The Mellos, Helping "Homeless Heroes"

Michelle and Bob Mello, a Navy veteran, are the brave, big hearted, always generous couple behind the Reno Sparks Homeless Veterans community Facebook page.

The Mellos, outside their home in Sparks, say they give each other the courage to help homeless veterans.

Most of their work doesn’t happen online though but face to face, in person, helping homeless veterans they come across whichever way they can, in ways both small but significant, like a loaf of fresh bread or a friendly smile, and extremely big, such as paying for their motel room to get them off the streets, and finding them housing they can afford.

“We’re real,” Michelle says. “We don’t fake anything. We live paycheck to paycheck ourselves. We tell you how it is. This is what we want to help you with. If you don’t want this, it’s fine. We never, ever command anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.”

Michelle shows one of the care packages which she prepares, which includes a handmade stars and stripes pillow for those sleeping on the streets.

In a corner of their Sparks home, the Mellos keep care packages ready to be delivered to homeless veterans, our “homeless heroes” they call them, full of clothes, a sleeping bag, soap, socks, toothpaste, and if they are on the streets, a stars and stripes handmade pillow.

As they are becoming better known for their extreme generosity, they sometimes get calls in the middle of the night.

“They’ll tell you they are homeless because they lost their job, or they had an addiction. They got out of the service and they thought they could have resources to jump back into society. Unfortunately, it could be anything from mental illness to physical problems because of the damage which happened in the service,” Michelle explains. She herself was almost homeless with her children and lived in a shelter for abused women for a while until her father, a retired Navy veteran, came to the rescue.

The banner for the Reno Sparks Homeless Veterans community Facebook page.

The Mellos hold yearly coat and blanket drives, bring leftover food from catering jobs they have, and also help on an individual basis. “If everyone did what we do,” Bob says, “there would be fewer homeless.”

Saving Steve

One veteran the Mellos are currently helping, Steve, 67, had been living on the streets for two years.

“We found him on Wells Ave.,” Michelle remembers. “He was in a wheelchair. He was in pajamas. He just came from the Veteran’s Hospital. Somebody brought him there, and they checked him out, and they let him go. He had a really damaged hip so he couldn’t walk so he got a wheelchair. We went and picked him up. We brought him to the shelter in our car and we got him cleaned up. We gave him new clothes and one of our care packages. The next day I went to go check on him and he was gone. I guess he wandered off because he had a memory issue.”

Bob gives Steve a haircut at his new apartment.  Photo courtesy of the Mellos. — Bob gives Steve a haircut at his new apartment. Photo courtesy of the Mellos.

From Wandering Off to His Own Place

“So we found Steve and brought him back to the shelter," Michelle explains. "He tried to stay at the shelter but he kept wandering off. The protocol at the shelter is they can’t go after them. You walk off, you walk off. So we put him in a hotel. He was there for a couple of months. We finally got him housing. He’s over on Arlington Ave. and he has a nice little apartment. He’s sober. Bob and I still go over there every other day to make sure he has food, his medication. We take him to his veteran’s appointments because he doesn’t have any family.”

A Veteran Helping Veterans

Stephen, a homeless vet in downtown Reno, gives a friendly smile. Photo by Marina Princeau for Our Town Reno.

“I like to see my fellow men out there not to be sitting on the streets or along the river,” Bob says. “Get them started, get them going. Get them back in reality, but knowing their mental health coming back from wars is sometimes never completed of repair. So they need an extra boost and this is what we try to do. I don’t like to see them out there freezing. They need to be fed and so we do the best we can to make sure that they have what they need to continue their life.”

An Emotional Connection

“They gave up everything to fight for our country. Now it’s time for us to fight for them,” Bob adds, getting teary eyed. “And they need it. They need it bad. And it hurts. It hurts. Some of them have lost legs, arms. Some of them came back and their detox never worked. So people just shove them to the side and push them to the corner. They’re getting flashbacks but no one is helping them. Sometimes they go into an office for help, but they’re told they’re dirty, they smell, get out. Those guys have no way sometimes to take a bath or brush their teeth, or even have teeth.”

“We get very emotional because without them, we would not be who we are,” Michelle says. “They fought for our freedoms, so let’s get them off the streets. We need to give back to them as much as we can.”

The Mellos believe homeless veterans who end up camping outside should get housing provided if they want it, so they can get back on their feet.

Shame on America and Reno

The Mellos say they don’t understand why the city of Reno spent recent surplus money on free wi-fi downtown rather than rehabilitating a few vacant buildings to house the homeless.

“Shame on every American out there that doesn’t help,” Bob says. “You have millionaires and billionaires who could build big buildings with little rooms in there, they could house many homeless veterans, get them back on their feet, get them started and get them going. Don’t shove them in a corner and forget about them. At least give them a chance.”

Motivation Together

The Mellos have been doing this together since they became a couple about five years ago. For Michelle, who had already been helping feed the homeless, her motivation just clicked and has gone to higher and higher levels since.

“There’s the veteran who came home from being so proud to being a veteran who came home and can’t find a job and there’s nobody for him. He winds up on the street because he can’t find a job. This is what drives us. This is what makes us the people who we are today.”

Jay Kolbet-Clausell, a “Moderate Anarchist” Helping Neighbors Help Each Other

Jay recently coordinated a successful clean up event to get trash off the trail by the Truckee River in Sparks where a homeless encampment has grown in recent months. It’s just part of what Jay does during his free time as a self-described “moderate anarchist” who is also technologically savvy, progressively connected and very neighborly.

Jay has a six by seven space at the Generator art space in Sparks where he intends to build a neighborhood library.

As the executive clerk of Reno Sparks Neighborhoods, an on and offline project facilitator, which he calls a “grassroots focused technology platform,” Jay helps neighbors improve their neighborhoods. “If someone has a great idea and I know they are going to do it, then I help them create proposals or memes or just discussion within a community of people who actually have the funds or the materials or the actual physical land to do it.”

