Housing and Homeless Services

Parking is available for functioning, licensed, and registered automobiles that participants are using for transportation regularly.  

Below are the service eligibility requirements as outlined in the Washoe County Nevada Cares Campus
Policies:

1. Nevada Cares Campus participants must be currently experiencing homelessness and want to end their homelessness as quickly as they can do so.
2. Nevada Cares Campus participants must be willing to treat all other Nevada Cares Campus participants with respect and not engage in any theft, destruction of property or violence towards staff or other Nevada Cares Campus participants.
3. Nevada Cares Campus participants must be at least 18 years of age. Unaccompanied minors seeking shelter will be referred to the appropriate resource.
4. Nevada Cares Campus participants must be ambulatory enough to get in and out of their bed on their own and independently take care of activities of daily living, such as feeding themselves, hygiene and bathroom needs.
5. Nevada Cares Campus participants do not need to be citizens of the United States, nor do they have to have any documented immigration status, to be eligible for Nevada Cares Campus services.
6. One of the goals of the Nevada Cares Campus is to minimize the barriers that prevent people from accessing services. This means the Nevada Cares Campus will serve people who are actively using drugs and/or alcohol; who have no income; and who may not be medication or treatment compliant. However, no drugs or alcohol are allowed on campus and no selling or giving away drugs or alcohol is allowed.
7. Previous Nevada Cares Campus participants that have been released from the program or excluded from the premises due to violence towards staff or other Nevada Cares Campus participants, or due to selling or giving away drugs at the Nevada Cares Campus, will not be permitted to be at the Nevada Cares Campus per the sit out timeframes.
8. Until a day center is open, day services are available for anyone seeking showers, laundry or a meal between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm.

Criteria for emergency bed:

• Provide name
• Date of birth
• Share the resources one is seeking

The Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter provides breakfast, lunch and dinner for individuals.

• Pastries and juice are provided as participants begin to wake for the day around 5:30 am.
• Lunch is at 11:30 am and dinner is at 4:30 pm. 

The line for meals typically starts 30 minutes beforehand and security will check any bags a person is carrying for any drugs, alcohol, or weapons.

As a low barrier shelter, requirements to obtain a shelter bed do not include compliance with medication, case management or other services.

When able, case managers make referrals to programs that include mental health services such as ReStart.

An intake at the Nevada Cares Campus is conducted by a Volunteers of America (VOA) case manager when case management staff are on shift (Monday - Saturday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.). For participants seeking shelter outside of those hours, basic intake information is collected and full intake is completed by the next available case manager.  The current intake process includes:

• Diversion: Which includes assessing if a participant has other housing resources or options available to them such as reuniting with family or friends
• A crisis needs assessment: Which includes basic personal information, to determine the appropriateness of the shelter
• An individualized housing and service plan is created
• A bed, locker, and small storage container is then assigned, and a general overview of the campus layout is provided. Information on how to access a case manager is provided as well

The Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter is located at:

1800 Threlkel St., Reno, NV, 89512

Open 24 hrs.

Contact Phone Number: 775-329-4141 

Participant feedback is incorporated in the operational model by a Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter Participant Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is comprised of current participants only who show interest or were nominated by their case workers. The team attempts to touch multiple demographics with board membership such as 1 single female, 1 single male, 1 couple, a participant with an animal and a participant from every section.

The purpose of this Advisory board is to give participants a voice on issues involving the emergency shelter and review the entries submitted to the suggestion boxes that are located in every dorm.  This board meets on a weekly basis and advises the Contracted Operator and Washoe County staff on how they can improve services.

Policies and procedures have been developed for participants, to maintain a safe environment where all participants are treated with dignity and respect. The Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter follows a low barrier, harm reduction model to be as inclusive as possible.

To view the Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter polices, please click here.

With the transfer of the operation of the shelter, Washoe County is assessing the current metrics being reported. The team plans to build on the foundation already established by Volunteers of America (VOA), the contracted operator, and report additional metrics on the County website in the future.

Best practice is 1 case manager to 20-30 individuals.  Case management ratios for this population are not recommended to be higher than 1:30 for lower acuity individuals and no more than 1:10 for higher acuity individuals requiring more intensive case management.

Currently, there are 9 case managers employed by Volunteers of America (VOA), the contracted operator, ratio: 1:67. Please note, there is a distinction between case managers and floor staffing. Floor staffing ratios are 1:25. Staffing at the Nevada Cares Campus is Washoe County’s number one priority during this transition.

The shelter's goal is to exit people to permanent housing within 90 days. 

We will be establishing a baseline measurement which future improvement can be measured against. These metrics will be consistently analyzed and shared with the community on the Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services County webpage.

A model is being developed to bring services on site and Washoe County is working on partnerships with existing programs. Programs and services offered will be housing or employment focused.

If interested in donating, volunteering or fundraising opportunities, please visit our Community Engagement page, here. 

Throughout December 2021 and January 2022, the Board of County Commissioners approved the following staff:

• 14 additional Front Line Staff (VOA staff)
• Diversion/ Intake Team (Current team of 10 VOA staff)
• 21 Case Managers (1:30 ratio, Washoe County staff)
• 6 Mental Health Counselors (Washoe County staff)
• 2 Additional Administrative staff: (Washoe County staff)
  • Community Partnerships and Volunteers, Staff/ Training Development
  • Medical Billing Specialist (Implement Medicaid Reimbursement)
• 24-hour RN/EMS Support (Contracted)

A couple of these positions are under recruitment and/or will be posted in the near future. To view job openings, please click here.

Construction is anticipated to start early 2022. We are working on developing a page to be a resource to the community which will include the phases of construction to follow progress.

The Nevada Cares Campus emergency shelter is a Washoe County program serviced by a contract operator, Volunteers of America (VOA). The contracted operator is responsible for the day-to-day operations and responsible for hiring staff.