From left: Downtown Reno Partnership Ambassador Operations Manager Austin Pollard; board members Par Tolles and Cindy Carano; DRP Executive Director Alex Stettinski; and DRP Ambassador Donald Griffin.
RENO, Nev. — The International Downtown Association recently recognized the Downtown Reno Partnership with the Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence for the partnership’s work and initiatives related to the One-at-a-Time Homeless Outreach program.
According to an Oct. 5 press release, the partnership and its ambassadors changed their approach to homeless outreach in Downtown Reno last fall by, among other things, focusing full time on some chronically homeless individuals instead of working with a lot of people for a little amount of time each day.
In less than a month, the ambassadors started moving people into permanent housing, and 33 people have since been re-housed via the One-at-a-Time Homeless Outreach program, according to DRP.
“Homelessness has been a big issue in the majority of communities all over the country for many years,” Alex Stettinski, DRP executive director, said in a statement. “Even though Business Improvement Districts are not social service agencies, we were able to develop a concept that effectively supports those agencies and produces tangible results. Our Ambassadors help place people into long-term treatment programs and housing through strategic outreach and collaboration and help change the landscape one person at a time.
"We feel so honored that IDA acknowledges the efforts our Ambassador team has set forth to make a difference.”
The One-at-a-Time Homeless Outreach was among 29 qualified entries submitted to the Washington, D.C.-based International Downtown Association in the category of “Public Space Management and Operations,” which IDA identifies as one of the seven professional urban place management practice areas.
“Downtown Reno Partnership has shown expert application of professional urban place management principles with their project One-at-a-Time Homeless Outreach,” IDA President/CEO David Downey said in a statement. “The One-at-a-Time Homeless Outreach should serve as a model example to all member communities within IDA.”
IDA held its 66th annual conference Oct. 6-8 in a virtual format, during which DRP was recognized for the Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence.
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