Jay prepares sunflower barley bread at the Generator as part of his in kind payment. He also cleans the restrooms there once a month.

A Midtown native who returned to the area after working on projects in China, West Africa and post-Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., Jay is also working on building a “neighborhood library” filled with books on the “1,100 micro neighborhoods” which make up the Reno/Sparks region.

Our Town Reno met Jay at the Generator art space in Sparks last week, while he was making bread, to get his views on homelessness along the river, the crunch in affordable housing in areas near service providers, as well as overall gentrification.

A tent and belongings along the Truckee River earlier this year. Photo by Monica Gomez

Q: What’s happening with the homeless residents along the river, currently near the Reno / Sparks line?
A: There’s been political pressure to relocate homeless people and our politicians have just immediately jumped on the most brutal enforcement they can legally pursue. So they’ve been forcing more and more people away from the river and other sites which have the accommodations and the services which our disadvantaged populations need. Sparks was the last one to actually start those policies. Many people ended up in Sparks. But now Sparks passed a river ordinance similar to Reno’s to move everyone away from the river. They did not include any compassionate language in that at all.

Q: We’ve heard police are repeatedly telling the homeless there to leave. Is the situation tense?
A: Yes, some of the citizens who live near the river in mobile home parks or otherwise use the river for recreation have been complaining to city council (in Sparks) about the conditions down there. So those people have begun arming themselves and I was actually surrounded by a group of six of them after a Sparks city council meeting, threatening the volunteers and church groups who go down there to give out hygiene supplies.

Q: What are you hoping for right now, and is there still hope this particular situation can be solved, hopefully peacefully?
A: I’ve been told that Sparks is going to reach out to Washoe County social services to get people down there and I will back up that plan when they produce it, but it’s so late that the effectiveness of that is just going down and down and down.

Homeless have also been sleeping under this bridge despite these signs.  Jay believes there should be some designated areas they should be allowed to sleep. — Homeless have also been sleeping under this bridge despite these signs. Jay believes there should be some designated areas they should be allowed to sleep.

Q: What services are available in Sparks in particular for the most disadvantaged, and the Reno/Sparks area in general?
A: Sparks does not provide very many social services. They’ve historically just relied on the bigger Reno neighbor to do that. We currently have 20 beds for the mentally ill in all of Reno, Sparks and Washoe County. The Reno homeless shelter is 120 beds short. The emergency shelter had 200, but it’s gone because of the theft there. I don’t know why they weren’t providing security there. None of these services have adequate staff or resources.

Q: Overall, what should we be doing to address this situation of people who don’t have a legal place to sleep?
A: We need to embrace the Reno tradition of to each his own. There should be places to camp. There should be places to build tiny homes. There should be places to rent an apartment for $300 a month. There should be places to have co-op spaces where you have a shared kitchen and everybody has their private space. A lot of these places were informally in place prior and we have to formalize that to keep it and to get it in the zoning code.

Jay believes there should be more services and available shelter for the area's disadvantaged.  This area under a Wells Ave. bridge was recently fenced off to prevent homeless from sleeping there. — Jay believes there should be more services and available shelter for the area's disadvantaged. This area under a Wells Ave. bridge was recently fenced off to prevent homeless from sleeping there.

Q: How critical is it right now for our community concerning all these important issues, revolving around gentrification and displacement?
A: Right now, we’re in an incredibly critical moment. We could end up relocating a bunch of people out to our North Valleys and some areas which have zero to no accessibility to employment, grocery stores, transportation, bike paths and we need to be very conscious about how we include everyone to stay in the valley. It’s small enough in Reno/Sparks to actually still make a difference. I think the results are attainable. I want people to have pride in their neighborhoods and agency in their own life, where they don’t rely on their 8 to 5 job and commuting, but they can fix their own problems and rely on their neighbors.

Change and History, by Deborah Achtenberg

The present is full of references to the past. They form a context. We use the past to project a future.

In some people's minds, the past gets in the way of the future. They want to eliminate it, cancel it, remove it. If only, if only, they suggest, we were not born children before we were adults. If only we were origins of ourselves.

Others wish only to prolong the past into the future. Resistant to change, they think we are what we have been and, in a fascist way, define us by our origins.

There is a middle position, though. The past influences us, and gives us a context within which our future can make sense, but we can appropriate the past in ways those who produced it might never have imagined. We can contextualize old ideas in new ways without simply erasing them.

Here is the Joanne de Longchamps House, a Queen Anne Style house just south of the University of Nevada, Reno, campus.

The University wants to create a gateway area between the current southern end of campus and the I-80 freeway. To do so, the plan is to move the de Longchamps House, and other historic houses on its block.

What a history would be taken away! De Longchamps was an important poet and collage artist. In a poem, "Talking about Animals," she says:

My six-foot son, fifteen and far
into his fierce and dreamy privacies,
drops his mask to talk of animals.
The childhood circle opens,
round as lamplight on those pages
read aloud; litanies of bedtime beasts.

Reuben C. Thompson also lived in the house for a time. He was a classicist and the first chair of the Department of Philosophy. This year, as it happens, the Philosophy Department will begin to be housed in a building designed by Joanne de Longchamps' father-in law, Frederic DeLongchamps. The Jones building, located on the historic university quadrangle and just a short walk from the de Longchamps House, will be Philosophy's new home. These buildings together--"Jones Philosophy" and a revitalized and recontextualized de Longchamps House--would provide a context for students. Here's Reuben Thompson:

A context for what? For dreaming of a life--a life of intellect, of imagination, of contributing an idea or an image to the world. That's what poets, philosophers and classicists do. Wouldn't the house, suitably described, be a spur to imagining oneself a poet? A philosopher? Or even a historian? Jim Hulse, an important UNR historian, lived in the de Longchamps House for a time.

