A Washoe HOME Consortium investment is about to officially open its doors. The Consortium, which is administered by the City of Reno, provided $946,000 in HUD Home funds to assist in building a $1.4 million addition to the Step 1 residence. The Step 1 program provides a clean and sober transitional living facility for formerly homeless, incarcerated, or dual diagnosis men coming out of treatment.

A grand opening ceremony and tour will be held on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 11:00 AM at the Step 1 Residence, located at 1015 North Sierra Street in Reno to mark the opening of a new $1.4 million addition to the residence.

The 2-story addition includes 8 fully furnished bedrooms with individual bathrooms and shared shower rooms. The new wing, at the rear of the historic 1924 house where Step 1 has been located since 1993, allows the program to expand its services from 16 to 20 clients, and significantly improves the safety and living conditions for residents. The facility now has sprinklers throughout the entire facility and meets state fire code and licensing requirements.

Other funding sources include $250,000 in Affordable Housing Program funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco through Charles Schwab Bank. The Bank also provided critical early grants to Step 1 for feasibility studies, architectural drawings, and organizational consulting to the non-profit agency.

The project was also made possible through $157,500 in Transitional Housing Funds made available through AB 126 in the 2007 Nevada Legislative session and individual grants from the E.L. Cord Foundation, the Nell J. Redfield Foundation and the Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation.

Step 1 was founded by Reno resident Eli Maritano who began offering his home as a meeting place and transitional facility for alcoholics in the 1950’s. The new wing will be dedicated to Eli Maritano, who passed away in 2003.

For more information on the Grand Opening contact: Dani Doehring, Step 1, Inc. at 775-329- 9830.