In Reno, homelessness is a constant and visible part of downtown life. For residents, business owners, and city leaders, it’s a crisis that touches on both compassion and safety while also directly impacting the city’s vitality.
The most recent Point-in-Time (PIT) count, conducted in early 2025, shows a complicated picture. The opening of the Nevada Cares Campus in 2021 initially brought real progress, driving down the number of people living unsheltered thanks to the addition of hundreds of new emergency shelter beds. But in the years since, momentum has slowed. More people are falling into homelessness than are finding their way into stable housing.
As Catrina Peters, human services coordinator for Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services, explains, “We have made incredible progress in our community and see our emergency shelters doing amazing work getting people transitioned into stable housing. But dramatically rising rents, stagnating wages, and very limited affordable housing options make further progress very challenging.”
This challenge between the success of new programs and the growing pressure of the housing market defines the crisis today. And it’s also why the city, the county, nonprofits, businesses, and community partners are working together to balance immediate safety with long-term stability.
A Regional Picture
At the county level, the numbers tell a sobering story. While shelters like the Cares Campus and Our Place have created safe, centralized hubs for people to access beds, meals, and support, the demand is relentless. Inflows remain high, further fueled by soaring rents and limited housing inventory.
The county emphasizes the importance of both emergency response and future-focused planning. “People who are unsheltered need an immediate resource to get out of the elements and to get connected to resources,” Peters says. “On the flip side, in order to get people stably housed, we need to invest in affordable housing for low and extremely low-income households. Constructing new units takes time, and getting those projects to pencil is extremely challenging under today’s costs.”
To bridge the gap, Washoe County has leaned into partnerships. At the Cares Campus and Our Place, more than 30 different organizations provide services ranging from meals and transportation to benefits navigation, haircuts, and clothing. This provides “a model of how collaboration makes progress possible,” says Peters.
New legislation passed in Nevada’s most recent legislative session offers additional funding for affordable housing, giving county leaders hope that longer-term solutions will finally take root. Their goal is ambitious but clear: “to see the number of people experiencing homelessness fall to zero — or at least ensure our homeless service delivery system can quickly solve someone’s crisis and get them stably housed.”
Balancing Safety and Support
Where the county oversees housing and shelter at scale, the City of Reno is tasked with managing daily realities through programs like Clean & Safe, Community Court, and Reno Works+, which aim to keep public spaces accessible, reduce repeat offenses, and help people transition back into stability.
The Clean & Safe initiative, launched in 2020, combines policing, housing, parks, and sanitation to improve downtown health and safety. Community Court, meanwhile, takes a more problem-solving approach to low-level offenses, diverting individuals from the criminal system and connecting them to treatment, housing, and employment programs instead.
The Reno Works+ program partners with Volunteers of America to give people experiencing homelessness job training and hands-on employment with city departments, paired with housing and supportive services. Serving as a reminder that homelessness is not just about beds, but about creating pathways to dignity and sustainability.
Through the ReStore program, the city is investing in downtown businesses as part of a broader strategy to keep the core safe, clean, and welcoming.
Boots On the Ground with Downtown Reno Partnership
If the county sets the strategy and the city manages programs, the Downtown Reno Partnership (DRP) is where those efforts hit the streets. Executive Director Neoma Jardon says the most common concerns from businesses and residents include loitering, intoxication, trespassing, graffiti, and the impact of vacant properties.
But she is quick to note the difference the DRP’s ambassadors and security teams are making. In the last fiscal year alone, ambassadors:
- Picked up more than 312,000 pounds of trash
- Provided 1,400+ rides to services like the Cares Campus, Safe Camp, and Our Place
- Completed 4,400+ pressure washes
- Removed 1,400+ instances of graffiti
Since 2018, they have conducted over 80,000 wellness checks, made 10,000+ service referrals, and collected more than 1 million pounds of trash.
These numbers are paired with a philosophy Jardon calls “compassionate, educational enforcement.” Ambassadors, many of whom have experienced homelessness themselves, are trained to de-escalate situations with dignity while still enforcing ordinances. The work they provide frees up police resources while creating visible improvements downtown.
