Niesha, Guerrilla Gardening and Activist Camping Along the River

While glowing media reports about police outreach were quickly followed by citations to homeless living along the Truckee River in Sparks, activists with the local Food Not Bombs chapter decided to increase their presence there.

Niesha Jones (center) goes up and down the path along the Truckee River with other activists to help the homeless living there.

This past Monday, in addition to holding their weekly evening food and water distribution at Fisherman’s Park, activists also pitched a tent within other tents further along the river path to have a permanent, around the clock place for monitoring and support teams.

Setting up the Tent: Niesha and other activists found a flat spot with enough shadow where they could have an on the ground base of operations to help others.

The activists also started guerrilla gardening cucumbers and tomato vines.

Our Town Reno interviewed Niesha, who also works in Reno with Resource Action Programs, building kits to teach children how to save energy and water.

The activists with Food Not Bombs try to establish pesticide free, public gardens wherever they can.

What was your reaction to last week’s positive media reports about police outreach within the encampments?

The media portrays the police as trustworthy so of course no one is going to question it. Second, the police are trying to be looked at in a better light because of everything that’s happening in America right now. Anytime they have a good story they put it out there.

Niesha (r) takes part in healthy food distribution for the homeless at Fisherman's Park every Monday evening.

How do you think most people view the homeless among us?

Everywhere in America right now people are thinking of homeless people not as people but just as a thing, a homeless, not what their name is. When they do see the homeless they usually don’t know how much they are in need. They don’t bother to find out. Most of Reno doesn’t know about the situation here.

The activist camp is set up with a cardboard message for police. Photo provided by Food Not Bombs.

Why is it important to help the homeless?

We all have our time when we are down and out. We all need help, whether we want to ask for it or not. Homeless people need that same help. Even just talking to them. If you don’t have time to come join us on Monday evenings, you can still come here and pass out your own water bottles and sandwiches.

More plants for the homeless, who said they appreciated the help and healthy food.

Photos and Interview by Our Town Reno, July 2016, along the Truckee River in Sparks

City Council OKs Motel Demolition Despite Vocal Opposition

Inside Reno City Council Chambers, July 6, 2016

The mayor's 'favorite artist' Rich VanGogh was disappointed by Hillary Schieve and the three other council members who were present on July 6, 2016, after they approved city funds to demolish two downtown Virginia street motels. The properties the motels now occupy will remain in the ownership of the mysterious group called the Northern Nevada Urban Development company.

In the rear view mirror: Despite opposition from vocal activists that Reno was putting profits over people, City Council approved the use of blight funds to demolish these two motels on Virginia Street, even though they will remain in the property o… — In the rear view mirror: Despite opposition from vocal activists that Reno was putting profits over people, City Council approved the use of blight funds to demolish these two motels on Virginia Street, even though they will remain in the property of a group of developers who have refused recent offers to sell their downtown lots. The Mayor said the demolition would give the city more leverage on the razed areas, as developers would eventually need to pay back the demolition cost.

The demolition approval, which took just seconds after more than 90 minutes of public comment, gave those against, including VanGogh, a heightened sense of loss and misguided priorities.

"They're going to use $230-thousand dollars. I am still totally opposed to it. I would much rather see that money go to ending blight in another way, not by tearing something down but by fixing something up."

VanGogh, who unsuccessfully ran for the Ward 1 council seat in the most recent primary, brought some of his views to City Council on July 6, 2016

VanGogh gave the example of the Art Deco historic district in Miami as an example to think about, with its saved 1920s, 30s and 40s structures .

"I know we can't compare these two things but if you look at all the mom and pop hotels on 4th street and you rehab them all as a set, that's a weird funky kind of architecture that we're known for, that's part of our shtick so I think they should fix them up and put that money to some other use," he said.

City Council members were shown photos of the motel structures they decided to demolish as part of a "fight on blight" and remaking downtown.

Councilman Oscar Delgado used the word "slumlords" to describe the developers, who are usually only identified as a group of 62 investors who bought several downtown properties and lots pre-recession. Real estate developer Ken Krater called them "mom and pop investors". Delgado said he would have saved other motels, but that these were on Virginia Street, which he called the main corridor essential to Reno.

Media reports usually indicate the group had plans to build a large mixed-use development, but it never happened. Their website has contact information and a tagline that reads "The Reno Renaissance".

Before the vote, activists spoke about keeping all opportunities for affordable housing intact and not helping developers with city money. Representatives of business interests and city staff spoke in favor of the demolition.

Fuzz, Looking Out for Homeless Friends and Wary of Police

Along the Truckee River near the Sparks/Reno Line, July 4, 2016

Kenneth Norton, better known as Fuzz, says homeless here just want to be left alone, but that they face constant police harassment. July 4, 2016

Visiting Friends on Independence Day

It’s July 4th, 2016, and Kenneth Norton, better known as “Fuzz”, is visiting homeless friends living in tents and sleeping bags along the Truckee River bank opposite the Grand Sierra Resort, making sure everyone is ok on Independence Day. For these area residents permanently living in the outdoors, though, the long weekend did not get off to a good start.

One day after positive media reports came out about police, homeless residents here say they were issued citations for illegal camping. July 4, 2016

Calling Police 'Help' Into Question

Last Friday, one day after media in Reno released glowing reports about Sparks and Reno police doing outreach here coinciding with the opening of a new overflow shelter, he says many received citations for illegal camping. Most, he says, ripped up the citations, even though they are due to appear in court later this month.

“They started ticketing us for being out here, for being around the river, for camping, for being homeless. They are telling us to move on out of town.”

As homeless camping areas have increasingly been fenced off or disbanded in Reno, many tents are now on the Sparks side of the Truckee river bank. July 4, 2016

Staying Away from Shelters, But Having to Deal with Police

Norton, like most others here, doesn’t want to stay in a shelter, where pets, like the two dogs he has as companions, aren’t allowed. He also say the shelters are dirty with lots of stealing going on.

Despite the recent media reports, Norton says police haven’t been friendly at all.

“They’ve been harassing us really early in the morning, often before five in the morning, honking their horns. They don’t come out to check if we are ok. They just want us to leave.”

Norton has been living here over a year, and he says there have been several unpleasant interactions with police.

