City of Reno Details Remaining Contracts With Karma Box, As Non Profit Is About to Lose its Safe Camp County Contract
While there was a renewed public comment call today at the regional homelessness advisory meeting to immediately end the Safe Camp Cares Campus coordination county contract with the Karma Box non profit before it’s replaced in that role by another non profit RISE on July first, the City of Reno finally replied to an Our Town Reno query we sent last week to obtain the exact contracts it has with the Grant Denton founded organization.
"At this time, the City of Reno’s contracts with Karma Box are limited to providing trash removal and cleanup services in public areas,” a statement indicated, not specifying any dollar amounts or length of these contracts or copies.
Our Town Reno had also asked about gift cards being used as part of these services to which the City of Reno replied, “yes, gift cards are referenced in the agreement with Karma Box as part of their workforce model. Karma Box independently administers that program and can provide additional details about how the program operates."
Karma Box has repeatedly ignored emails from Our Town Reno for comment.
Three of its employees, including the former Safe Camp supervisor, were arrested in recent months on different types of charges.
The county wrote to Our Town Reno earlier this month with a document showing the Safe Camp contract was going to RISE, dated the same day the third employee Jessica Hillman, who remains on the Karma Box website, was arrested on charges which included alleged elderly abuse and embezzlement.
Denton himself has faced repeated accusations of misconduct from multiple women since starting his work in recovery spaces in northern Nevada, which he has repeatedly denied, alluding to “haters” on a recent social media post.
Karma Box has also had contracts with Carson City, with an initial 2024 “contract to hire an individual to provide street outreach services in Carson City,” according to a staff report.
The program had challenges initially in retaining staff to perform the services.
“The contract’s term was Feb. 21, 2024, through Oct. 31, 2024, for an amount not to exceed $49,750 funded from Carson City’s Indigent Accident Fund, the Emergency Solutions grant, and Carson City Opioid Funds,” according to the Carson City staff report. “Amendment #1 extended the contract’s term to Dec. 31, 2024. Amendment #2 extended the contract’s term to Jan. 31, 2025. A new contract was entered into for a term from Feb. 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025, for an amount not to exceed $35,000 using the same funding as the original contract, Carson City’s Indigent Accident Fund, the Emergency Solutions grant, and Carson City Opioid Funds.”
The latest IRS filing for Karma Box had Denton making $110,480 in salary, a figure which might change with the County’s Safe Camp contract soon going to RISE.
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