Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Outreach Initiative topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Washoe County HOPE Team unveils 'Clean Path' for rural encampments; Reno Clean & Safe reports FY25 workloads
Summary
The Washoe County HOPE Team described a Clean Path initiative to provide weekly support, supplies and intensive case management for rural encampments and set housing goals for 2026; the City of Reno’s Clean & Safe team reported roughly $7.6M in FY25 spending, 148 cleanups and 3,022 cubic yards of collected waste.
Washoe County’s HOPE outreach team and the City of Reno’s Clean & Safe staff briefed the Community Homeless Advisory Board on operations, outcomes and new initiatives.
Washoe County HOPE Team leadership reported 2025 results including 2,930 contacts, a 93% services‑accepted rate, 194 individuals housed into permanent supportive housing, and 34 cleanups removing 116.5 cubic yards of debris. The sergeant presenting the HOPE Team described the Clean Path Initiative as a rural outreach model that provides weekly food, water, trash service and intensive case management in exchange for keeping sites clean and actively pursuing housing. Deputy Lesby said the program will serve initial cohorts of 8–10 participants per route and is intended to be scalable; the team aims to house 100–120 people annually under the new model.
The HOPE Team also announced a new public reporting app (washesheriff.com) to route encampment and service requests directly to the team and described partnerships with Northern Nevada HOPES, Union Pacific, Reno Housing Authority and faith‑based organizations to provide move‑in assistance and "Welcome Home" packages.
Separately, Cynthia Esparza, director of community engagement for the City of Reno, presented Clean & Safe FY25 outcomes and operational numbers. She reported approximately $7.6 million in FY25 costs largely supported by the city’s general fund, 148 cleanups, 764 cleanup notices issued and 3,022 cubic yards of waste collected. The city highlighted “City Walks” (169 walks in FY25; nearly 700 community contacts) as a proactive outreach strategy and noted that property held from cleanups is stored and retrievable (90‑day hold in accordance with case law).
Board members asked for more detail about minor and juvenile contacts, preservation of documents found during cleanups and the collaboration between county and city outreach teams. Several members urged state legislative action to secure funding for permanent supportive housing and to expand HOPE team capacity.