“If we don’t fit in their society and their standards, we’re nothing to them, we’re just considered pests. Last year, two police officers started ripping up tents one morning, until someone said something and we asked for their sergeant’s badge number. They didn’t give it to us. They just left.”

Many homeless here say they rip up the citations they receive.  They say they keep the area clean, and want to be left alone. July 4, 2016 — Many homeless here say they rip up the citations they receive. They say they keep the area clean, and want to be left alone. July 4, 2016

Out of Prison, Into the Wild

Norton says he makes some money recycling cans, but since being released from a more than six-year prison stint in 2006, and losing access to his children, this is the lifestyle he prefers. Several times a month, he will pool resources with other friends here to get a motel room, take showers and clean up before returning to the river's bank.

In addition to police, Norton says there’s also a “homeless vigilante” from the nearby trailer park, who once shot his brother, wounding him seriously, and who keeps waking people up with a gun in their face telling them to get off the river.

Fuzz returns to his own spot along the river after checking up on his friends. July 4, 2016

Feeling Scorn

Fuzz also feels scorn from people who aren’t homeless walking down the river path.

“People from the quote unquote normal society, they’ve got jobs, they ride their bikes up and down the path. Everybody’s polite to them, but it seems they just don’t like the sight of us.”

What’s his message to police and local politicians?

“Leave us alone out here. We’re not doing anything wrong. Sometimes there’s a fight. Someone will get drunk and fight. But we’re not killing each other out here.”

What about a message for regular citizens on this 4th of July?

“Say hi instead of ‘oh gosh’ or say ‘how are you doing today?’ That’s about it. We’re misfits but we’re not bad people. Some of us bite but not all of us.”

Interview and pictures for Our Town Reno, July 4, 2016

Chad Galloway, A Painter in a Motel Room

During the recent Nada Dada, a yearly Reno tradition when local artists rent out motel rooms to display their art from there, painter Chad Galloway was in familiar surroundings: a cramped room of the Town House Motor Lodge on W. 2nd street where he’s been living for the past five years.

Chad poses in front of a work in progress painting possibly called “My Shadow”. “My paintings just come out and end up looking like they do," he said during a recent visit.  This photo was taken during Nada Dada 2016. — Chad poses in front of a work in progress painting possibly called “My Shadow”. “My paintings just come out and end up looking like they do," he said during a recent visit. This photo was taken during Nada Dada 2016.

A Nadaist

For Chad, it makes sense to be a “Nadaist”, even if some years bring more visitors and more sales than others.

“It’s a pretty good idea,” Chad said on a recent morning from inside his motel room, shades drawn, his paintings intricately filling up entire walls. “It’s real good for those of us who aren’t in gallery spaces to show what we can do.”

A detail of his motel room, where Chad's been living for about five years.

A Broken Car

Chad, an Indianapolis native, was driving through Reno in 2007 when his car broke down. He’s been living in the Biggest Little City ever since, and never got another car. He walks to work -- a nearby maintenance engineering job on the graveyard shift, to do his laundry, and up to a mile to go grocery shopping. “It’s good for my health to walk around,” he says.

After deciding to stay in Reno, Chad became an avid photographer taking city shots, before turning to painting two summers ago. “I was going to art galleries, and I saw a lot of other people’s stuff and I was like I can do that.”

His first painting on cardboard was based on an inside joke.

A Self-Taught Painter

His first painting was on cardboard. He watched YouTube tutorials to get tips. “It’s cheaper than going to classes,” he says.

Working with acrylics, oil, spray paint and enamel, he says “it’s fun creatively. I’m just getting started. It’s also a good stress reliever. It relaxes me”

He especially likes to paint mornings after his shift is over, or late at night and into early morning hours when he’s off. To get in the painting groove, he puts on his headphones and listens to “anything but hip-hop. I block out the world,” he says.

The church across the street should be safe if big development comes, but not the motel where Chad lives.

An Uncertain Living Space

Chad's current living arrangement may soon come crashing down though.

If plans to rebuild the entire West Second Street District were to go ahead, Chad says the motel he’s living in could be the first structure to be demolished.

“This would be where it starts at. They can’t tear down the El Cortez (across the way) and they can’t tear down the church (across the street) because those are both historical. It would be starting from this way out. The Greyhound bus station right by would also go.”

Chad says he understands all cities need to grow, but he still has some concerns.

“Some of the abandoned motels need to go. But for the ones still operating it’s going to be hard on the people living there, like the elderly, and your fixed-income people and your druggies.”

Cleaning day at the Motor Lodge. Photo taken in June 2016.

Not an Empty Space

Chad doesn’t like the term ‘empty space’ which is sometimes used to describe his neighborhood.

“It’s not empty space,” he says. “There are people living here, and you’ve got small businesses. I just don’t like that term.”

He knows there are problems though. One Nada Dada artist who stayed at the Motor Lodge for the first time in June complained of waking up with his arm full of bites.

Cheap, convenient and easy to access are some of the reasons many motel rooms fill up in Reno, and serve as housing for Reno's low-income population.

Police and Crazies

“There’s problems here,” Chad says. “If we don’t see the police, it’s not an ordinary day. Police are here a lot. We have a lot of crazies here.”

Chad says most people stay here because it’s fairly affordable and convenient. He says most long term residents pay between $500 and $600 a month. He prefers to pay his sum on a weekly basis, because "if you get kicked out, they don't pay you back for your month."

A detail of some of the paintings covering up Chad's motel room. He says he wouldn't mind becoming a full-time painter if he could sell more of his work.

'Flinging Paint'

Chad says he may ride it out though, and stay in his motel room until he’s forced to go. He says he also plans to keep “on flinging paint. It gives me something to do, and keeps me out of trouble.” But he says he needs to sell more of his paintings or else he might run out of space to put them up in his motel room.

You can follow or contact Chad Galloway here https://www.facebook.com/chad.galloway.9

Interviews and Photos for Our Town Reno, June 2016.

Aria Overli, an Anthropologist Working for a Better 'University Town'

Reno, in the Displacement Block, June 2016

The dilapidated homes are boarded up haphazardly, sidewalks are cracked more than ever, residents are nowhere in sight — but UNR student, “public anthropologist” and activist Aria Overli remains upbeat and clear-minded. She has come along for a few pictures a few days before the landlord's June 30th deadline of turning this entire downtown block into a demolition zone to give way for high end student housing.

