Student reporter Sara Ewing interviewed a woman panhandler at this local intersection, Lexi, who explained she had fled an abusive relationship with both an ex and his mother in Modesto, and that she associates that with living housed and inside now.
She has been living on the streets of Reno for seven years She says she finds it safer than going to the shelter but she hopes she could get motel vouchers again for cold nights as she used to several years ago. She says there are angels though who will stop and talk to her and really help her. In the in her own words interview, she also gave tips on surviving colder nights and where to find cheap clothes to be warmer.
One major problem she identifies is that "misery loves company," and that some on the streets, many time your closest friends, will try to bring you back down, if you try to improve your situation.
Read it to find about lots of insights of currently being unhoused in the Biggest Little City.
“I don't even know where to begin. Just being, female, a lot of people say they should go to the shelter, you know, but it’s just difficult because a lot of dangerous things happen in there.
I’ve been told stay away from the river, like the casino area, like 4th Street, and like all that. Because they're, like, just more dangerous.
I’m a signer. There's either signers and then there's people like their boosters, basically. So they'll take things in stores and sell it to people.
But I can't do that. So I decided to sign, even though they have some laws that are getting more stricter lately. And so what I do is I try to make money when I feel that I can.
The weather is really difficult here. So if it's snowing, or really cold, you're not going to sleep every night out here, you're just not.
When you're outside you have to be more aware of your surroundings.
So, it's like that all the time for me being female as well.
I have found a good group of people. Some people have gotten RV situations and or apartments or rooms for rent for a minute.
Before I did become homeless, I was very, into materialistic things and how I looked, and you know what I had and, I didn't grow up on the streets or anything like that, so, I pretty much was given mostly everything I needed and a little more, but I guess I just didn't appreciate it as much.
So I feel like coming out here, I had to learn about real life in a different way. And people will say that nobody really knows what you're talking about when you say that. Until you've been out here, at least I'd say a few months, you know, because one week to two weeks or something or in-between apartments isn't the same thing.
It's just what happens out here. One thing that people don't know about is that the treatment I feel to homeless women in particular is, it's very close to how they treat people like, you know, with hating people for race and things like that.
That's something I did not know before I came out. And that's also something I feel that only women out here know because when you're walking with your friends and we call each other in groups like family. The male family members don't know that you get treated that badly until you're alone.
I haven’t been raped or anything like that, you know, but I have friends that have. So I just kind of abide by, like, those rules that, like, your parents tell you, like, when you go to high school type thing. Like before they let you ride in cars with boys and things like that?
Just don’t get in any cars you don't know. And talk to people you don't really know. And I usually don't associate with people unless I met them through people. Because there is a small community out here within everybody that’s all connected.
Before living in the streets here in Reno, I was in an abusive relationship, basically, and I had a really bad case of battered women syndrome, and I didn't really know what to do to get away from the person because they were stalking me on Facebook and my family as well.
And his mother was kind of part of it as well. She would not let me, when we lived with her, she would not allow me to, like, go outside and things like that.
So I was living in, like, a really small room with, like, 4 walls, and she was giving me Xanax and things and telling me they were just like pills to help me sleep. And before I knew it, I was hooked on Xanax. So I forced myself to get off them.
Because I knew something was happening with me, and that wasn’t right. And so that was part of the other thing about after that, and it was all said and done four years had gone by and I was just like, “okay, wow, like I dealt with this, this like abusive relationship thing that most of my friends went through in younger years. And here I am, just like living in my pajamas, like inside, like I, I needed, like, a breakthrough that something that happen, you know what I mean?
In the wintertime they used to give women on the streets these vouchers for motels and things like that, and then, like, if there was any leftover over they would give them to men, like, because it got really cold, it's already really, really cold right now.
I haven't seen them do the vouchers in the last couple of years, so I'm not sure what that’s about, but I just wish there were more outreach programs for women and men, but I think maybe starting with doing it with women first, because we get kind of scared and stuck and not really sure how to find housing and things like that.
