Grant Denton to speak to Rotary Club of Carson City this week

Karma Box founder and advocate for the homeless Grant Denton will be the guest speaker at the next Rotary Club of Carson City meeting on June 20. The meeting takes place at noon in the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom.

“We need to change our approach when it comes to dealing with the homeless,” he says. He should know. Denton was once an addict, in prison and homeless himself. He turned his life around and now helps others do the same. “We need to address the causes of homelessness such as mental health and drug addiction.”

Denton founded the Karma Box project in 2018. The decorated boxes are placed near local business and allow people place donations of food, toiletries and other personal items in the boxes for the homeless to take what they need. There are now more than 55 Karma Boxes across Northern Nevada and three in the Las Vegas area.

Denton’s impact is expanding, he recently launched Safe Camp in Reno, a referral-based program to move people off of the streets and into housing. It offers a safe environment to start a new life.

“Unfortunately, the number of homeless people nationwide is growing,” he explains. “The reasons are many; housing costs, drug addiction, mental health issues and the lack of necessary and needed care for those people.”

Denton believes traditional methods of dealing with the homeless population are failing. “Those methods aren’t working because they are designed to address “Situational” homelessness. We currently need to develop methods to address "Behavioral" homelessness, and subsequently create a robust system equipped to handle the demand.”

Those interested in attending the meeting should email carsoncitynvrotary@gmail.com. To learn more about the rotary club of Carson City visit www.carsonrotary.org