Aria Overli is a UNR student who has concerns about how the university and its elected student leaders claim the mantle of speaking on behalf of the entire student body.

Before we leave, mumbling workers spit words in our direction. An agitated woman follows us in her car photographing us.

Many Questions In Search of Better Answers

How did this overall situation come to be? How could Reno be a better university town? What is public anthropology? What was the reaction to Aria's recent Reno Gazette-Journal op-ed titled: “City Council Should Have Prioritized Residents Over Sidewalks”? (Not much actually). Where does Aria's courage to speak out come from? Our Town Reno wanted to find out.

Why do sidewalks usually only get fixed when wealthier individuals come into a long overlooked area?

Rattling Business as Usual in Reno and UNR

Aria, a fast-talking, full of ideas native of Carson City, with a Bachelor’s from UCLA, says she got angry when the Iraq War started back when she was a teenager. She hasn’t looked back since on being a progressive. Aria became involved in the homeless issue in Reno when a group got kicked out from under the Wells Avenue bridge last year.

She also gets angry when elected student leaders and university officials say they speak on behalf of the entire student body. She says Reno and UNR don’t have much of an organizing culture but she wants to help change that and throttle the powers that be to put pressure so there can be more affordable housing and wider access to education.

Homes where ex-convicts and participants in rehab programs could easily get cheap rooms for rent in a convenient downtown area are now all boarded up.

Here are excerpts of a recent Q and A from the safer confines of the off-campus Bibo coffee shop.

What is a public anthropologist?

It’s about going out into the community and effecting change. It’s not just publishing in journals and hoping ideas trickle down to the masses. It’s about trying to be a positive force and providing solutions. (Aria is currently in UNR’s cultural anthropology master’s program). We take people’s words and people’s lives and we try to contextualize these realities within larger systems such as neo-liberalism or capitalism. I work side by side with research participants. They serve as co-authors.

Just walking around and taking pictures from the sidewalk, we were made to feel unwelcome by people working on boarding up homes on the displacement block.

The current displacement on the downtown block has been presented as one part of expanding Reno into a so-called “university town”. What are your current thoughts about this situation?

I don’t oppose the idea of a university town but I see community development as being most productive when all people are included, rather than trying to force people out. This is also a student welfare issue because with rising prices of rent, with a lack of access to high paying jobs, with high amounts of student debt, many students who are graduating are going to be pushed out of living in Reno because they just can’t afford it.

Low-income students were among those living on this soon to be demolished block, where few belongings remain.

How can we make it a better university town then?

I think it’s expanding the idea of education to the community as a whole. We say that education is the key and it is, but when so many people are pushed out of education, then it’s only a key to maintaining the system that exists for the most wealthy and for the most privileged at the moment. When you have a university town, I think it should mean providing university to everyone, regardless of your income, and not just pushing it out so only people who currently have access continue to have access to it, and don’t have to see the people who don’t have access to it, which is basically the tack they are taking now. There should be programs and resources available to the entire community if we are going to make it a university town.

No longer wanted here: Residents on the block are being moved, so the old homes can be demolished and the block can be sold to an out of state developer to build high-end student housing.

How crucial is the issue of affordable housing, including for UNR students?

Students have just as much trouble finding affordable housing. They’ve largely been ignored too. They say this new housing on this block we are talking about will be for students, but at $800 a unit a month, that’s not feasible for most students. The graduate student housing on campus is $1,000 a month usually and so most graduate students can’t afford that when we are being paid $700 a month to teach classes. We need affordable housing downtown.

Time to pack up: City council members have said they are leading a fight on blight, and making Reno into a university town, but some activists worry there is collateral damage, including displacement, and making life more difficult for lower income … — Time to pack up: City council members have said they are leading a fight on blight, and making Reno into a university town, but some activists worry there is collateral damage, including displacement, and making life more difficult for lower income individuals.

What about Reno’s fight on blight?

The city of Reno never saw improving this neighborhood, these sidewalks, these roads as necessary or important for the disabled, the elderly, the low-income students now living here and walking to school until all of a sudden the idea that wealthy students were going to be living here and then all of a sudden it became a priority for them.

We’re concerned with the idea the city only became interested in improving areas when there are going to be wealthy individuals living there and not caring for the communities that need the support. We’re not opposed to the idea of improving communities. We need to be doing this equitably and for all communities and not just for ones we see as bringing in the most wealth into the community.

The sidewalk and everything in it will also soon be gone, as this part of Reno gets glitzier.  But will it lose some of its biggest little city quaint character? — The sidewalk and everything in it will also soon be gone, as this part of Reno gets glitzier. But will it lose some of its biggest little city quaint character?

Is it difficult to be an effective activist in Reno?

Reno is so used to not be challenged on things. There is a lack of an organizing culture here. If we can bring things to the table, people can be thrown off. If we show up at a council meeting, if we can keep this momentum, we can push things at least in a better direction than they’re going.

Interview and pictures for Our Town Reno in June 2016.

Erik Holland, The Nada Dada Mayor of Endangered Motels

Erik Holland wears many hats, including inexhaustible in the field painter of Reno landscapes and landmarks, high school art teacher, hyperlocal political cartoonist, and repeated anti-sprawl mayoral candidate

On this day, Holland is wearing the Nada Dada mayor’s hat and showing off his own art in his “Muses and Music” room on the second floor of the Town House Motor Lodge.

Erik Holland, with one of his works in progress, the sign of the Castaway Inn motel, which faces possible demolition as part of a huge project to redevelop downtown Reno.

Several of his paintings depict signs of old motels which will could soon be demolished, as rapid development takes over the Biggest Little City.

“I love architecture. I enjoy the old architecture, and the stories from inside those buildings,” he explained as the last hours of this Nada Dada concluded.

Details of the Town House Motor Lodge have their own intrinsic vintage art, which could soon all be gone.

Buildings With Stories

One of his works in progress is of the Castaway Inn, where he says one of his friends was once dropped off by his mother at the age of 18, with $300 as a parting gift into the world of drifters, roaming artists, hard luck gamblers and other characters who make up a Reno motel’s long term population. His friend ended up with lots of street savvy and later two master’s degrees.