In another chapter of its history, not too long ago the de Longchamps House served as the university's Women's Center. The Center was a place where women went who needed a context in which to make the transition from a past life, in which intellect was not imagined as part of their future, to a future one, in which it would be demanded. Perhaps knowing about the Women's Center, if its history were publicly noted, would help a woman on campus today imagine herself as a philosopher, a poet, a classicist.

For a while, SPECTRUM Northern Nevada utilized the Women's Center/de Longchamps House a few hours each month to hold a Lesbian Discussion Group. Maybe knowing about this important group (still in existence) would facilitate lgbt students imagining their future intellectual or activist lives as well. That would be an unexpected recontextualization of the past!

The university is expanding. And, change brings loss. Still, couldn't we find a middle way? There could still be a gateway area, so that we have a new future and don't let the past hem us in. But couldn't we integrate these historic houses--most historic if they stay in their own context near the historic part of campus--into the gateway area? Then we'd have history and the future.

Who knows what beautiful and intriguing new forms such a historicized future might take?

"Joanne de Longchamps, "Dragonfly," from ONE CREATURE: poems & collages, 1977.

Michele Gehr at the YOU

Michele Gehr is the executive director of the non-profit Eddy House, which runs the YOU, a walk-in resource center for homeless and at-risk youth in downtown Reno. A Bay Area native, Michele gained experience working in this field in the South Bronx, before returning to northern Nevada, where she has lived on and off for over 25 years.

Michele believes that with the right approach the Biggest Little City could eliminate youth homelessness.

In a recent interview with Our Town Reno, Michele discussed the YOU’s upcoming one-year anniversary, its progress and some of her ideas for the future. Currently, the YOU has five full-time employees, five interns and also contracts local organizations for onsite help. Services and programs offered at the YOU include health screenings, HIV testing, therapy, group meetings, yoga and mindfulness classes, women’s empowerment, and job skills training. Up to 40 youths are sometimes simultaneously inside the quaint 6th street compound.

Security is paramount at the YOU. “The youth are never left alone, so there’s always staff all over the place.” Michele hopes that with a bigger budget, the YOU could be open later and on weekends. — Security is paramount at the YOU. “The youth are never left alone, so there’s always staff all over the place.” Michele hopes that with a bigger budget, the YOU could be open later and on weekends.

Q: What is the YOU exactly?

A: We are a homeless drop-in resource center. We are open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to five p.m. Kids can come in and receive care, comfort and services. They can come in and get a shower. They can get a snack. They can get clothing. They can use a laptop computer to check social media or apply for a job. We have a crisis manager so if they have a particular crisis that can be dealt with immediately. We’re also a resource center. I contract community partners to come in and provide the services they do really well.

The You has received plenty of community recognition and help from donors, allowing it to serve hundreds and hundreds of homeless youths every month since opening about a year ago.

Q: Who are you helping?

A: We serve ages 12 to 21. We will go up to 24. The situations are they are usually homeless or at risk of being homeless meaning they maybe have a place to stay but it’s not secure and maybe it’s not for more than a short period of time. We have aged-out foster youth. A lot of our kids couch surf with friends or relatives. They go to weeklies and maybe they are eight or 10 or 12 to a room. They live in abandoned buildings or the street.

“When youth come to the door, they are not allowed to bring personal items so everything is checked in a locker and locked up.  Only staff can access the lockers. They’re not allowed to bring any weapons or paraphernalia or anything that might … — “When youth come to the door, they are not allowed to bring personal items so everything is checked in a locker and locked up. Only staff can access the lockers. They’re not allowed to bring any weapons or paraphernalia or anything that might get stolen. It’s to protect them as well as us and make for a more calm, safe environment.”

A Need for More Donations

Q: Besides giving money, and volunteering, how else can people in the community help?

A: We can always use more donated items. We need items like cup of noodles, juice, toothpaste, toothbrushes, brushes, combs, shampoo, conditioner, underwear …. we always need underwear, size medium, that seems to fit everybody, and socks. We don’t have these items. We do rely on donations for all of it.

Michele stands in a room devoted to donated items. “We’re letting them come in here two at a time to take what they need.” — Michele stands in a room devoted to donated items. “We’re letting them come in here two at a time to take what they need.”

The Need for a Housing Program

Q: What else would you like to provide going forward?

A: I provide programming which teaches basic skills, living skills, social and emotional skills and everything has a trauma component because our kids are experiencing ongoing trauma and have experienced trauma before. But there is a gap in services. I can fill these kids up with this information but without a safe place to stay it’s like a leaky boat. My next phase, if I had the funds and the community support, would be a residential component. I recognize not every person who is homeless is ready for a structured residential program. But I feel like a leveled residential program (with individually tailored help) that has a wraparound holistic approach where they receive services designed to teach self-efficacy is the way for our population to become not homeless with that kind of support and each other, and a great staff, 24/7 crisis managers to handle anything that might come. I think we can actually eliminate youth homelessness in Reno.

The YOU's compound also includes garden space. “Urban Roots is planning to do a very large garden, so that the kids can pick vegetables and distribute them throughout the community.” — The YOU's compound also includes garden space. “Urban Roots is planning to do a very large garden, so that the kids can pick vegetables and distribute them throughout the community.”

The Importance of the Housing Component

Q: Why is it so important to provide housing as well as your existing services?

A: If you have a young person who is homeless, has been kicked out or aged out of foster care or who has maybe lost their place to stay, or lost their family support, we would have a place where they can go, get on their feet and learn skills. I just don’t think this is an impossible thing. I don’t think the problem is so out of hand that we can’t fix it. I think we are in a prime position to create a northern Nevada model, and people can use it for other cities of similar size.

Wednesdays are for laundry. “We purchase laundry vouchers and then the rest is donated. On Wednesdays, everybody loads up their laundry and we head over and they each get a wash and dry.” — Wednesdays are for laundry. “We purchase laundry vouchers and then the rest is donated. On Wednesdays, everybody loads up their laundry and we head over and they each get a wash and dry.”