And I mean, the most advice I've gotten for that is to go to the shelter, get a caseworker, and like, bug your caseworker, like, pretty much every single way, and as much as you can because they wanna only give the housing to people that really need money, you know, but that's kind of hard to do.
Like everything gets stolen out here, everything. It's pretty crazy.
I've got so much stuff taken. It's unreal. So, I mean, I'm not super materialistic anymore, but at the same time, if you're getting ready for the winter time and people are getting like items and things, you know, it's when you like get your jacket taken, and it's snowing or it's raining or whatever.
The hand warmer things is cool to survive the colder nights. And a lot of people will give them out.
On our signs, I guess you're really not allowed to say I want money, you know like that, but, you see, “anything can help.” And so people will give you supplies and things like that. So, yeah, the hand warmer things or any of the warmers.
Also like the SPCA thrift store, on Virginia, is a really good thrift store because they, like the discount rack is like just as big as the regular one, and it's way cheaper than any other thrift store, like three pairs of pants for like four dollars so that's a good place for like clothing and boots.
I’ve bought boots there before. and then just I guess learned that cardboard is your friend as far as, like, if you're gonna lie down on the ground, because if you don't, you will be, like, way freezing. Like you have to have something that’s beneath. You know, and cardboard works good.
And then also, like, big plastic bags where like behind department stores, like, they'll be like in the recycle bin—they'll have, like, big plastic bags that you can put your stuff in to keep them dry. I guess dry is the way to stay warm
People when they saw my sign, they used to be way more friendly, and talkative, and helpful.
And I call the people that help us out angels basically.
But they are few and far in between.
I don't know if it's, usually something will come out in the news or online or on Facebook or something, and that kind of generalizes that all homeless are bad and don't feed the homeless, and all this.
So, what we call is we take a hit kind of from it. And that's when people just kind of like ignore you or do things like that. But yeah, there’s really awesome people who come out of the woodwork, and they will, they will sit and talk to you and, and, you know, there's a lot of people that have been through it, maybe not exactly what you’ve been through, but even, like for a month or a few weeks or something, where they were struggling.
A lot of times they will be like, ‘Oh, I was just in your shoes like three months ago’ and they’ll give you a pep talk, like if you can, you can change it if you do certain things.
But that's kind of dwindled down a little bit. So it can get hard. But I don't know, I just try to go to a different spot and not show my face in the same spots too much.
Because, I don't know. I think when people see you everyday…they get kind of annoyed with it.
We just don't want to be ignored basically. Like we understand everybody doesn't have to give anything, you know?
But I have always said that if everybody gives, like, $0.50 I probably wouldn't have to stand here that long. You know. But even if they don't, it's just the acknowledgment that you're there like a head nod or a smile or something like that is, the complete ignoring thing makes us feel like we're not there or, you know, alienated to where, you know, we are hated basically.
And, that can get to somebody psychologically, you know, because it's just, it's really a difficult lifestyle. It can be very emotionally draining and really hard to pick yourself back up once you get down. So, yeah, because a lot of times people are just like, why are you still out here that long?
Well, it's just you'll start to get going with something and there are people in, I guess, everywhere…here that tend to push you down while you're doing good. So they want to keep you down with them. Like misery loves company. Yeah. So that's basically what I feel goes on and you have to be a really strong, like, self supporter.
And I guess what they say is if you want to change who you are, you [need to] change the people around you. But that can be really difficult to do too because all of us out here we’re a part of a group in a way. Just you’re a part of something, you know what I mean? And so a lot of smiling faces sometimes turn out to be not so great.
You just have to have a really strong head to get yourself up, in and out of the situation, I guess. And it seems like every time I get to somewhere where I think it's going to change, then there's somebody out there that is just pushing it down. I don't know. That's something I’m struggling with right now.”
Reporting and photo by Sara Ewing shared with Our Town Reno