Bright Lights: Holland, being interviewed by KOLO 8 News Now on Sunday June 19, 2016, has been a constant advocate for the arts and outdoors in Reno.

One of the founders of Nada Dada, which recently concluded its 10th anniversary, Holland was again appointed as “Dada Mayor d’Esprawlius”.

He was energized by the 15 or so new artists who joined veteran "Nadistas" showcasing art in rented out motel rooms and collective art spaces spread around downtown Reno.

Positives and Negatives

“The most positive aspect this year is the number of new artists and for them a chance to see what it’s like to show their art,” he said, in between a tv interview and a visit from potential buyers.

But he was downbeat about how some of the buildings and motels he paints could soon be on the cutting block. “So much is going on, you have to pick and choose your battles. I’d be really upset if the El Cortez Hotel went down,” he said.

Painting the El Cortez Hotel across the street while hoping it doesn't go down. Photo from June 19, 2016, as Nada Dada concluded its 10th edition.

Responsibilities

Holland is also worried about those about to be displaced, including artists. “I’m not against development but I’m very sensitive to the plight of the dislocated. We have to help them and they have to help themselves. One of my main priorities now is also not to let Nada Dada down,” he concluded.

While it got lots of media attention, Nada Dada also had a lot of competition this year in an increasingly crowded mid-June cultural calendar.

When Holland ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2006 and 2014, he envisioned an accessible artistic city with enhanced public transit connecting residents to each other and to the great outdoors. His art and the art of Nada Dada are a testament to a perpetually reborn and rebranded city, but one which could now price out the artists and vintage buildings which give it so much of its unique character.

Jounda Strong: The Time and Courage to Create Daisies

When Jounda Strong finds out art she’s been preparing for an upcoming invitational show needs to be about “Panic!”, a directive theme she forgot about, she knows how to rebound.

She’s been through much more difficult personal straits.

Most recently, last December, the 49-year-old found out she was being “downsized” from her 9 to 5 job, after working in customer service, retail and IT marketing.

“It was frightening,” Jounda remembers of the recent time after she just lost her salaried job.  “My household income was cut in half.  I went out to look for work and I was told I needed to dumb down my resume. I was told I wasn’t going t… — “It was frightening,” Jounda remembers of the recent time after she just lost her salaried job. “My household income was cut in half. I went out to look for work and I was told I needed to dumb down my resume. I was told I wasn’t going to make what I’ve been used to making. I was told I needed to take my (ear) gages out, I couldn’t wear rings. But I’m 49 years old. I don’t want to play that game anymore.” She is now a resident artist at Reno Art Works.

Breaking Free

Jounda decided to “break free of the chains” and also “shatter the myth of the starving artist.”

In addition to selling an early painting before “the paint was even dry”, Strong also now has time to reinvigorate other passions.

Work in Progress: “These are my stories, my perspective of how I see life, how I see the journey.  So today it might be dark but by the end of the day it has that happy place.  I know there’s hope somewhere. There’s light.” — Work in Progress: “These are my stories, my perspective of how I see life, how I see the journey. So today it might be dark but by the end of the day it has that happy place. I know there’s hope somewhere. There’s light.”

Teaching Meditation, Self-Expression and Helping the Homeless

If she’s not at the Reno Art Works compound on Dickerson Avenue, you can sometimes find Jounda leading meditation sessions with young women at the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project home, giving tours at the new LGBTQA Our Center, or feeding the homeless on a Saturday afternoon with the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality.

Helping Hands: “There’s a lot of people in the community who are hungry. Going out on Saturdays and helping with the free store (of donated clothes and other items), and feeding the people, it’s remarkable.  There are some amazing people you ge… — Helping Hands: “There’s a lot of people in the community who are hungry. Going out on Saturdays and helping with the free store (of donated clothes and other items), and feeding the people, it’s remarkable. There are some amazing people you get to know every week. They become your friends.”

Being Present in the Moment, Whatever the Chaos

Jounda started the meditation classes this Spring to keep young women, some of them who have been living on the streets, “present in the moment, away from chaos and drama.”

“The drive comes from having been a single mom, and having raised two girls, and seeing what they went through,” she explains. “My house was the place everybody went to. I was always working with young people who were in crisis or their parents just weren’t present. It’s a passion for the youth, to show them they matter, that their ideas are important and have value. it doesn’t matter what the noise is. They can be present and ground themselves.”

“Miss M.” is Jounda’s muse. She represents a friend who was forced into prostitution when she was 8, and became homeless.

She hopes to soon begin a “Painting Through Recovery” workshop at the Our Center, to help people overcome their own traumas, or traumas of loved ones, by telling their evolving stories through art.

Another work in progress: “I have an idea here with charcoal ash, I want to create smog. But then down here, I want to create some daisies. It doesn’t matter how dark, or gloomy or smoggy it is; there’s a light, there’s hope, there’s a ray of … — Another work in progress: “I have an idea here with charcoal ash, I want to create smog. But then down here, I want to create some daisies. It doesn’t matter how dark, or gloomy or smoggy it is; there’s a light, there’s hope, there’s a ray of sunshine.”

Hopes and Concerns for Reno

Jounda, a native Midwesterner who has been in Reno for four years, worries about some of the current trends in the biggest little city, including the displacement of low-income residents from downtown areas.

“There has to be a solution. They have to go somewhere. Displacing them to the river or the streets it’s not acceptable. There are some solutions on the table. I hope there will be solutions for elderly people and others and they won’t end up being homeless, that they will have a place to go. There’s conversations being had, so I have hope.”

Signature art.  Jounda's work can be found here http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jounda-strong.html — Signature art. Jounda's work can be found here http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jounda-strong.html

The Role of Artists in Reno

But she appreciates the current surge of art and artists here.

“It’s a way for people to express themselves, to tell their stories and it starts conversations. That’s what we need. We have not had those conversations, We’re often afraid to have them. Art starts those.”

Despite gloomy realities, Jounda refuses to be a pessimist.

Here's an additional Q and A Our Town Reno did this month with Jounda Strong at her communal studio space.

Can art be too loaded in its messaging?

