HSI

HSI High Sierra Industries develops, delivers and uses learning systems that benefit people with disabilities and those who support them.

Just a quick reminder HSI - WARC will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 27-28, in observance of Thanksgiving and F...
11/26/2025

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 ...
11/11/2025

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....
10/31/2025

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...
10/31/2025

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 lit...
10/31/2025

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 ...
10/15/2025

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 ...
10/02/2025

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...
07/01/2025

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 Childr...
06/18/2025

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!

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 re...
05/15/2025

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!

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...
03/26/2025

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/ .

HSI - WARC will be closed December 24-January 1. On behalf of our staff and Board of Directors, thank you to EVERYONE wh...
12/23/2024

HSI - WARC will be closed December 24-January 1. On behalf of our staff and Board of Directors, thank you to EVERYONE who made this year very special. Let's keep those good vibes going as we greet 2025. We wish you all a peaceful, joyous and safe holiday season. See you next year!

Address

555 Reactor Way
Reno, NV
89502

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

Telephone

+17758297400

Website

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Who we are and what we do!

HSI and WARC were founded in 1977 and 1953 respectively as separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations serving people with disabilities. In 2009, the organizations merged, both maintaining their 501(c)(3) status. HSI is Northern Nevada’s largest not-for-profit organization, serving more than 200 people with a variety of intellectual and/or physical disabilities, who range in age from their teens to their late 60s. HSI empowers every individual with a disability we serve to discover and lead a fulfilling life of their choice.

HSI is developing unique and cutting-edge curricula and assessments that utilize Precision Teaching (PT) and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is the gold standard for training and education, considered an evidence-based best practice by the American Psychological Association and the U.S. Surgeon General. PT is traditionally used in a one-to-one setting, making it very costly. HSI has re-engineered the use of the PT model based upon the “learners know best” philosophy of PT and scaling it to be delivered to larger groups. This far more cost-effective programming delivers remarkable, quantifiable results.

iChoose: Participants choose their preferred activities from a daily activities menu to develop life skills, such as communication, problem-solving and physical coordination.

iWork: Employees earn at or above minimum wage while building skill development, basic work readiness and expertise through a range of light manufacturing to electro-mechanical tasks.