Q: Finally, what will be happening on May 6th?

A: It will be the Eddy House first anniversary open house party. It came out of a discussion between the youth, some of the interns and (Eddy House founder) Lynette Eddy. We want a party to celebrate the first year. It will be from three to six p.m. where members of the community, anyone interested in learning more, some of our donors, everyone is invited to come through and take a tour, meet some of the youths and talk to the staff. Just come and see what we’re doing and how it’s growing. I really want it to be a community event. We’re having donated food and drinks. We’re also going to get a DJ.

Bonnie and Her Cat, Displaced But Together

text, photos and reporting by Jose Olivares for Our Town Reno

Bonnie Pace, who did not want her picture taken, has recently been forced to move from her previous location by the Truckee river, on the Sparks side right by the border with Reno.

Bonnie recently moved to this spot after she was told to move away from her previous camping spot closer to the Truckee River. photo by Jose Olivares

Bonnie was living under the bridge by Rock Park until she says Sparks Police informed her that she had to leave the location and be 350 feet from the bridge. Bonnie says there are close to 50 people still living by the bridge and river.

Volunteer Help

Wednesday this week, volunteers held a "Peace Walk" to clean the area near the river, hoping this would encourage the police to allow homeless folks to continue to live there.

With a huge smile on her face, Bonnie said she would have joined them, if she were able to walk better and didn't have a knee injury.

Pace's three-year-old cat also received help from the activists.

A few cats also live in the area where homeless have been staying near the Truckee River and the Sparks/Reno line. photo by Jose Olivares

Bonnie's Cat Is Saved

"They got my cat out of the tree! They're awesome."

Bonnie was able to move her tent away from the bridge and river, hoping her new location would dissuade the police from forcing her to move again. But she says the previous situation was better for homeless people.

"When they had tent city, it helped, before they abused it," she says. "People don't know what they got 'til they don't got it."

Reach Out

Bonnie encourages members of the Reno and Sparks community to reach out and communicate with homeless folks.

"Stop and actually get to know them," she says. "Yeah there are some dirtbags out there, but people out here are nice. Come out here and have a conversation. Just because we're homeless, don't mean we're out committing crimes."

Loren, a Homeless Day Laborer

photos and text by Jose Olivares

Loren, an Alaska native, wants to leave Reno, but is surviving right now with day labor jobs. photo by Jose Olivares

Loren lives under the bridge by Rock Park in Sparks, next to the Truckee River. He is originally from Alaska and hopes to return as soon as he gets his birth certificate and identification.

On most days he works as a day laborer. He stands on Galletti Way and waits for employers to pick him up and hire him for odd jobs. According to Loren, he is always honest and open to his employers regarding his homelessness. He has a contagious smile and light-hearted attitude, but is not afraid to speak his mind.

He used to live in Reno, but claims that the police in The Biggest Little City are a lot rougher.

"Sparks is a lot more lenient than Reno. Reno is 'homeless haters'--at least the cops," says Loren. "I know they got a job, they got a family, but they shouldn't take it out on innocent people. They just take their anger and aggression out on the homeless because they think that the homeless don't have a voice or civil rights."

Loren does not like how Reno's police handles the homeless. Photo by Jose Olivares.

He hopes those misconceptions can change. "There really is some really good people. We're not just all crazy, stupid, alcoholic drug addicts going crazy," he says. "There's a lot of people in this town, but there's a lot of good people, too."

Brian, Living Under A Bridge

Brian, 51, has been living under this bridge on the Reno/Sparks line since last fall, keeping warm by wearing many layers of clothing.

Brian, 51, says he's looking for work and a place to call home but that he's having a hard time finding either. He's worked odd jobs and recently had a job as a janitor, but losing work caused him to be back on the streets. After being kicked out from where he used to sleep in Reno, he is now facing displacement by Sparks police. A decision announced a few days ago, but not yet carried out, would prevent the homeless from staying under this bridge and along the Truckee river.

Some of Brian's neighbors live inside tents, but Brian uses just a blanket to sleep.

"The problem is a lot of people don't have a job and jobs are hard to get," Brian told Our Town Reno this week. "Even if they have part time jobs, it's not easy to get a place and it's pretty crowded with the rentals. I have income coming from my Social Security but I'm having a heck of a time trying to make it."

Brian says he makes about $700 a month from Social Security, and that he is looking for a place to stay for about $450 a month, utilities included, to have enough to eat and clothe himself, and start looking for work again.

There are no camping signs on the bridge under which Brian sleeps, but he says that without a tent or camping equipment, he doesn't think he is camping.

"Sleeping under the bridge is good in some respects but you have to be aware of the wind and the cold. You still have to have two or three layers of clothes plus a coat plus thermal boots, and without that you might as well, kiss your butt goodbye because you'll freeze to death."

There have been tensions between environmentalists who want to make sure the riverside and trails are kept clean and accessible, and activists seeking to help the homeless.

Brian says he is very grateful for the churches, organizations and volunteers who bring food to different areas of Reno and Sparks where the homeless congregate. He says even if this area is disbanded, the homeless would still go there to come get the healthy food which is usually brought here on Monday nights.

Laura, An Ailing Homeless Angel

Laura Thomas has bounced around in recent months in Reno from shelters to downtown motels to hospital stays and back to shelters.

“I wanted a new start,” she says. “Something fresh, something slower paced, something quieter, someplace where I could give back.  Here there’s fewer homeless people, but more giving hearted people and a lot more resources to help the homeless,… — “I wanted a new start,” she says. “Something fresh, something slower paced, something quieter, someplace where I could give back. Here there’s fewer homeless people, but more giving hearted people and a lot more resources to help the homeless, which are easier to find.” Photo by Jose Olivares

Laura moved to Reno from Sacramento in October 2015, while still recovering from brain surgery, when she was also in her words “homeless, jobless and without hope.”

