Where can they go? Carson City’s homeless must fend for themselves during summer heat waves

This summer has been difficult for all of the region’s residents, with record-breaking heat waves, drought, and early-season wildfires causing strain to the environment and energy resources.

However, a certain demographic has been hit much harder than the average Nevadan, and those are the individuals experiencing homelessness.

During the winter in Carson City, the NOTS Program, or Night Off The Streets, provides overnight shelter to those without homes at the local churches and nonprofits, in order to lessen the risk of hypothermia or death by freezing outside temperatures.

The NOTS program has definitely made an impact; since the shelter opened six years ago, not a single person in Carson City has died from freezing to death on the streets, according to Deacon Craig Lagier of St. Teresa of Avila
Catholic Community, who is also the Sheriff’s Office chaplain.

However, during summer, there are no resources or programs aimed at helping those on the streets, who have no shelter to seek during 100+ temperatures or unhealthy air quality caused by wildfire smoke.

Additionally, some resources rolled out during the pandemic — such as temporary public restrooms and washing stations — have been shut down, causing further stress to those who have nowhere else to go.

Lagier helped to create NOTS and has been out on the streets daily handing out bottled water during the heatwaves this summer with other NOTS volunteers, but he says it’s not enough.

“There’s nowhere for them to go to get out of the heat except the city parks, and (the city) doesn’t want them hanging out there for too long either,” said Lagier.

Lagier and the NOTS crew, including licensed social-worker Molly McGregor, who helps to run the NOTS program, stepped in to help when the Frontier Motel was closed down, forcing out tenants from its 51 rooms with nowhere to go. Those who were made homeless by the motel’s shut down were housed at the Salvation Army building on Colorado Street, but that was only temporary; now, at least four people from the Frontier remain homeless today.

“And most likely, those people will now become chronically homeless,” said McGregor.

“We have got to have some place to keep these people,” said Lagier.

One major issue, according to Lagier, is that unlike other cities, Carson City doesn’t have transitional housing for those who want to work but need help becoming stabilized.

Lagier was reminded of one man in particular who lived in a tent in a field behind a sporting goods store, and every day would wake up and walk across town to FISH to take a shower and get ready for his job in a restaurant. When Lagier asked him why he didn’t get a motel room, the man said they were too expensive, and if he spent any of his money on a nightly room, he would never be able to save up enough money for a security deposit for an apartment.

Having a shelter in town would benefit law enforcement and social services as well as the population it would help house, according to Lagier.

For example, for an individual who is homeless who qualifies for assistance or help with mental health issues, it is extremely difficult for social services to find those individuals if they do not have a place to stay. Lagier and his fellow volunteers will help to track down certain individuals, such as a homeless veteran who had qualified for VA housing in Reno, but if there was a shelter in town, that time could be spent on other endeavors.

While there are smaller shelters, such as the FOCUS House, which offers 16 nightly beds for men, or the Wylie House, which offers 8 single women and/or families nightly shelter, there are limitations for individuals who have records or mental health issues.

According to Lagier, there are approximately 250 homeless individuals residing in Carson City, who are all competing for the 24 open beds at FOCUS and Wylie.

“The NOTS program is not sustainable,” said McGregor. “It is physically impossible, because we are volunteer based, and the average volunteer is between 65 and 75 years old. These are people who are retired or nearing retirement, and we do this to keep people from freezing to death, but we can’t sustain it.”

Lagier and McGregor would like to see the city stepping in to help. NOTS receives no funding from the city, and relies on its volunteers, the churches and the local non-profits to keep the program running. But this is only during the winter months; during the summer, there is no help for those on the streets when it comes to shelter.

During the 2019 season, NOTS provided 4,283 beds, with an average of about 28 guests per night, the highest count in one night being 42 individuals. That was a 28 percent increase from the previous season and it seems the number of individuals who need shelter will only continue to grow.

“My hope is that we can get a shelter set up and a city employee could manage it, or even staff it,” said Lagier.

Lagier and other NOTS volunteers toured Portland tiny home developments used specifically for those who are homeless which he says are successful, and are usually moveable and are placed on empty, vacant lots until the lots are sold, at which point the tiny home community packs up and moves to a new location. Lagier believes a similar program would work here, although they’d hope to have a permanent location and facility most of all.

Lagier, being a deacon, said he is committed to helping those in need because it is his Christian duty, and every Christian’s duty.

“It’s what God has asked us to do, to take care of our brothers and sisters,” said Lagier. “As a minister I can tell you, my closest feeling to seeing God on earth is to look into homeless eyes. The biggest thing you’ll see with a homeless person is a lack of hope; they’ve lost all hope. They feel like they are nobodies, that no one sees them, and no one talks to them.”

To become a NOTS volunteer, it is not required for anyone to be a member of any church, but rather to have a desire to help those in need.

The NOTS program runs in three to four-hour shifts for pairs of volunteers from 8:30 pm to 7:00 am.
There is a particular need for male volunteers. For those interested in volunteering, please send all questions, concerns, and/or comments to Molly McGregor at notscarson@gmail.com or 775-350-9511.

Lagier and McGregor will continue to provide assistance whether it be in the forms of the winter NOTS program or handing out bottles of water during the heatwave, but both agree it is time for the city to step in and assist them, and those suffering from homelessness in Carson City.