June 17, 2019 2 min read
RENO, Nev. – The Community Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Nevada grants Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada $8,000 to provide a warming center for the area’s homeless during the freezing winter mornings.
The grant from the Community Fund will support a potentially life-saving service for Reno’s rapidly increasing homeless population, who are at great risk of hypothermia and other complications from the cold, during the winter months. Homeless clients say that the hours of 5-8 am are the most dangerous time to be on the streets, especially in winter. Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada (CCNN) will offer the “St. Vincent’s Warming Room,” a safe place to shelter from the cold and get a hot cup of coffee and hot cereal, to hundreds of homeless men, women and children, during those very hours, on the coldest mornings of the year.
Catholic Charities’ CEO Marie Baxter says, “This past March, we averaged 275 people a day with over 400 people on our busiest day. We were surprised by the demand and need for a place for our homeless to go to get warm in the early morning.”
St. Vincent’s Dining Room will open its doors at 6 am. This grant, along with additional community support, will allow the warming center to be open from November 2019 through March 2020. Based on this year’s experience, an anticipated several hundred homeless men, women and children will come to get warm after a night in the cold. After breakfast, people may stay inside until it is necessary for us to prepare the dining room for the Monday-Saturday free lunch service.
The Community Fund grant will pay for breakfast foods, hot drinks, utilities, and staff needed to support this program. We will also rely heavily upon volunteers. As with our daily lunch program, we have a modest staff and depend on volunteers to provide the additional resources needed.
The Community Foundation of Western Nevada strengthens our region through philanthropy and leadership by connecting people who care with causes that matter.
For more information, please contact Steve Schroeder at (775) 846-9581 or visit https://ccsnn.org/.
About Catholic Charities & The St. Vincent’s Programs: Established in 1941, Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada (CCNN) is a Nevada-based, 501(c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit corporation operating human service programs including: St. Vincent’s Dining Room, St. Vincent’s Food Pantry, St. Vincent's Resource Hub, Crossroads, St. Vincent’s Thrift Shop & Super Thrift, and the Immigration Assistance Program. CCNN is committed to providing help and creating hope in our community. From infants to seniors, CCNN assists approximately 40,000 people per month in northern Nevada.
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