A New Start in Reno

“I wanted a new start,” she says. “Something fresh, something slower paced, something quieter, someplace where I could give back. Here there’s fewer homeless people, but more giving hearted people and a lot more resources to help the homeless, which are easier to find.”

When she was last able to work, Laura used to take care of the elderly. “I love the wisdom from old people.  I love their company.  I love dealing with their families." Photo by Jose Olivares — When she was last able to work, Laura used to take care of the elderly. “I love the wisdom from old people. I love their company. I love dealing with their families." Photo by Jose Olivares

Formerly a certified nurse’s aide with expertise in helping the elderly, she was hoping to get recertified in Nevada and start working again in the same field, but her overall health slowed her down again in recent weeks.

“I love the wisdom from old people. I love their company. I love dealing with their families,” she told us on a recent sunny day when her spirits were up. “I had a ball and I wouldn’t mind going back to it. I would love to go back to work today,” she said.

Her Heart Breaks for Other Homeless

Even though she is homeless herself, every time she meets another homeless person it breaks her heart.

“I’ve seen elderly people. I’ve seen people with children. I’ve seen alcoholics. I’ve seen drug addicts. I’ve seen veterans. I’ve seen all walks of life. People come up to talk to me. They say, ‘I’m homeless today because I lost my job.’”

“It’s very sad to see elderly who have nowhere to go. " Photo by Jose Olivares

A Housing First Advocate, Especially for the Elderly and Veterans

Laura believes giving homeless people access to their own housing, especially the elderly and veterans, would give them a new taste for life.

“It’s very sad to see elderly who have nowhere to go. They can’t go out and get a job. If they had just a simple place to stay, they would have hope. I’m sure they would gladly want to be off the streets. You also don’t want to see our veterans dying on the streets. Our vets served our country. They did their job. Why not give them a home and hope?”

Laura says offering access to individual housing could also give new vigor to the chronically homeless. “Sometimes it seems like they just don’t care, because in their mind, this is all they have, this is all they are going to hold on to.”

Hope and Despair

When she is able to walk around the streets of Reno, Laura is known as someone who always gives others a smile and friendly advice.

“Days when I feel good, and I wake up and open my eyes, that’s a good hope for me,” she said. Other days, when she doesn’t feel like confronting the world outside, she says she just stays in a room in the dark all day long.

Albert, A New Dad, Out of Prison but On the Streets

Albert waited at a resource center trying to get help to sort out his paperwork to be able to start working.

When we met him, California native and Reno resident Albert, 33, was frantically looking for $32 to pay his bus fare to Truckee to get proof of ID, so that he could start working at the Marketon supermarket on Wells Ave. in Reno, where he had just been promised a job, after weeks of looking for steady employment, and being homeless with his family.

Looking for His ID

Albert had just lost his ID creating yet another problem, in his quest to get his new family a place to call home and a happy, steady life.

The California native and current Reno resident was frantically looking for a way to replace his lost ID in Reno, or to get $32 for a bus fare to Truckee to go to an ID office there.

Albert’s daughter was born in December, just one week after he was released from his latest stint in prison, for public intoxication. His wife and baby were living at the homeless family shelter on Record street, while he lived at a friend’s place, getting jobs through craigslist or from day labor pickup spots around town.

Using Different Charity Services

Albert would meet his family at the bus stop, and then use different services, such as the food pantry or resource center to get help.

Albert and his family were next in line to get into the food pantry.

“It’s pretty frustrating to me as a man. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and ask myself, ‘how do you consider yourself a man? and a father? when your wife and daughter are in the shelter?' and it hurts me a lot.”

On this day we met them, Albert balanced a carton of food on one shoulder and rolled a can filled carry-on, while his wife pushed a food-filled stroller back to the family shelter, their baby bundled inside layers of heavy blankets.

“I wasn’t raised to be going to food banks and shelter and stuff like that,” Albert said. “It gets me depressed and it makes me want to just give up but then I think back to what my Dad taught me. No matter how hard life gets for you, when you have your own family yourself, then there’s nowhere in hell you can give up, not on them.”

Albert says he almost gave up on his steady job search, but that his wife also brought him back to his senses.

“There was a time recently, where I was like if I don’t get a job, I’m just going to go back to selling drugs, doing stupid stuff like that, to make quick and easy money, which I told my wife about. She was like ‘you’re not allowed to do that anymore, now we have a daughter that we have to think about, so all that stuff you used to do for money, you’re not going to be doing that anymore.’ I said, ‘that’s fine with me’, and a couple of days later which is today my wife got the call from the guy at Marketon (who said) you need to have Albert call. I decided to show up instead (over there) and that’s what got me the job today.”

Staying Sober and Wanting to Pay it Forward

Albert says he’s done with getting drunk, and that he’s done with breaking the law, and that when he gets back on his own feet, he hopes to help someone else in a difficult situation. “You have to pay it forward,” he said, before bringing back his newly obtained daughter’s child seat to the family shelter, and looking for the $32 he so desperately needed to get his life back on track.

Albert's life was a shuffle between finding money, a steady job and helping his new family cope with homelessness.

Change and Access

Text and photos by Deborah Achtenberg

Wells Avenue is full of life! Beauty salons, thrift stores and storefront churches with services in Spanish.

Foodie culture, youth culture and immigrant culture, cheek by jowl.

Will they coexist? Or will one push out the other? Who has a right to Wells Avenue?

Neighborhoods change, of course. That's what makes them lively. But can we promote change and access at the same time?

A Community Garden To Help Feed The Homeless

Activists and volunteer gardeners are turning recycled food waste from Cafe Deluxe in Reno into compost for the new garden area.

Right next to Teglia's Paradise Park Community Garden, activists and volunteers started Spring 2016 by laying out new plots to grow organic food which will go toward feeding the less fortunate in the Reno/Sparks community. Unlike the community garden, this area, which Jay Dee Skinner calls a future "food forest", will not be fenced in, and will not require a key or scheduled time to get in. Challenges include squirrels and the pesticide used by city workers in other parts of the park.

