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 d...

We welcome Sharon Chamberlain to the podcast this week. Sharon is the CEO of Northern Nevada HOPES, a community health center in Reno providing affordable, high-quality, medical, behavioral health, and support services for all. What started as a single-room clinic to serve those with HIV/AIDS has expanded to providing comprehensive, patient-centered healthcare for 14,000 people in our community. T...

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. Learn more about Destiny Center a...

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...

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...

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, knowle...

Meet Amy Dewitt-Smith, executive director of Neighbor Network of Northern Nevada, or N4. The N4 village connects Northern Nevadans for inclusive, community-based services from volunteer opportunities to affordable transportation. Through this episode, we glean from Amy’s 20+ years of experience working in aging and disability services. The village of N4 is relational, reciprocal, and offers person...

Boys & Girls Club is way more than a day care - and Amber Seifert is here to tell us about it. Amber is the marketing coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, where each location creates a place for kids to feel safe and connected, finding a place to belong and a place to become. Their over 50 locations serve 13,000 youth annually throughout our region. A resource center f...

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! Whet...

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...

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. L...

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.  Learn more about the Salvation Army and get involved at  reno.salvationarmy.org

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 resto...

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...

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. Learn more about Reps 4 Recovery and get involved at  https://www.reps4recovery.org/ Additional links from the episode: -Biopsychosocial app...

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 c...

Meet Kathleen Teipner, program director at Community Services Agency - which exists to help people get out of poverty. Empowering individuals and families to become self-sufficient through advocacy, results-based programs, and community partnership in Northern Nevada, they offer a wide variety of programs from Head Start, Energy Efficiency, Victim Advocacy Program, Employment Assistance and Traini...

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, chi...

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! Learn more about Seniors in Service and get involved at  https://seniorsinservi...

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. Learn more about the Domestic Violence Resource Center and get involved at  https://domesticviolenceresourcecenter.org/ Additional links from the episod...

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...

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 partne...

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...

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.   Learn more about TIP and get involved at  https://www.tipnnv.org/

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 dise...