Contrasts in Care and Compassion
A recap of our recent original reporting plus bonus content.
While we’ve been kicked out of the Cares Campus while trying to report about conditions inside (see center of photo above), we were warmly welcomed last night at the first night of the Good Neighbors Warming Center initiative at the St. Thomas Cathedral (in surrounding photos).
While we were in a big group of television videographers, newspaper reporters and photographers on the only guided tour we’ve ever been given of the Cares Campus, very much scripted and regimented, as to what we were allowed to do, we were the only media present as St. Thomas opened its doors last night, permitted to go as we pleased.
We’ve never been able to document a regular day at the Cares Campus, and here we were last night as an elderly woman in need, Natasha walked in, smiling and chatting, feeling valued and cared for, away from freezing streets or a sterile environment.
It’s a stark contrast, reflective of many differences at hand in how we treat and help our neighbors without stable shelter.
RISE is part of this new initiative, and it’s no surprise. It runs the Our Place shelter for women and families which with its bucolic setting and smaller buildings seems much more ideal for turnaround than the massive, militaristic feeling Cares Campus.
The short press release for Good Neighbors indicated the warming centers will be “staffed by R.I.S.E staff trauma-informed advocates,” wording indicative of their thought through intentions.
Whenever an organization becomes too big, too outsourcy, too corporate minded, too broad ranged, too politically connected, it seems to lose that personal touch which can make such a difference in a person’s life. When life or death is at stake, rather than being treated like a “client” people want to be treated like humans.
They might listen then to advice and help in getting on a better, healthier track, however difficult the odds they face, and trauma layered into their lives.
We’ve long advocated for more of these types of spaces, which we believe should be getting grants to operate, while keeping their neighborly vibe.
We’ve advocated for overnight parking spaces with added tent areas where people would pay five dollars a night or so, and well paid staff and social workers would be on hand to assist. We’ve advocated that motels, rather than being demolished, be taken over by organizations who can house for cheaper with wraparound supportive services, than what it costs at the Cares Campus or a night in jail or at the hospital.
Rather than more police and surveillance, and bigger and bigger budgets in those spaces, we’ve long advocated for more funding for on the ground human to human oriented social workers who aren’t wearing uniforms.
It seems like a losing battle but at least now there is an initiative like the Good Neighbors Warming Center which fills our hearts with hope for saved lives and a more caring tomorrow.
Our Recent Reporting
Bridget, Volunteering on the First Night of a Good Neighbors Warming Center in Downtown Reno
HeaterBloc Reno Gives Out Tent-Safe Heaters To Help the Unhoused
How does the Nevada Cares Campus treat and help those sleeping there?
Nevada's Dinosaurs Get Their Due with Paleontologist Joshua Bonde
Current finishing my MSW and I fully agree. We need more social workers to assist with the unhoused population. Sadly we need to value that work enough to ensure the compensation is such that they can thrive. We prioritize policing over social work. That has to change so we can deal with the root causes of crime, housing instability, and other issues.