“I don’t think anything is too loaded. More and more people are waking up. Let people say what they need to say and sometimes than can only be said in a picture, and then let’s stand around and have a conversation about it.”

Do artists play a role in Reno’s uncertain future?

“We all play a part, be it small or be it large, whatever that role is. When we know better, we do better. We can’t put our heads in the sand anymore. We have our work to do. Whether it’s feeding the homeless or painting a picture, or teaching, or holding a workshop, or painting with kids, whatever it is you are called to do, do it and do it with everything you have."

Do you miss anything from your pre-artist life?

“I didn’t have a choice. The company I worked for took my position away, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have the time time to volunteer and I have the time to create. My wife is incredibly supportive. I couldn’t do it without her. I tell people if you have the urge, do it, the 9 to 5 can kill you.”

Note: Questions and answers from the June 2016 in person interview were trimmed and rearranged for clarity.

A Block's Countdown to Demolition and Final Displacement

The displacement block in downtown Reno between 6th and 7th streets and Center and Lake has turned into a ghost town on this sunny, dry 1st of June. By the end of the month, residents won’t be allowed here anymore, their rents terminated, opening the way for the entire block to be sold to an out of state developer and eventually bulldozed away.

Residents on the block have one month to leave.  Rents here are among the most affordable in downtown Reno. June 1, 2016 — Residents on the block have one month to leave. Rents here are among the most affordable in downtown Reno. June 1, 2016

There’s a bra strewn in the middle of the block’s main alley, which will soon be gone to give way for a high rise student compound. A wooden fence has collapsed into a walkway. Overgrown trees benefited from a wet winter and spring but will soon also be chopped down.

These overgrown trees will soon be chopped down as well. June 1, 2016

There’s new graffiti and wooden planks dotting the old disheveled homes, which for years have served as affordable housing, even if infested by cockroaches, for those who can’t afford anything else, and want to be close to their casino jobs or within walking distance of the main bus terminal and many of the city’s services for Reno’s neediest, ex-convicts, and wayward addicts.

Repairs no longer needed here apparently. June 1, 2016

Mike Thornton, from the ACTIONN advocacy group, says he believes many recent residents have already left. He has gone around the block a few times with other volunteers, canvassing, and putting residents in contact with Washoe Legal Services. Thornton says even if they have already moved, the most recent residents here may still be eligible for relocation assistance.

A recent screengrab from ACTIONN's Facebook page.

ACTIONN has also started organizing Renoites who live in the many downtown weeklies, many of them low-income residents, seniors, and disabled.

“We’re at the front end of a potential tsunami of redevelopment here in Reno. Let’s be smart. Let’s not do savage gentrification. Let’s be smart and do socially equitable development. Let’s do the smart things because this is our town. We want it to be a place where all of our residents are treated with dignity and respect,” Thornton said.

A collage of photos from the displacement block in downtown Reno. June 1, 2016. Thornton says many weeklies in which many seniors, low-income residents and the disabled now live will soon be demolished as well.

The anti-gentrification proponent says it’s time to start pressuring Reno’s City Council for long term affordable housing solutions.

“We really are hoping to get the citizens of Reno, and City Council, and developers to understand that you can do socially equitable development and do that in a way that’s forward-looking, so the city can be redeveloped but at the same time that redevelopment includes stable permanent housing, that people can move into.”

Interview and photos for Our Town Reno from June 1, 2016

Jenny Brekhus and Reno's Future: "Being in Charge of Our Own Destiny"

Jenny Brekhus is running for re-election for the Ward 1 seat on Reno’s city council (with a looming primary on June 14). Brekhus believes that as city centers become attractive again, we need to “start envisioning the next generation of housing”, while also “reimagining urban investment” and effectively helping retailers with a rapidly changing landscape.

Brekhus, this week in the middle of a morning dog walk, believes among other things in artists, walkable downtown areas, effective planning, affordable housing, and her own re-election.

As this development boom began later in Reno than elsewhere, Brekhus says the city is in a good position to make sure affordable options still exist for the less affluent among us, including those barely making ends meet and for the city’s creative, artistic class. She also views this situation in the bigger context of stagnating incomes.

Brekhus recently wrote an opinion article about how “urban vibrancy doesn’t happen by accident.” She’s viewed by some anti-gentrification activists as the lone progressive voice on council. Our Town Reno wanted to find out more.

A sign for another competitor in the Ward 1 race, Victor Salcido. He recently announced on his Facebook page an endorsement from the Retail Association of Nevada.

Big developments are being talked about around Reno, and there are many concerns about affordability issues going forward. What is your sense on the current specifics?

This being Nevada, boom and bust is in our DNA. We’re back on a familiar trajectory. But this development cycle is different for a number of reasons. One in particular is all the energy and interest across cities is currently more urban. There are demographic trends going on in terms of aging baby boomers, more millennials, which is promoting different housing and service needs. Post-recession, it’s almost like Reno’s axis has somewhat tilted toward the northern California economy and that’s exciting too.

This so-called Tesla effect brings in the growth we are seeing, and also challenges and opportunities. The challenges are how to stem the tide of suburban sprawl development and maintaining your housing affordability edge which is really why we are seeing investment come from northern California.

The opportunity is that it’s a once in a lifetime generational chance to diversify our economy once and for all, so we’re resilient, people don’t have to leave our community in the next downturn, and kids who graduate from our universities have opportunities for jobs here.

One of the old homes on the cutting block in downtown Reno which will soon be replaced by high-end student housing. Where will current residents go?

What about the old motels, cheaper residential units and old homes which seem to be on the cutting block and which do offer more accessible housing options for many?

Housing affordability at all levels is a huge concern. Lots of people look at downtown housing and they think well that’s affordable housing. Those motels were a part of our dominant economy when it was about motorists coming to and through Reno. But as higher level towers and resorts got built those transitioned into housing. They are just a form of affordable housing that you see in our urban neighborhoods.

You’ll also see a lot of older houses that have been sliced into three or four boarding house units or back alley units. It’s a diverse and important housing stock which has created affordability to many working people.

It is a concern if we lose that because then you get issues of displacement, where are your lower income individuals, whether it’s service sector workers or people on Social Security, where are they going to live with their income levels? What is going to be replacing that? That is a real tough question I think we are really starting to ask and wonder about.