"Everybody in the community will have 100% outright access, 24 hours a day. All we are doing is putting in the labor and love. We're giving people free organic produce while building a healthy community at the same time," Skinner said on the first d… — "Everybody in the community will have 100% outright access, 24 hours a day. All we are doing is putting in the labor and love. We're giving people free organic produce while building a healthy community at the same time," Skinner said on the first day of Spring as breaking ground got underway.

A Collective Making Healthy Food for Those Most in Need

"We do this as a collective, a group of people in the community and a group of friends." Skinner said. "We grow the food we're growing organically not for ourselves but we give it back to the people, to local bread lines, where the food is not always very healthy, like cupcakes. We do it at a grassroots level. We have zero support except the unity in our collective. We do it with people power and it all started because we would do potlucks at the shelters and we would always do big stews that were all organic and it cost 50 to 75 dollars. It's not a problem for us to do that, it's just we're not wealthy ourselves. A lot of the time we spend here isn't just benefiting us because it feels good, but it actually helps feed your community by sharing organic plant-based produce with the people who are most in need of a healthy meal."

"We're just volunteering, trying to make a difference.  We're just trying to help out the community and learn new skills. It brings people together, and it teaches people how to grow their own food and be more local and more natural," one of th… — "We're just volunteering, trying to make a difference. We're just trying to help out the community and learn new skills. It brings people together, and it teaches people how to grow their own food and be more local and more natural," one of the many volunteers said.

New Volunteers Welcome

"Everyone is welcome," Skinner said. "Everyone is extremely open to teaching the next person. If you don't know the slightest thing about gardening come out here and by the end of the day you will be planting food successfully."

"We're part of a group called Food not Bombs," said Niya Jones, while she prepared pots with friends and fellow activists. "It's going to be more fun when it's warmer, but you have to start early, get the work in."

"We're just trying to help with the community, and make the world a better place and start where we live by planting food," Jones said. "We're going to use this to help with the food we make to feed the homeless every Monday. We use all vegan, all organic food, usually soups, pastas. We try to make food that's healthy and fulfilling at the same time."

"I like getting outside and digging in the dirt," said volunteer and organic farmer Ross Tisevich.

"It shows people we can grow stuff," said anti-pesticide activist and volunteer Ross Tisevich. "Anybody can grow stuff, no matter who you are. It's the way we've been growing food since the beginning of time."

Matt, Happy but Homeless

Story and photo essay by Adrianna Owens

Matt, a homeless man, stands near a shopping center in Reno, trying to get money to afford another night in his motel. Before wiping his eyes, he mentions that he has allergies, and this time of year is hard for him to be on the streets.

Revitalization has been subject to much debate lately, and with talk of renovation in Reno comes talk of homelessness. As discussion rises, people have wondered where the homeless citizens of Reno will go when revitalization takes over.

Matt, a recently homeless man, stands every morning at a shopping center intersection with a sign that reads, “Happy but homeless. God bless.”

“We come out every day to get enough for another night in our room,” he said.

Matt used to stay at the Reno Community Resource Center until they stopped allowing Buggs, his dog, to stay with him. “He comes where I go,” he said.

Buggs, Matt’s faithful companion, has been traveling with him for five years. Just a few days before being photographed, Buggs was bitten by a pitbull, but this didn’t stop him from going on long walks with his owners.

Matt, his girlfriend Tracy (not pictured), and Buggs stick together through tough winters and harsh winds. Though they would much rather stay in their motel room, Matt said that they have to get out of bed every morning so they can climb into bed at night. “We’re just trying to make it,” Matt said.

Where Would You Sleep If You Didn't Have a Home?

photos and text by Monica Gomez for Our Town Reno

Authorities in Sparks are considering shutting down this encampment site, which keeps reappearing, along the Truckee River. Photo by Monica Gomez

In the Reno-Sparks area many people have set up camps along the Truckee river. These camps are home to many people.

Off of Galletti way in the area considered the divide between Reno and Sparks, under the bridge along the Truckee river there are over 15 tents set up.

One of the tents in this encampment has a sign reading 'stop' at its entrance. Photo by Monica Gomez

Some tents even have walkways made out of rocks. One tent had a sign at the entrance that said “stop” to keep people out of their area.

The encampment area along the Truckee River is on the dividing line between Reno and Sparks. Photo by Monica Gomez

People now living here work together to keep the trash out of the river and to keep the area clean.

An uneaten banana was left behind on this day.  Generally, residents of the encampment keep their area clean. Photo by Monica Gomez — An uneaten banana was left behind on this day. Generally, residents of the encampment keep their area clean. Photo by Monica Gomez

You will also find food on rocks such as these bananas. These camps are all these people have. So they make the best of it.

Belongings and tents may soon be removed, but where will the people now living here go? Photo by Monica Gomez

However, the City of Sparks may be taking action to remove these camps. Then the question becomes where will these people go once their homes are removed?

Residents at this encampment site face an uncertain future.  Many homeless in the Reno-Sparks area say they don't like staying in the shelters, where couples aren't allowed, or have nowhere else to put their belongings, or they have pets which … — Residents at this encampment site face an uncertain future. Many homeless in the Reno-Sparks area say they don't like staying in the shelters, where couples aren't allowed, or have nowhere else to put their belongings, or they have pets which can only live with them outside and they can't afford any housing. Photo by Monica Gomez

Gretchen Who is Trying to Recover Faces Displacement

photos by Jose Olivares

Gretchen James, 40, a recovering alcoholic, domestic abuse victim, and pain pill addict has been living for half a year in a rental unit on the 600 block of Lake street in downtown Reno, paid for by a local rehab program.

