Hope, Nevada

Meet Sydney Roberts & Jenny Angius with Urban Roots, a Reno-based nonprofit striving to change the way our community eats and learns through garden-based education. Their many programs - including farm camps, monthly workshops, preschool programs, and even a Dead Plant Society - enrich lives and create friendships for all ages. Whether you don’t know where to start with gardening in the high desert or are a seasoned green thumb, Urban Roots provides many ways to get outside and grow.

Meet Mallory Morgan, Youth Outreach Coordinator with Destiny Church. Destiny has a heart for young people and for outreach, and they dream of using their building - Destiny Center - as a Youth Center. Mallory walks us through “the beginning of the beginning” of the Traner Project, as she recruits a team to build relationships with students at Traner Middle School.

This week we get to learn from Maricela Gutierrez, Executive Director of the JustIN Hope Foundation. This foundation builds a community of inclusion, empowerment, and support for families and individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of all ages. She has an impactful and personal history with the foundation and is driven by the potential to meet real needs through sustainable and collaborative partnerships. Their program Hope Works is responding to the youth unemployment rate crisis for individuals with disabilities, benefiting employers and participants alike. As Maricela says, this is more than employment. It is empowerment! Maricela’s passion is evident, and our city is better because she and JustIN Hope are a part of it.

Meet Marie Baxter, C.E.O. of Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada. They are a major operation of impact, responding to unmet human needs. With food, clothing, shelter, and a helping hand, they bring hope to people in order to build spirit and self-reliance within them and within our community. Recently, they launched an initiative to interrupt general poverty, and the ways that volunteers can get involved goes on and on. If you have wanted to serve our community and haven’t known where to start, this episode is for you.

RISE - Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality

"You don't need permission to get involved." Meet Benjamin Castro, the Executive Director and founder of RISE, the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality. What started as a community potluck has turned into an organization cultivating a greater sense of dignity for our unsheltered neighbors by providing equal access to shelter, knowledge, and opportunity. RISE seeks to create a stronger community through the use of shared resources and mutual aid. This led to the low-barrier and unique shelter - OUR Place, the largest emergency housing provider for women and families in our community. Ben stepped into the opportunity and invited us to do the same.

Meet Paula Jones and Jan Wise, representing the Assistance League of Reno-Sparks. Assistance Leagues across America engage and empower volunteers to strengthen their communities. They do this through conducting community needs assessments and developing programs to meet the needs they uncover. If you have wanted to volunteer in our community and didn’t know where to start, here is your start! Whether helping children receive new school clothes, working with veterans, or delivering food to homebound seniors, there is no shortage of ways to assist our community - and build friendships along the way.

Meet Halie Meiners, Executive Director of Scarlet Hope, an organization committed to sharing the hope and love of Jesus with exploited and trafficked women in Reno. Every Thursday night, Scarlet Hope volunteers bring trays of food, meet needs, and build relationships with women in the adult entertainment industry. The scope of the number of women being exploited and turning to the sex industry to survive may shock and disrupt you. Halie and the Scarlet Hope team is paving the way for us to follow Jesus into the shock and disruption with humility, hope, and active love.

Let’s talk addiction, empathy, prosocial activities, relational resources, and being parental with licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Jolene Dalluhn! Jolene is the co-founder and Executive Director of Quest Counseling. Quest brings hope, recovery, and healing to our community by providing comprehensive, caring, and quality behavioral health treatment to each person and family seeking services.

This week we had a conversation with Samantha Perez, volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army exists to meet human needs wherever, whenever, and however they can. Every program is rooted in the passion to serve God by serving the lost, vulnerable, needy, poor, hurting, helpless, and hopeless. 

Meet Scott Nessel, director of the Reno Adolescent Boy’s Center through Teen Challenge - a unique and successful long-term, residential recovery program. Scott describes Teen Challenge as more of a discipleship program than rehab, approaching recovery through mentoring, education, training, and spiritual direction. What started as one pastor’s desire to see young men have the opportunity for restoration rather than incarceration has turned into nearly 1500 residential recovery centers around the world. The NorWestCal-Nevada region has ten Teen Challenge centers that welcome men, women, teens, children, and families facing addiction, substance abuse, and trauma. They put hope within reach.

Meet Susan Nissenbaum with Washoe CASA Foundation - and a CASA herself since 1995. CASAs are Court Appointed Special Advocates speaking up for abused and neglected children. Assigned to a child for the duration of their court case, the CASA may be the only consistent adult in the child’s life in an unfamiliar world of social workers, lawyers, judges, and courtrooms. The foundation is on mission to support the CASA Program through fundraising, advocacy, outreach, and community awareness. 