Finding housing for homeless youths and those aged out of the foster care system has been a concern for those working at the You in downtown Reno. Youths who are working but don't have a family support system often can't afford permanent housing.

Does the affordability issue go beyond city power?

I think the conversation about housing affordability is two-fold. It certainly is housing supply, displacement, gentrification, but I think also there’s this larger context that cities aren't necessarily a big part of, but they are trying to help with as well, and that is wage stagnation and income stagnation.

Large percentages of the workforce, and retired folks, when you drill down to those monthly incomes, don’t really have enough for housing costs, and there’s just not the right product for them. Is it a housing cost issue or is it an income issue?

Cities are at the forefront of the minimum wage movement, and are trying to address that, but it’s also a bigger conversation and I think that is something that can be better handled at other government levels.

More and more hearings are taking place at the city level to determine the future of lots, houses, buildings and entire neighborhoods.

Are you still optimistic for the future and can Reno avoid some of the pitfalls we’ve seen elsewhere during the current development boom?

I’m spending quite a bit of time thinking of that and thinking about how maybe our wide open western mountain spaces could provide us to be a template for urban living that you just haven’t seen in other environments.

Even a place like Austin, Texas, where there’s a sense there’s a lot of creativity there, they’ve done a disastrous job in their transportation planning and they’ve made a tangled mess of things.

I think the opportunity of booming later and getting hot later is that we can really be in charge of our own destiny. We are thankful about it, and know where we need to be, and we can take best examples from other places, and that’s the progression I’d like to move on in the next term.

Note: Questions have been rearranged and answers trimmed for clarity. The interview took place in person on May 25, 2016.

Ben Castro and RISE: Helping Volunteers Help the Houseless

This past Saturday, the sun broke through days of steady rain, as volunteers and organizations served healthy, home cooked food to hundreds of people in need in the Reno community at the downtown shelter location, while others put away hangers after another successful “free market” where donated clothes, toiletries and comfort items found a new home.

Do you have a title? "We don’t really like titles.  Officially, I’m the president and executive director but I wouldn’t recommend anyone take that too seriously.  It’s a team effort." — Do you have a title? "We don’t really like titles. Officially, I’m the president and executive director but I wouldn’t recommend anyone take that too seriously. It’s a team effort."

Families and children were there both helping and receiving help. People talked to each other and ate together at tables. It wasn’t always clear who had come to volunteer and who was being helped. Some were doing both.

This is how Ben Castro envisioned it when in 2012 he helped launch the nonprofit RISE, the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality, a local hands-on grassroots initiative, which according to its website seeks “to cultivate a greater sense of dignity and humility” as well as “create a stronger community through the use of shared resources and mutual aid.”

RISE-organized community potlucks are held every Saturday starting at 5 p.m., except for the second Saturday of every month, where another group manages food distribution.

Which such exemplary guiding principles, Our Town Reno wanted to find out more.

Where does the motivation come from?

It’s a bunch of people getting around a table and solving all the world’s problems. But when you get tired of petitioning, you get tired of voting, you get tired of writing letters, eventually with the limited effectiveness you get with that, you figure you know what, we’re just going to roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.

Ultimately, some people call it a calling. I would just say it’s something that lives inside of you and that you can’t continue life without letting that out. We just have a desire to alleviate suffering and to bear witness to that.

"Anybody can serve," Castro says. "Anybody can volunteer. You have to let the volunteer do it the way they want to. The way we see it is that we just raised a flag. We're all good people here and then we wait for the good people to come join us."

How has RISE evolved over the years?

Making sure people get adequate and nutritious food is no longer our biggest obstacle. Now it’s about bringing awareness to the fact that we have a situation here and nobody really wants to tackle it. I think the whole strategy now is that ok there is really no one or perfect answer on how we deal with homelessness and extreme poverty. It’s a structural issue. It’s a systemic issue. But we believe that as long as more people are aware of the different factors that cause homelessness then together we might be able to start to alleviate that moving forward.

Another successful day for the "free market", at least the one RISE organizes.

Is a better job market helping?

OK people are starting to get employed but when you’re looking at part-time minimum wage jobs you still can’t afford housing, you still can’t afford basic medical care, basic necessities. The real root issues are livable wages and affordable housing. Until we tackle that, we’re always going to have homeless issues.

With all the changes happening in Reno right now, are there new concerns?

Reno is starting to expand really heavily. There’s a lot of outside influence and a lot of outside investments that are moving into this town. I think it’s important for our leaders to demand something for the people who are coming into this town. Yes, we want your business. We want you to come here and employ our people. But at the same time we’re not going to bend over backwards just so you are going to come in and take advantage of all the tax havens or the resources we have here. One of our biggest resources are the locals and the people who live here.

While Castro says the food situation is much better now in Reno, shelter for all is the new priority. "Shelter is what we really need now," he says. "I was at a meeting the other day and somebody asked me what is the biggest thing that the houseless… — While Castro says the food situation is much better now in Reno, shelter for all is the new priority. "Shelter is what we really need now," he says. "I was at a meeting the other day and somebody asked me what is the biggest thing that the houseless population needs. I said homes. So that’s what we’re pushing for."

Are there any big picture solutions out there?

Land trusts is something that’s coming up recently to where basically plots of land are reserved for a decent quality of life. There’s a lot of momentum behind tiny house villages which has a lot of potential as well if done right.

Really though, it’s a cultural problem. I think our society suffers from this very selfish drive. We shouldn’t be living in that civilization anymore. We’re more advanced than that now. I think our attitudes need to match our technology. There is no reason for there to be such deep poverty in this nation. There’s no justifiable reason for that.

"Sympathy and empathizing with other people is one of the biggest things we try to accomplish," Castro says.

Finally, what do you say to people who say the homeless are dirty, they’re addicts, they’re hurting tourism and new developments?

I wish people would imagine if they had to take everything they owned and walk around with that all day, and worry about where they are going to go to the bathroom or where they are going to sleep that night, not being harassed by other individuals or by law enforcement.

It gets really hard when you get down to that level. It’s really hard to get out of it, especially with this negative attitude that people have that somehow they deserve to be there and somehow they did this to themselves.

