The CARES Campus: When Public Relations Becomes Public Policy
How Pat Hickey and the Abbi Agency’s messaging shapes Reno’s homelessness narrative
A story about a robin — and a press strategy
In his October 14 column, “Homeless people have a place to go in Northern Nevada,” longtime political figure and columnist Pat Hickey paints a gentle picture of Reno’s Cares Campus — a place of compassion where “broken-wing robins” find safety and care.
It’s a heart-warming read: a childhood story, a moral lesson, and praise for civic cooperation. Hickey thanks Washoe County, the Volunteers of America, Catholic Charities, and Karma Box for offering “a cul-de-sac of care” that, according to developer Par Tolles, has reduced homelessness along the Truckee River by more than 40 percent.
But beneath that tone of empathy lies something more strategic: a public-relations narrative written from inside the PR industry itself.
Abbi Holman Whitaker, Pat Hickey, and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve share a moment to celebrate at the signing after the publication of his book that includes them.
The undisclosed affiliation
Pat Hickey isn’t just a columnist. He works as an agent for The Abbi Agency, the Reno-based marketing and communications firm founded by Abbi Whitaker Holman.
The agency holds public contracts with Washoe County, EDAWN, Travel Nevada, and other civic entities that help shape public perception of redevelopment and homelessness policy.
So when Hickey praises the Cares Campus as “one of the largest and cleanest homeless shelters in America,” he’s not simply sharing an observation — he’s advancing a narrative his employer helps manage.
There’s no disclosure of that connection in the RGJ op-ed.
The CARES Campus is the number one place that the police are called to in Reno.
According to this article, from This is Reno, from June 20, 2024, Service requests for homeless issues increasing,
“In April of this year, city staff responded to 250 calls for service related to unsheltered individuals and 220 reports of occupied vehicles. Three years prior — and one month before the opening of the 549-bed Nevada Cares Campus — the city responded to just 114 calls for service.”
A “cul-de-sac of care” or a cul-de-sac of containment?
The phrase “cul-de-sac of care,” borrowed from Par Tolles, sounds comforting, but it’s also revealing.
It recasts containment as compassion: sweep the encampments, clear the bridges, move everyone into a supervised facility, and call it progress.
Reality is more complicated.
Washoe County’s own data show roughly 1,700 homeless individuals in 2025, numbers that have held steady or even increased since before the pandemic.
Reports from the Cares Campus include safety incidents, drug use, and chronic overcrowding.
The CAREs Campus is not housing; it’s bunk beds in common areas. People staying on campus get out during the day and wander about town. We don’t know the extent of the crime that they are involved in because it isn’t tracked by their housing situation.
Reality Check: The “40 % Reduction” Claim
The statistic Hickey cites that Cares Campus reduced homelessness along the Truckee River by over 40 percent appears nowhere in HUD counts, Washoe County dashboards, or the 2024 Point-in-Time survey.
It likely refers to a reduction in visible encampments, not in total homelessness. That’s a cosmetic metric, not a systemic one.
The homeless leave the CARES Campus and wander out around downtown, leaving a trail of garbage that the Ambassadors struggle with every day.
Moral framing over material reality
Hickey closes with quotes from Mother Teresa and Charles Murray, urging readers to fight “the poverty of being unwanted” by fixing our own families first.
That’s touching — and convenient.
By shifting focus from housing shortages, wage stagnation, and treatment gaps to moral failings and family decline, the column absolves policymakers of structural responsibility.
It’s an appeal to conscience that costs nothing, which is precisely why it’s so effective.
The City of Reno tried to shut down the Fireside Market due to police calls, but the number of calls is far lower than the CAREs Campus, and most of the calls were not for disturbances inside the market, but were on the street or related to the bus station.
The feel-good feedback loop
Hickey’s piece fits neatly within the county’s larger communications strategy:
Promote success stories from Cares Campus to counter negative coverage.
Highlight collaboration between government, business, and faith groups.
Reframe enforcement as compassion to get the feel-good vote.
It’s the same playbook the Abbi Agency has executed for tourism, redevelopment, and now homelessness messaging — branding progress rather than proving it.
A pattern worth watching
There’s no crime in promoting civic optimism. But when paid communicators use media platforms to shape policy narratives without disclosure, it becomes a conflict of public trust.
Washoe County residents deserve transparency about who’s framing the conversation — and why.
Otherwise, Reno’s homelessness policy risks becoming what marketing folks call “earned media”: polished stories designed to make everyone feel good while sidestepping the more complex questions.
Closing thought
Pat Hickey’s robin story ends with the bird flying away. But Reno’s story isn’t that simple. Until the people at the Cares Campus have their situation in order and have real homes to fly to, not just a cleaner cage, the story remains unfinished.
Insightful. I do not believe that the homeless numbers have decreased at all. Using my own eyes I see more trash, public defecation, signs begging for beer, young healthy men turned old almost overnight by drug use.
A travesty of care. Has some good come about? I know of a few success stories. The odds are not good.
In March I participated in an Outdoor Show downtown (new) in the Events Center. The City made loading in to the Center difficult. Parking was difficult! What made the entire event memorable/atrocious was the quantity of human and possibly dog feces all over the sidewalks. We had to drag our handcarts of inventory through vomit, shit and other weird stuff to set up our booths. This excrement stuck to the wheels of our handcarts and that brought the stench inside to our booths. I ran in to an Ambassador on one trip and asked him to clean the sidewalk for us. He said that cleaning up shit was not part of his job. He turned and left. I vowed to never do a downtown event/show - not Artown or anything else. Disgusting! It was like being in a third world country!!!!!