Sophie Moeller is back! This time, she tells us about Reps 4 Recovery, which strengthens the sober community one rep at a time. They strive to strengthen the sober community and health of recovering persons through fitness coaching, community, and mentorship.

Meet Sophie Moeller - program director with the Northern Nevada Ronald McDonald House Charities. She sums up her job beautifully as, “I get to help families.” Located in Reno, the Ronald McDonald house lodges families living more than 30 miles away with a child receiving treatment at an area hospital. Doing so eases the emotional and financial strain families experience when children face health complications. In addition to the house, they offer additional programs bridging service gaps for families including the Ronald McDonald house, the Family Room at Renown, the Care Mobile, and the Travel-for-Treatment program.

Meet Emilio Parga, the founder and Executive Director of The Solace Tree, as well as Solace Tree participants and advocates - sisters Hailey, Lily, and Chloe. The Solace Tree provides grief and loss support for children, teens, and families. They have much to teach us - and you will love learning from their wisdom and experience! Through their peer support programs and education opportunities, children and teens learn to cope and adjust to the many changes in their lives associated with grief - because as Emilio teaches us - “if children are old enough to love, they are old enough to grieve.” Whether you are grieving or love someone who is, this one has value for us all.

Meet Michelle Rector, Executive Director of Seniors in Service. Their mission is to engage vibrant and experienced volunteers to enrich Northern Nevada communities one life at a time through their Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, and Respite Voucher Program. They insist on having fun along the way!

Meet Miriam Esparza, marketing and communications coordinator for the Domestic Violence Resource Center. They provide free services for people experiencing family violence, with a mission to advocate for victims and rebuild safe and hopeful lives.

Meet Kayla Valy with the Reno Bike Project. This community bike shop is built around the belief that the bicycle is the world’s greatest, most utilized mode of transportation - and they want every individual to be able to afford, maintain, and enjoy one. They are committed to getting “more butts in more seats more often,” with several programs toward that end. In this episode, Jason encourages us not just to listen to a good story but join a great story. Reno Bike Project could be your story!

Grocery Outlet: Independence from Hunger

Meet Dean and Sara Biggs, owners and operators of two local Grocery Outlets. Grocery Outlet’s core mission is, “Touching lives for the better.” You will hear about how the Biggs participate in this mission, meeting needs in our local community through initiatives like Independence from Hunger during July - and throughout the whole year through school partnerships and other community involvement. They have adopted a “Just ask us” mentality when it comes to resourcing our community and meeting needs.

Meet Laura Palma-Lopez, initiator of the Awaken Your Dream project through Awaken - a local non-profit helping victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Awaken Your Dream exists to raise funds for a down payment to make a survivor’s dream come true by owning their own home. Laura saw a need and is utilizing personal resources and community collaboration to meet that need. Check out her inspiring story that started with the simple thought, “I could help with that.”

Meet Gabrielle Totton, Executive Director of TIP. They specially train volunteer citizens to provide emotional first aid to survivors of tragedy in order to ease their immediate suffering and facilitate their healing and long-term recovery. This program teaches the “uncommon sense” of how to benefit those experiencing trauma.  

Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada

Meet Dr. Mindy Loksin, former family physician and founding chair of the Parkinson Support Center of Northern Nevada - and Ms. Anne Pott, gerontologist, and board member. PSCNN provides support for those affected by Parkinson’s; opportunities for our Parkinson’s community to engage and connect; and information to the public to raise awareness of the disease. They exist so no one has to face Parkinson’s alone.

Give Hope Foundation

This week we had a conversation with Elisabeth Hadler, marketing director for the Give Hope Foundation. Give Hope is a volunteer run organization providing assistance, hope, relief, and financial support for Northern Nevada families with children battling catastrophic illnesses.

R.A.V.E. Family Foundation

This week we had a conversation with Korine Viehweg, executive director for RAVE family foundation. RAVE improves the well-being of Nevada families by providing respite to those caring for children with special needs. They accomplish their mission by training youth volunteers to care for these exceptional children.

This week we had a conversation with Myree Townsend, Executive Director of the Bed Bug Relief Foundation. The Bed Bug Relief Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to providing information, advice, local resources, and bed bug treatments to those individuals who cannot afford them on their own. Their goal is to remove the stigma and shame from bed bug infestations and see a drastic reduction in the bed bug population in Northern Nevada.

This week we had a conversation with Lisa Moore, founder and CEO of Life Changes, Inc - a Level II Sober Living Home providing safety, shelter, and support to adults affected by substance abuse, mental illness, incarceration, homelessness, human trafficking, and domestic violence. They are dedicated to empowering each client to achieve their life vision.