Most people understand how it could be them. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck. Most people are scared to death of being homeless. These people aren’t going out there robbing liquor stores. They’re not selling drugs. They’re not trying to break and enter into people’s houses. The people who are doing those crimes are the ones who are afraid to be homeless. Everybody down here would rather be homeless as opposed to hurt other people.

Note: Parts of the questions and answers for this interview were trimmed. The Interview was conducted in Reno in person on May 6, 2016.

Chris Wyatt Scott, An Artist Building Tiny Homes for the Homeless

An Artist on a Mission: Chris Wyatt Scott took part in last month's 4th street parade, and spent the rest of the day building a tiny home with discarded wood he found in the downtown Reno area.

During the recent 4th street parade, “all-around artist” Chris Wyatt Scott followed burners on stilts, floats and on motorized recliners, pushing a shopping cart filled with tools. His goal was to build a teeny house, which he completed by 7pm in an enclosure right by Reno’s main homeless shelter. He used discarded wood he found in the area, including a pile of redwood dumped in a parking lot behind a strip club, and wheels and screws found at the Generator maker space.

After the parade, Chris set out to build a "teeny house" right by the main homeless shelter in Reno.

Corner Craft

Chris has his own local business called “Corner Craft”. “I can build anything,” he said in between jobs and moving his trusted white van on a recent windswept Spring day in downtown Reno when he had more time to talk. “I’ve built standard houses, down to business card holders. Everything I do I try to push the envelope of my creativity and influence at the time.” A Rochester, NY, native, who has lived in North Carolina, Florida, southern California and Japan, Chris moved to Reno four years ago after spending a decade in Italy, working as a musician who also decorated storefronts.

As more and more people are priced out of Reno's housing market, Chris believes innovative solutions such as a plot of land with tiny homes could help.

Chris's first project in Reno was to build a tiny house. “I’ve researched every single aspect of a tiny house from what you start out with as a base to all the systems, electronical systems, solar, heating. I got all my knowledge base on all these details from that one initial project here,” he said.

Chris prepared the wood for his one-day project and eyeballed what he had to determine his course of building.

A Love of 4th street

Chris used to live on 4th street, so taking part in last month’s community event was particularly important for him. “I love 4th street. I love what it gives to Reno. It’s definitely iconic. My goal was to bring attention to the people already living there, not too say ‘look there’s this horrible thing going on’, but more to say ‘no there’s this thing going on and it’s going on already’ and that should be included in any outsider’s approach to 4th street… Outsiders meaning from a different neighborhood, or a different city.”

Chris found some wheels for underneath his teeny house, to make it "semi-mobile". "You should be able push it a couple of blocks without getting too tired," he said.

Different Perceptions of Homelessness

Chris believes more people should focus on helping the homeless and not on themselves when thinking of homelessness. “People talk about the homeless problem but I don’t like that because it implies it’s a problem for the city, or it’s a problem for the people witnessing it," he explained. "No, it’s a problem for the people who are living like that, not for everyone else. (The event) was an opportunity for everyone to show how much better things could be done. There’s always room for improvement.”

His main tools were a hammer, a screw gun, a chop saw and a table saw.

So what exactly did you go for in your own day of on the spot building?

“I didn’t make any drawings beforehand. I kind of just eyeballed the wood and gave an estimate in my head of what I thought it was going to look like. I decided to make a teeny house which was semi-mobile and also a summertime house. It’s not made to keep you super warm but it’s a lot warmer than sleeping on the ground."

“What I was going for based on the wood I had was a 'teeny house' that would be considered transitional housing for someone who is living on the streets in a tent, or sleeping on the ground."

Did You Have Any Interesting Interactions With the Community While You Were Building?

“A couple of people who work at the homeless shelter came over and they were very nice and interested and sort of encouraging. I would like to talk with them again and see if they want to brainstorm on further steps.”

One of the interactions Chris had while building his "teeny house" was with Rick Shepherd who is running for Congress.

Chris has also been taking pictures of the homeless who have been pushed down the river trail beyond the border with Sparks, adding captions with “RE” in red to “NO CAMPING”, which has been enforced on the Reno side.

Camping Should Be Allowed

“Pushing people away isn’t going to do anything. These people exist. If you just make a law that says it’s illegal for them to camp, you’re not changing anything. They’re still going to exist. They’re going to have to live and sleep and have their waking hours somewhere. There’s not enough space at the shelter for these people and there’s some people that wouldn’t even stay in the shelter if they could. I don’t think laws and criminalization is the way to approach it. It’s probably going to make it worse. There should be a way to integrate and help.”

Screengrabs from Chris's Facebook page. “Everywhere there’s concrete, NO CAMPING has been stenciled in.  You can put a “RE” in front of this and it becomes “RENO CAMPING” because that’s what’s going down by the river. This is Reno style.” — Screengrabs from Chris's Facebook page. “Everywhere there’s concrete, NO CAMPING has been stenciled in. You can put a “RE” in front of this and it becomes “RENO CAMPING” because that’s what’s going down by the river. This is Reno style.”

"In terms of the shape, I was inspired by an old GI Joe toy called the Bivouac and sunshade structures over picnic tables at Pyramid Lake."

Were You Pleased With the Result?

“Yes, very much. It doesn’t look like a shack. It’s just got a nice line to it. Things like this they don’t have to be like barracks or bunks or cubicles or capsules. They can be interesting and different and push the limits of material.”

Putting the finishing touches on what would be a 36 inches wide teeny house "so it can fit through an industrial sized door" and "eight feet long so it can fit a single mattress and have space for a storage box in the back", which he also built, wit… — Putting the finishing touches on what would be a 36 inches wide teeny house "so it can fit through an industrial sized door" and "eight feet long so it can fit a single mattress and have space for a storage box in the back", which he also built, with plenty of time to spare before sunset.

The Finished House and Thinking Beyond

"I also put a small box on the back that locks so someone can lock up something in there. With people in transition, they don’t usually have a place to securely keep their things. That is something that’s important and that needs to be part of the plan in any kind of shelter or transitional housing, a secure place to leave stuff locked.”

Chris was worn down, but thrilled with what he had done, and thinking ahead of how artists, builders and city officials could help the homeless.

The Dream: How can an artist and builder like yourself help the homeless in the longer term, in addition to offering possibilities and raising awareness?