Gretchen James is staying positive even though she faces displacement from a block with affordable rents, which is about to be demolished to give way to high end student housing. Photo by Jose Olivares

James gets $550 from the program which is what she is paying in rent for her unit, utilities and furniture included. She says it took her several months to find it, and that here, she’s found the friends and strength to finally stay sober. But the unit is part of an old house scheduled to be demolished later this year to give way to high end student housing.

The old house where James is renting has some of the most affordable prices in downtown Reno and is conveniently close to the main bus station. Photo by Jose Olivares

“I’m really worried about it,” James said on a recent Sunday afternoon, while smoking a cigarette on a creaky porch, while other residents filed out for afternoon walks. “It’s putting us in a lurch. I don’t think we should all be kicked out. Right now, I have no idea when I’m going to have to look for another place. I’m a convicted felon, and there’s a lot of places that won’t take felons.”

A graffiti on the block set for demolition reads "The Struggle's Real". Many current residents said they heard about the plan for student housing in the newspaper.  Photo by Jose Olivares. — A graffiti on the block set for demolition reads "The Struggle's Real". Many current residents said they heard about the plan for student housing in the newspaper. Photo by Jose Olivares.

James says the price and the location of her unit near Reno’s bus station works well for her, as she also gets a bus pass to go to her different service providers.

A Very Difficult Past

James spent 15 months in prison in the state in 2011 and 2012 for altering a prescription for Oxycontin. She says she then ‘violated’ her parole when she tried to commit suicide by mixing alcohol and Ambien.

After that, she bounced around different rehab programs in Reno and lived in the women’s homeless shelter in Reno for a while.

James is trying hard to get her life back on track, but says the forthcoming displacement will be a serious challenge.  Photo by Jose Olivares — James is trying hard to get her life back on track, but says the forthcoming displacement will be a serious challenge. Photo by Jose Olivares

Hard Times at the Women's Homeless Shelter

“There’s lots of stealing in there,” James said. “You can’t have any nice things or money or anything like that. We had lockers but if you have anything out on the bed and don’t think about it, it’s gone. When you live in the shelter you get street smart, you learn to survive.”

A view of the old home where James and other current residents live, scheduled to be bulldozed away.

Out of a Job, But in Rehab and Still Hopeful

James lost her most recent job at a phone survey company due to health problems. She is bipolar, and still suffers from depression and severe anxiety. She has weak ankles, but is avoiding pain medication. James has a degree in office medical technology and hopes to get a clerical job. She also wants to get another degree.

What drives her to remain positive, she says, is seeing her three kids again, who live with her estranged husband, elsewhere in Nevada.

Hoping to See Her Kids Again

“I want to see my kids and if I relapse, then it’s not happening, it’s not worth it to me. I already went to prison and basically, my husband, he was abusive anyway, so it’s probably a good thing we’re not together, but basically, I haven’t seen them for five-six years. If I drink or do drugs, I’m going to lose them and then it’s just a matter of when you live in the shelter a couple of times, you just get a kind of a will .”

The block of old homes with affordable rentals scheduled to be bulldozed away is close to lots of services and the bus station.

Fighting for Custody and Her Life

James has a pro bono lawyer helping her out try to get custody of her children. But she’s afraid being forced out of her current unit will turn her life upside down, just as she’s trying so hard to get her life back on track. She says on this block there are many other stories just as difficult as hers

Another home on the cutting block.  James says a lot of elderly resident live on the block, and will also be in a lurch to find rentals at similar prices, after they are displaced. — Another home on the cutting block. James says a lot of elderly resident live on the block, and will also be in a lurch to find rentals at similar prices, after they are displaced.

Kyle, Looking for a Fresh Start

photo and interview by Dani Rawson

“My family’s not here, I’m getting a divorce right now. Now I’m just on my own. I’ve got a buddy who’s going through the same thing right now and we’re about to get a place together, just to start fresh you know? I’m not a deadbeat dad yet. I am sti… — “My family’s not here, I’m getting a divorce right now. Now I’m just on my own. I’ve got a buddy who’s going through the same thing right now and we’re about to get a place together, just to start fresh you know? I’m not a deadbeat dad yet. I am still going to take care of my kids. Always going to take care of my kids.”

Angela, a teenager homeless on the streets with Rose, her service dog

photos and interview by Jose Olivares

“I’ve been homeless off and on for seven years… I grew up with my mom when I was younger and she got back on drugs. I then moved in with my dad who was abusive, so I would sleep outside.”

Angela Joyce is 19 years old and has been homeless since she was 12. She is currently experiencing homelessness with Rose, her service dog, and Travis, her fiancée.

Rose, her service dog, has been assisting and keeping Angela company while she lives on the street.

On Being Homeless and Having a Service Dog: “It’s been hard, especially now with my service dog. No one understands what it’s like to be homeless and have a service animal. For the last—almost two months—I’ve been sleeping on one of those plastic chairs and she sleeps on the floor. She's been very loving.“

“I have PTSD because my biological dad, when I did stay at his house—he used to be physically and mentally abusive. When I get anxiety attacks, I black out. So [Rose] wraps her leash around me and pins me to the ground so I don’t walk out into traff… — “I have PTSD because my biological dad, when I did stay at his house—he used to be physically and mentally abusive. When I get anxiety attacks, I black out. So [Rose] wraps her leash around me and pins me to the ground so I don’t walk out into traffic.”

Her Fiancee

Angela’s fiancée, Travis has recently started working in order to get them back on their feet. According to Angela, she’s known Travis since she was only four years old. She would make chocolate chip cookies with her Easy-Bake oven for him. They recently met up again and have been together since.

“Homelessness doesn’t mean heartlessness. We’re still people. Just because you have a fancy house, doesn’t mean anyone can get it that easy.”

On Being Young and Homeless: “[Being young and homeless] is hard because you can’t go anywhere without being noticed. I’m only 19 so I can’t sit in the casinos. I can’t sit at the bus station because there’s a time limit and it’s cold out.”

On Helping Others: Whenever she has an extra plate of food, she makes sure to give it away: “Why have more than I need when someone else has less?”

