Rotary Club of Reno Adding Improvements to Rotary Plaza, Former "Tent City"

(Reno, Nev.) For the 2013 Rotarians at Work project, Rotary Club of Reno will work to improve Rotary Plaza completing a two-year commitment.  Local Rotarians will plant trees and flowers, construct a shade structure and garden boxes, paint and add other upgrades to the area formerly called “tent city.” Rotary Plaza now serves as a Day Area where local homeless men and women have a safe, protected place to spend the day, with easy access to resources aimed at helping them find a brighter future.

"More than one million Rotarians around the world are committed to 'service above self'"; said Sue Sadler, chief organizer of the project.  “The shelter programs and other supportive services at the Community Assistance Center provide help for more than 700 people in crisis in our community everyday.  Rotary Plaza will provide a pleasant environment where people take their first steps toward a life of dignity and more hopeful future.”  

The Rotarians are also providing new balls, a basketball hoop and other play equipment for Rotary Alley, an outdoor recreation area located outside the Volunteers of America Family Shelter, adopted by Rotary Club of Reno in 2010.

Rotarians at Work will receive additional help from District Leadership at Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scout Troop # 801. The troop will be constructing garden boxes as part of Coleton Chamberlain’s Eagle Scout project.

A barbecue lunch for volunteers will be hosted by Rotary Club of Reno at 12:00 noon.  For more information, interested volunteers can learn more about the project at www.renorotary.org.  

Rotarians at Work is an annual event, held on the last weekend of April, wherein local Rotary Club of Reno members perform service throughout the community.

Located at 335 Record Street, the Community Assistance Center is the site of the Family Shelter, Men’s Shelter, Women’s Shelter, Resource Center, and ReStart Mental Health Support Center operated by Volunteers of America.  

Established locally in 1896, the Northern California & Northern Nevada affiliate of Volunteers of America is one of the largest providers of social services in the region, operating programs dedicated to ending homelessness, supporting the most vulnerable populations and transforming communities. Each night, Volunteers of America Northern Nevada provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, affordable housing and other supportive services for more than 70 men, women, children and seniors in the Reno area. For more information, see www.voa-ncnn.org, or call Sandy Isham, development and community relations officer at 775.322.7143.