“The dream would be to jump forward a few steps all at once. This city is growing fast. There are developers coming in, buying huge plots of land. I think there’s room to make even a tiny house village, a tiny house community or a lot that allows camping that makes it positive. Give people a place and give them the opportunity to learn how to build these things for themselves, to help other people build them. Quit pushing them to the outskirts. Quit pushing them to the edges, to the parts that are hidden. I’m looking to expand on this idea and find a space where the city will allow something to grow and engulf what people call a problem and turn it into something else.”

Chris Wyatt Scott can be reached at cornercraftreno@gmail.com.

Note: Parts of this interview were trimmed and rearranged.

Michael Thornton and ACTIONN, Helping the Soon to Be Displaced

As an end of June deadline looms for residents to vacate cheap rentals on the block in between Center/Lake streets and 6th and 7th streets in downtown Reno, the group Acting in Community Together in Organizing Northern Nevada (ACTIONN), held an onsite meeting last night to discuss their options. In addition to the forced displacement, dotted trees will be cut down, an alley will disappear and old large homes will also be demolished to give way for an out-of-state developer to build high-end university student housing.

Screengrab from Michael Thornton's LinkedIn.  Thornton has an extensive background in community organizing and dealing in issues of displacement. — Screengrab from Michael Thornton's LinkedIn. Thornton has an extensive background in community organizing and dealing in issues of displacement.

“Our Town Reno” caught up on the phone today with ACTIONN executive director Michael Thornton to find out more. The Reno-based ACTIONN group, a member of the PICO National Network, tagline: “unlocking the power of people”, deals with immigration, poverty, education, economic and social equity issues facing the poor, displaced and politically marginalized. Thornton has an extensive background as a community organizer, a radio newsman, and a manager in mental health and substance abuse programs.

Screengrab from ACTIONN's Facebook page concerning last night's meeting.

What happened last night?

We have been canvassing the neighborhood for quite some time talking with residents, working with residents to arrange the meeting which took place last night on Lake street. We gathered all the residents to ask them what they wanted to do. One of the things that’s really important for people to understand is that while ACTIONN wants to win the social equity issues because they’re important, we have as a co-equal value developing grassroots community leadership. We’re not coming in there to do things to the residents or do things for the residents or ride in on our white horse as saviors. We are there to work with the residents so they can be leaders in their own struggle for justice in this situation.

Words of wisdom on a whiteboard in the block about to be demolished to give way for high end student housing, in a photo taken earlier this year,

Does the situation look bleak or is there any hope for these residents?

I think it’s an uphill struggle. I don’t think anybody looking at it would be able to say anything other than that. It’s really important to point out that we have residents who are now organizing. We actually had representatives from Washoe Legal Services and Legal Services of Nevada out there last night to look at what some potential legal strategies may be. In many ways, the most important thing is for the people of Reno and our decision makers to really understand what’s going on. Reno city council members have been told ‘oh, these people they’re being displaced but they’re getting assistance and they’re getting help’ and that’s not really the case. I don’t know the exact numbers. There are a few who have case managers and they are getting some help. But a lot of the folks are not getting assistance.

In an interview with "Our Town Reno" earlier this year, one of the residents Gretchen put on a brave smile for a picture but said that due to her criminal record it would be very difficult for her to find a rental at the same price she now gets.

What are some of the short term challenges and goals for these soon to be displaced residents?

Some who are being told they are being helped are being given a stack of papers printed out from Craiglist showing them some places that you might be able to rent. But when you think about it to rent a place nowadays, you often have to have first month’s and last month’s security deposit, pet deposit, credit check, that all adds up... A lot of these folks just simply don’t have the ability to do that. They are being cast out and left to fend for themselves and so organizing and working with ACTIONN and working with Legal Services, we hope to do what we can to at least get them an opportunity to struggle for some justice and some relocation assistance.

This old home, conveniently located in downtown Reno, near the bus station and assistance services, is filled with cheap rooms.  But it will soon be demolished. Residents now living there are scrambling to figure out their future housing option… — This old home, conveniently located in downtown Reno, near the bus station and assistance services, is filled with cheap rooms. But it will soon be demolished. Residents now living there are scrambling to figure out their future housing options. Photo from earlier this year.

Since this wave of gentrification seems to be coming later to Reno than elsewhere, do you think the Biggest Little City will avoid mistakes made elsewhere?

We’ve seen the incredibly negative effects of gentrification in many cities across the country. But what is also well documented is that communities are engaging in smart planning and while people do wind up being displaced there are also lots of components being looked into, so there is affordable housing and appropriate services within development plans. I know there are developers, local developers. who are really paying attention to this and they want to work to revitalize some of the areas in Reno, which desperately need that. There’s no doubt it is needed. But they have to be cognizant of what can and what would likely happen if these areas are just redeveloped without thought of the people who live there now. It’s important to point out many of these people are working class, working families. They are also our most vulnerable friends, neighbors and residents. If we are not going to pay attention to their needs, I just think that’s a huge mistake, or it’s a mistake that unfortunately has been repeated in many areas of our country. Hopefully, it won’t be repeated here.

Thornton says he understands Reno needs to be revitalized in certain areas, but that this revitalization needs to be done with thought for the people now living there and smart planning.  This is part of the block which will soon be demolished.… — Thornton says he understands Reno needs to be revitalized in certain areas, but that this revitalization needs to be done with thought for the people now living there and smart planning. This is part of the block which will soon be demolished. Photo from earlier this year.

Is the current battle for social justice for residents on the Center / Lake block important in the big picture of Reno's future?

It’s not just what’s happening to them. There is a wave of development and redevelopment hitting Reno and the general area. There are lots and lots of folks who are living in similar situations who could be facing displacement as well. If we don’t focus on these issues now, we can wind up seeing this happen to thousands of people with nowhere to go. It’s bad planning. We shouldn’t be allowing that to happen. We should be looking at how to prevent this before we displace people.

Note: Some of the questions and answers were trimmed and edited for this report.

This alley will soon be gone, as well as its trees and current residents.  The entire block will be demolished and give way to high end student housing. — This alley will soon be gone, as well as its trees and current residents. The entire block will be demolished and give way to high end student housing.

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.