Her Dreams of a Future Home

Although her present situation may be grim, Angela looks to the future with positivity and hope. “In the end, I’ll be able to sleep knowing that it’s not going to last forever. Working hard, I know I’m going to get somewhere.” Angela smiles as she thinks of her future home. “I love to cook, I can’t wait to cook.”

Photos and Interview by Jose Olivares

Reno residents and old homes on the Cutting Block

Two of the residents from the downtown Reno block between Center and Lake streets which will soon be bulldozed away walk through an alley which will also be gone. The red dotted trees will also be cut down, to give way for high end student housing.

A father of nine plays dominoes online with his friend who is in prison from his cracked smartphone, while his youngest sons scramble onto a sidewalk on Center street lined with broken glass.

A small home with a basement made of river rock is one of the homes on the cutting block.

A homeless man who says he got kicked out of the city’s main shelter after a fight scavenges through a trash bin in the alley.

Trees have red dots on them, seemingly indicating these will be cut down, while the old homes have no trespassing signs.

A young woman knocks on a door saying she is looking to get inside her friend’s place to take a shower, even though she says his unit is full of cockroaches.

A casino workers sits on his stoop smoking a cigarette, saying it’s nice to live downtown, close to his work and the bus station, but that at night, drunks, low-level criminals and drug addicts come through.

Some of the nicer looking rental units are also doomed for demolition, giving way to high end student housing.

A few elderly women hurriedly scatter out of old dilapidated, pastel colored homes to walk their dogs.

Friends who are going through rehab and live in units next to each other hug on a creaky porch, with no trespassing signs all around them.

Several rehab patients live in this old home, helping each other stay sober while taking nearby buses to service providers.

There are no signs though indicating all these residents will soon have to move.

The entire block, old houses, some small, some palatial in their day, as well as several quaint apartment buildings, adorned with flags, and rows of neat mailboxes, will soon be bulldozed away. A massive apartment building is being planned on the entire block between Sixth and Seventh streets and Center and Lake streets. Majestic trees all have red dots on them, seemingly indicating they will soon be cut down.

This downtown neighborhood with its broken white fences and very affordable housing will soon have more expensive, gleaming high rise student housing.

Reports indicate the new student high rise, high end housing will have a rooftop pool and an indoor golf simulator, continuing the trend of turning the university journey into a more expensive country club experience.

The demolition could begin as soon as this Summer, but most current residents say they haven’t been given official notice. Some say they expect some bonus rent money. The casino worker says his landlord has promised to move him to a nearby location at a similar price.

A change of address will soon be needed for current residents who pay between $500 and $600 a month to live in the soon to be demolished downtown neighborhood, including utilities.

Most current residents say they are paying between $500 to $600 including utilities, and that it will be very difficult for them to find affordable rentals close to the downtown services they rely on. Some say their landlord doesn’t do much upkeep, but that he’s lenient when payments are late. Others say it’s one of the few blocks, where, even if you have a criminal record and very bad credit, you can still rent.

A Renoite wonders where all the people will go. Dozens and dozens of residents, from students, to families, to old retirees, currently live in this downtown Reno block set for demolition.

The father of nine, who struggles to make ends meet with carpentry jobs, says his little house has a great backyard play area, and a basement made up of river rock from the Truckee river. He’s not sure the student housing will have such history. He also know his current family play area will be gone.

Memories of this old house will remain, but not its physical structure.

Where will these families, residents barely making enough to get by, patients currently in rehab go to live when and if the block does get demolished? What about the old homes and the old trees which will be bulldozed away? Is this our town Reno?

Stephen Walker, A Homeless Vet with PTSD

photo and interview by Marina Princeau in downtown Reno

"I have PTSD and I am trying to fight for my disability. Eventually I would like to be a 49er NFL football coach."

Change and Loss

by Deborah Achtenberg

(Deborah Achtenberg has lived in Reno since 1982 and blogs at Seeing Reno. Last Saturday, she visited the area between Lake and Center streets and Sixth and Seventh streets--soon to be the site of The Standard at Reno, a privately owned housing unit for students.)

What do we lose when we bulldoze a neighborhood?

A usable past. The elegance of a bygone era, for example. From it, we dream of elegance for a new one.

And, a place to live. People live in the neighborhood! One man, who wouldn't let me photograph him, said he'll be homeless.

The Standard at Reno, a privately owned development, will be there soon instead, providing high-rise, high-end housing for students. The national corporation that is building it likely will sell it quickly at a profit.

Change involves loss, of course--but for whom? And how is loss allocated? Who has a right to a home? And who has a right to the city?

"Accent", a Street Mentor for Homeless Youths

Photo and Interview by Dani Rawson

Thrown Out on the Streets

“I was 13 when I was thrown out in the streets of Reno. My mom she was a bit of a crackhead, she died four and a half years ago, today. In those types of situations when you're 13 and on the streets there’s not much much to do but try to survive."

14 Years Later

"I am 27 now and I’ve been doing this for 15 years, but I am always keepin' my head up high…I try to take care of the little people, the kids that don't have a place to go or are angry at their parents. I’ve put a lot of countless hours into these kids out here. To become a public figure to these kids, it really means a lot because not a lot of these kids have a figure to look up to."

Helping Homeless and At-Risk Kids

"Some of these kids parents are too far into drugs or are to worried about their work to teach them something. And I’ve kind of made it my mission to make them [the homeless youth] to look at me and say “You know, if Accent did it this way, then maybe we can do it that way and maybe get somewhere” That's all I’m trying to do. Doing it for the kids who have no one to go to, no one to talk to."

A Mission in Life

"I made it my mission to do that [be a figure]. I don't want to see this kids out here when they are older. I want to see them accomplishing great things, going to college, to do whatever they want to do. A lot of people forget about these kids out here and I want them not to forget.”

Photo and Interview by Dani Rawson