This week we had a conversation with Patti Weiski, founder and CEO of Dress for Success Reno in Northern Nevada. Dress for Success empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and development tools to help them thrive in work and life.

This week we had a conversation with Kerri Countess, founder, and CEO of Forever 14. Forever 14 advances conversation and human connection to prevent teen suicide. In honor of Kerri’s precious son Caleb who died by suicide, she is a passionate advocate for teenagers in our community and breaking the stigma around this topic.

 This week we had a conversation with Monica DuPea, Executive Director of Nevada Youth Empowerment Project (NYEP). NYEP gives homeless young women in the Reno area a chance to reroute their lives through a structured program that provides housing and basic needs, life skills training, and opportunities to practice new life skills, and the support and love of a family.

This week we had a conversation with Nikki Hertzler, a local foster mom and author. Nikki is passionate about encouraging others to search for God’s strength and wisdom and in finding His purpose for their lives.

This week on Hope, NV we got to have a conversation with Jason Sheffield with the Nevada House of Prayer

In partnership with the local church and other organizations, they hope to equip our city with a culture of prayer, worship, and unity - and to be an incubator of true community and Kingdom lifestyle.

This week on Hope, NV we got to have a conversation with Jenny Yeager Chief Programs and Strategy Officer of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada's mission is feeding the hungry today and solving hunger for tomorrow through community partnership. They are the primary regional food distribution and support system in our area - serving approximately 130,000 people.

This week on Hope, NV we got to have a conversation with Lacie Carl, President of the Northern Nevada Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors. NNCOPS has been serving the Northern part of Nevada since 2016, their primary goal is to rebuild the shattered lives of law enforcement survivors. If there's a line of duty death, they are there to serve the families, agencies, and coworkers to rally around them and help them through that grieving process.

This week on Hope, NV we got to have a conversation with Jake Wiskerchen, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zephyr Wellness.

Zephyr Wellness’ mission is to provide citizens in our community, state, and country with the best possible care for mind, body, and spirit through accessible, holistic, and compassionate approaches that honor personal freedom.

This week on Hope Nevada we got to have a conversation with Annie Goni-Stewart, the Executive Direction of For Kids Foundation.

The mission of For Kids Foundation is to fill in the gaps, created by other programs, to fund urgent unmet needs of northern Nevada children where there is no other known resource available, so that children may thrive.

 This week on Hope Nevada we got to have a conversation with Trevor Macaluso, the Chief Executive Officer of Eddy House.

Eddy House is a local non-profit that focuses on homeless and at-risk youth, 18-24. The focus on this young population is intentional, studies show that if a person is stably housed before the age of 25, they are 80% less likely to remain chronically unhoused over the span of their lifetime. The goal is to focus on the next generation so that these kids are prepared for what sustainable independence and adult life looks like. 

Willow Street 24/7 day services available

This week on Hope Nv, we got to have a conversation with Courtney Vogt, the Development Manager of Spread The Word Nevada.

The goal of Spread The Word Nevada is to promote literacy and to make it possible for all of Nevada’s children to experience the magic of books.

This week on Hope Nv, we got to have a conversation with Sharon Hickox, the Clinical Services Manager at NoteAble Music Therapy Services.

NoteAble Music Therapy Services addresses physical, social, and mental health needs in our community, by offering a range of adaptive mental health services.

This week on Hope, Nevada we got to have a conversation with Mari Hutchinson, the Chief Executive Officer at Step2.

Step2 is a private local nonprofit that was founded in 1986. At its core, Step2 was founded on the concept that women shouldn't have to choose between being a mom, and receiving substance use disorder treatment. 

This week on Hope, Nevada we got to have a conversation with Luis Santoni, the of Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission.

The Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization dedicated to helping the homeless, hungry, addicted, and abused in the Northern Nevada area.

This week on Hope, Nevada we got to have a conversation with Jessica Cisneros, the Program Director of Awaken.

Awaken is a faith-based nonprofit organization, whose mission is to increase awareness and education surrounding commercial sexual exploitation and to provide housing and restoration for its victims. 

This week on Hope, Nevada we got to have a conversation with Dave McLaughlin, the new Executive Director of Good Shepherd’s Clothes Closet.

GSCC is here for people and the community, not just clothing - Their mission is to address the needs of the entirety of the person wearing the clothes by connecting them to other community orgs in the area - on top of providing a (free) dignified shopping experience.

Shopping Hours -

• Mondays 3 pm - 7 pm
• Wednesdays 9 am - 1 pm
• Fridays 9am - 1pm

Donations by Appointment -

• Tuesdays 10 am - 3 pm
• Thursdays 10 am - 3 pm

This week on Hope, Nevada we got to have a conversation with Katie Pace, of Rebuilding Together Northern Nevada