HSI

Wishing everyone a safe, pleasant New Year’s Eve and a wonderful, prosperous 2026. Our offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, January 1-2. We will resume operations on Monday, January 5.

Just a quick reminder HSI - WARC will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 27-28, in observance of Thanksgiving and Family Day. Normal operations will resume Monday, December 1. Have a peaceful, pleasant holiday weekend. If you are traveling, safe journeys. We are thankful to all of you for your support of what we do. (Image courtesy Farmer's Almanac)

To all who wore the uniform. HSI is closed today in observance of Veterans Day. We will resume normal business hours on Wednesday, November 12. We wish you all a pleasant and peaceful holiday.

A reminder that Daylight Saving Time is this weekend. Be sure to set your clocks BACK ONE HOUR by 2 a.m. Sunday morning. We get an extra hour of sleep, yay! See you bright(er) and early Monday! Have a safe and pleasant Halloween weekend! (Minions courtesy Universal/Illumination)

This year's Halloween Costume Contest was loads of fun, with staff dressing up in a (mostly) Toy Story theme. Several of Andy's toys put in appearances! Contest winners were Dominick as Bo Peep, Mary as the Spork, and Dan as Buzz Lightyear! Have a safe, spooky Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have a SCARY apparition with us today! Like something right out of Ghostbusters! Actually it's a little toy ghost, about an inch high. No Photoshop, just a flashlight and an iPhone lens, unretouched straight out of the camera! Costume contest pics to follow in a bit! (Photo: Stephanie Fairburn)

This week we had the pleasure of welcoming another delegation of professionals from other countries, visiting the US to exchange information and ideas about engaging youth in our communities. Facilitated by the U.S. State Department - OES's International Visitor Leadership Program and the Northern Nevada International Center, the project for the Near East and North Africa regions centered on an overview of US community centers, libraries, and extracurricular programs, the importance of partnerships and strategies for developing youth skills and promoting workforce preparedness, and collaborations between the private sector, services provided by nonprofit organizations (such as ours), schools and governments to engage at risk youth and foster youth employment.
Attendees came from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Saudi Arabia! Thanks everyone for a great visit!

All of us at HSI were sad to hear about the unexpected passing of long-time Nevada sportscaster and Nevada Sportscaster Hall of Fame reporter Bryan Samudio. Bryan was one of our supporters and graciously lent us his sportscasting expertise and gregarious MC talent to several of our X-treme Ability Challenge fundraising events. We will miss him and extend our condolences to his family, friends, his Nevada Sports Net and KRNV News 4 colleagues, and all who knew and loved him. Photos: Gwinn Nelson and Lisa Blauth

On this date in History ... July 1, 2000, LaVonne Brooks started her tenure as CEO of HSI - WARC! Today we recognize and honor her 25 years of dedicated service and leadership! Thank you for all you do for the organization, Mama Bear!

Come out and get dirty with us! That's right, once again HSI is pleased to support our friends at Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation and their 2025 Dozers and Dirt event, September 20, from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Rilite Aggregate Pit, 9208 Western Skies Drive in Reno.
Join us and get dirty digging in your shovels to support local children battling cancer. Kids 17 and younger get to operate more than 35 pieces of heavy construction equipment (under professional supervision, of course), experience up-close displays of the RAVEN helicopter, a bomb unit, police cars, fire trucks, and more.
NNCCF is always pulling out all the stops to support Northern Nevada children and we are excited about this partnership. All proceeds benefit the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation.
In this event, only the kids need tickets, the adults get in free! Get your tickets and/or become a sponsor by visiting https://www.nvchildrenscancer.org/dozers-dirt/!
Getting dirty has never been more fun! Hope to see you there!

Dozers & Dirt - Northern Nevada Children's Cancer Foundation Join us and get dirty digging-in your shovels to support…

All of us at HSI - WARC extend warm congratulations to Board Member and former Board Chair Dr. Karin Hilgersom on her retirement from her role as President of Truckee Meadows Community College! Her leadership achieved numerous program successes and innovations during her tenure, and we count ourselves fortunate to have Karin's wisdom and counsel on our Board. We look forward to working with her successor, Dr. Jeffrey Alexander, who will serve as the next TMCC president, and congratulate him on this prestigious appointment.
Click on the link below to read some highlights from Karin's retirement celebration on May 9!

A Zesty Farewell to President Karin Hilgersom - News - Truckee Meadows Community College Community members, employees and students gathered to pay tribute to Dr. Hilgersom for nine years of dedicated service to student success and academic excellence.

We were thrilled to host a delegation of education and related professionals from Iraq to discuss Disability Legislation in Practice and introduce them to our genArete learning system. Insights and information were exchanged in a very productive three-hour meeting. The group began their US tour in mid-March and are set to return home on April 5. Thanks to our colleagues at the Northern Nevada International Center, who facilitated the Reno portion of their tour via the U.S. Department of State.
For more info on genArete, visit https://genarete.org/ .