Nicole Anagapesis on Mutual Aid in Reno

*This episode contains adult language

Family Soup Mutual Aid has been serving dinner to 150-200 local residents, many of them unhoused, every Tuesday night at the Believe plaza in downtown Reno for the last several years. This "distribution" event also provides clothing, shelter items, and basic over the counter medicine. As a horizontally organized, leaderless organization, decisions are made through collaboration and consensus and all work is done through volunteers and donations.

On this episode of Renoites, Conor sat down with the founder of the group, Nicole Anagapesis, to discuss how the Tuesday night distributions work, the challenge of getting people to overcome their fears or concerns about sharing space with our unhoused neighbors, strategies for improving downtown Reno without displacement, the benefits and challenges of being a leaderless organization, the sometimes contentious relationship between FSMA and the City of Reno and Downtown Reno Partnership, the chain link fences and questionable value of this summer's Rollin Reno skating rink, collaborating with local churches for the Good Neighbor Warming Centers that provide a place for women and families to escape the cold overnight in the winter, gun ownership and training for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable groups, and a whole lot more!

You can learn more about Family Soup Mutual Aid on their Instagram account at http://instagram.com/familysoupmutualaid or on their Substack newsletter at https://substack.com/@familysoupmutualaid

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