Active Projects in Our Community
Truckee River Fund Grant 
In the Fall of 2020, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) accepted a grant from the Truckee River Fund to improve the Truckee River water quality, by reducing the amount of pollution in the river. As a result of encampments along and near the Truckee River, the goal is to drastically reduce the number of people camping along the river and provide this vulnerable population with resources. This project has become a partnership between the Washoe County Built for Zero team, Truckee River Fund, Karma Box Project and Washoe County. This partnership consists of four components:
- Establishing an outreach team to build relationships and collect basic information on unsheltered individuals living within 0.75 miles of the Truckee River
- Establishing and maintaining a By-Name List (BNL) of unsheltered individuals living within 0.75 miles of the Truckee River
- Empowering unsheltered individuals to participate in clean-ups along the River to reduce waste, becoming River Stewards
- Installing sharps containers and weekly pick up and disposal of the contents.
The River Stewards
The River Stewards Program empowers unsheltered individuals to participate in clean-ups along the river to reduce waste. The main areas of focus from this collaborative effort between Karma Box Project and the Washoe County Built for Zero initiative have been:
- Creating relationships with unsheltered individuals
- Empowering them to participate in river-clean ups
- Engaging them with the goal of moving into housing
This Built for Zero framework acknowledges this is a different approach when working with unsheltered individuals. The goals of this approach are understanding who people are, building trust and meeting them where they are, while at the same time creating a platform for purpose. Not only have unsheltered individuals participated but members from the community have also volunteered and with great effort this program has built community through a common goal while appreciating and respecting differences.
Community Engagement
We would like to thank our community! Thank you to all the organizations and volunteers that have been helping with the clean ups and to our local businesses who have been providing meals and jackets. The trash clean ups take place five days a week.
If you are interested in engagement or donations, such as trash bags, please contact Grant Denton, Karma Box Project, at grant.denton@karmaboxproject.org
Additional Information
If you are interested in additional information in the Truckee River Fund Grant or the River Stewards Program, please contact Dana Searcy, Housing and Homeless Services Manager, Office of the County Manager at (775) 328-2720 or dsearcy@washoecounty.gov