“For us, success means continually improving conditions for everyone who lives, visits, or does business downtown,” Jardon says. “Ten years ago, downtown was defined by encampments, graffiti, and blight. Today it is noticeably cleaner, safer, and more vibrant, and each year it improves a little more.”
The Ambassador Experience
For Esther Tremaine, lead social service outreach ambassador with DRP, the work is intensely personal. A typical day for an ambassador like Tremaine might involve cleaning up trash, responding to business concerns, or transporting individuals to services. But it can also mean life-and-death moments.
Just weeks ago, she administered Narcan to reverse an overdose, which she shares is something she does once or twice a month. “On Virginia Street, I encounter a lot of intoxicated people,” she says. “On 4th Street, more individuals are using drugs. You have to be ready to respond.”
Her work is as much about patience as it is about crisis response. She tells the story of a man who wanted to reenter Safe Camp after leaving the Cares Campus. Although the entry required multiple steps and persistence, she helped him secure a spot after months of advocacy. “To my knowledge, this person is still at Safe Camp,” she says.
And the community has noticed the changes. Visitors comment that downtown is cleaner than they remember, and businesses regularly thank ambassadors for their efforts, Tremaine says of the feedback. “People say there are fewer homeless individuals and not a lot of trash. Businesses say the work we do is awesome.”
Cares Campus Centralized Stability
The opening of the Nevada Cares Campus in 2021 changed the dynamic downtown. With a centralized hub offering beds, meals, showers, pet services, and job resources, the campus reduced pressure on the city’s core and created clearer pathways to support.
Jardon explains, “The opening of the Nevada Cares Campus has made a substantial difference downtown. Having a centralized location where people can access a bed, meals, pet services, showers, employment information, and other resources has helped reduce pressures on the urban core and created a clearer pathway to support for those in need. The facility is especially valuable for those who want services and are making an effort to transition out of homelessness. By connecting those individuals with the help they need, it frees up resources to focus on the smaller, more visible, group of highly service-resistant individuals who require more intensive attention.”
County leaders point to the same impact. The addition of hundreds of shelter beds drove the steepest decline in unsheltered homelessness between 2021 and 2022. While challenges remain, such as the ongoing inflow of individuals entering homelessness, the facility provides a visible difference both for people in crisis and for the health of downtown.
Business Revitalization and Reality
While business owners along 4th Street and beyond continue to feel the burden of this crisis, especially when it comes to loitering and public intoxication, the City of Reno points to revitalization programs like ReStore as part of the solution.
Local favorites like The Reno Bar & Grill and the Morris Burner Hotel have received city support to improve their storefronts and stay rooted downtown. Combined with the work of DRP’s ambassadors and security team, these efforts are part of a larger push to keep the heart of Reno safe, clean, and welcoming, even as homelessness remains a visible challenge.
The Path Forward
The story of homelessness in Reno is one of continued progress and unwavering persistence. Washoe County leaders stress that collaboration between government, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropy is the only way forward. City leaders point to programs like Community Court and Reno Works+ as evidence that creativity can, in fact, reduce recidivism and restore dignity.
For DRP and its ambassadors, success is measured in the tangible improvements people see on their sidewalks every day. For the county, success is a future where inflow into homelessness no longer outpaces outflow into stable housing.
Both agree on one thing: steady, visible improvements matter. Reno is not where it was a decade ago. Downtown is cleaner, safer, and more vibrant. But the crisis is not over.
“Our goal,” Peters says, “is zero.”
And until then, the work continues. In courtrooms and council chambers. On 4th Street sidewalks. And at the Cares Campus gates.
"Having a centralized location where people can access a bed, meals, pet services, showers, employment information, and other resources has helped reduce pressures on the urban core and created a clearer pathway to support for those in need," - Neoma Jardon
"In order to get people stably housed, we need to invest in affordable housing for low and extremely low-income households," - Catrina Peters