always expanding this into a place that really offered different housing options and services," Searcy said.

Washoe County also opened Our Place for women and families. That is also at capacity.