Marie Miley, Facing Eviction During the Holiday Season

Marie Miley recently moved to Reno from the Bay Area, enticed by lower rents, and easy to find work in temp agencies.  But making choices based on finding cheaper rent has become a nightmare.

Just as she was able to sort out utility problems in her two-bedroom, $725 a month apartment she shares with her husband and young adult sons, Miley faces imminent eviction from the Stardust Apartments.

According to news reports this building was recently sold to California-based ‘Conventus Real Estate’, and all tenants were told in early November they had 30 days to move out. Photo by Prince Nesta

Ticking Clock

The clock is ticking.  Miley found storage, but didn’t have money to afford a large storage so she had to cram her stuff in. 

“We had to get a very tiny spot. So, things are crammed in and it's just not fair,” she said.

The scramble is on for Miley and several dozen others in her predicament still living at the Stardust Apartments pressing to find new lodging.

“We can't even find a place. You know some of us are looking at living in a motel because we can't find an apartment.”

Where to go Next?

There’s a move though in Reno to force motels to differentiate between long term and short term residents, and to have kitchenettes added to some rooms, which would add considerably to motel rates, reducing affordable options further.

Miley said some of the other tenants were paying rent as low as $500, monthly rates which have become harder and harder if not impossible to find in the current affordable housing crunch Reno is facing. 

There have been relocation efforts and assistance offered, but for some of the tenant new livable solutions have yet to be found. Photo by Jordan Gearey for Our Town Reno

Unbearable Stress

Miley says the stress is nearly unbearable.

“I've been married 22 years and we've never had to deal with stuff like this,” she said. “So, it's extremely stressful. And then I was sick on top of it twice with strep and with bronchitis. So, trying to get better, trying to go to work …. And trying to move stuff out of the apartment and the storage all at the same time was extremely stressful. And I believe that's what kind of put my body down even more with another sickness, because I wasn't resting. I couldn't rest. And even now, we're sleeping on the floor, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I can't sleep … I wake up maybe at two o'clock in the morning and I can't go back to sleep because I just keep thinking where are we going to go? I have kids. You know I don't want them having to be without a home.”

Miley described the predicament of others currently living at the Stardust and now fearing for their future. Photo by Jordan Gearey for Our Town Reno

Describing Other Residents in the Same Lurch

Miley says the situation for others in the building also breaks her heart. Many are on fixed income, and Social Security and/or disability payments don't bring what they used to in terms of housing.

“We have a lady downstairs there, she is in her 80s. She's blind…. And her son lives in Japan so he can't come over and help her. And so, she's relying on tenants that used to live here to help her. And then we have another gentleman downstairs who has cancer and he has a hard time getting around. We have another gentleman who is pretty much bedridden with an oxygen tank on him. And they don't know what they're all going to do. They're all kind of in the same boat. And it's pretty sad, because you know, we're all in the same boat.”

She is hoping for more help, especially with the holiday season and frigid nights just around the corner.

“I know that not everybody in this country has no compassion… They're throwing a lot of families out on the street on the holidays. We don't have money for Thanksgiving or Christmas… You know we were trying to rebuild our finances so that we can get into another place and that's extremely difficult. So yeah it would be nice if they had compassion and gave us a few months at least or try to rebuild around us so that we could stay and not have to go through this.”

Reporting for Our Town Reno by Prince Nesta with additional photos by Jordan Gearey

Ace*, Suicidal, Surviving Shelter Life, Fleeing Family and Hearing Voices

Newly Homeless Again

Ace says he’s newly homeless again after he said he had family problems back on the East Coast with his older brother and mother, who both siblings depend on.

He says he didn’t agree with his mother taking his formerly jailed brother in. He says he had been a caretaker, cooking for his mom.

He’d been to Reno before and felt people didn’t bother him here, so he came back. He says he’s also had periods of homelessness in St. Louis, Missouri and Portland, Oregon, among other places, but he feels safer in the Biggest Little City.

Since being back out on the streets of Reno, he says he’s suffered from food poisoning, though, and will now try to avoid some of the local soup kitchens.

Depending on Social Security Disability Payments Rather than Work

When on the streets, he gets by with the Social Security disability payments he’s been receiving since he was 21 for psychiatric disorders, including constant bouts with paranoia.

He once tried working in low-level jobs but he says it put him and others in danger.

“I can't work with other people because I feel like I'm I'm doing double the work,” he said. “And I'm always working around individuals who are either on drugs or alcohol. I don't want to go back to doing what I used to do... I used to take a folding knife and I used to cut my chest to prevent myself from cutting people while I was at work.”

He says gotten in fights at homeless shelters over disputes. “I think I have anger issues,” he admits. “I hold things in. Because I'm declared disabled, mentally disabled, I'm always wrong. The person who is not disabled is always right. And if that person's wrong it doesn't matter what I say because I'm mentally disabled.”

A Typical Day Back and Forth from the Shelter

Lately he says he’s been trying to stay calm while staying at Reno’s main shelter and described a typical day.

“I get up from the men's dorm. I brush my teeth. I try to keep you know hygiene. As much as possible … I try to. I try to stay clean. After I use the restroom, I scan my card, because you have to scan your cards so that way you can keep your bed. Otherwise, the staff will cut your lock. And throw your things out. Once I'm out of the men's shelter, I go across the parking lot, to what's called the day area ... aka the pit. And I stand in line and wait until 8 o'clock. These gentlemen come in with bagels and donuts. I usually have a bagel, because I try not to have sweets. So I grab a bagel and I start to walk to the Believe (sculpture) area here between North Virginia street and Central street. And I stay here for hours until I eventually go to the downtown Reno library. And I play chess alone, although I did play with this gentleman last week. I usually play chess to improve my chess skills.”

Growing a Beard not to Be Bothered

He says he’s been growing a beard not because he likes the look, but not to be bothered by others.

“I don’t like the beard. But I keep it. As a disguise in order to blend with the homeless people. It seems that with the beard [other] homeless people tend to be intimidated by me. Normally I would be … clean shaved. But because I’m I’m in the condition I am right now it’s best if I stay with the beard. And so law enforcement may see that and they may feel threatened. But law enforcement here as long as you’re not committing a crime I don’t think they really bother anybody.”

Attempting Suicide

He says he’s attempted suicide twice, once trying to drown when he was briefly in the Navy, and a second time in Missouri, when he swallowed 39 aspirins.

He says he’s tired of suffering, constant insomnia, and the way he says someone could help him the most would be for them to shoot him dead. The voices he says he hears wouldn’t allow him to kill himself.

He also has a twin brother, he doesn’t speak to anymore, and is childless himself, as he says he doesn’t believe in bringing children into a world “that’s evil and pain.”

Click on this link here for an interactive map of some of Ace's harrowing and painful journey.

"Don't Feel Sorry for the Homeless"

He says people shouldn’t feel sorry for the homeless. “The men's dorm, a lot of the men they come in drunk? Why. Why do they come in drunk? Why do they say they need money, when they they've been drinking? Don't feel sorry for homeless people. Don't feel sorry for me. The voices they will lead me to where I need to be, but don't don't feel guilt. Don't feel sad."

"[A lot of homeless] love to be homeless. They love to be drunk. They love to do their drugs. That's why they're homeless. I always found it difficult to be homeless because I don't drink alcohol. I don't. I don't do drugs…. Other homeless,  you see them around, just keep walking because more than likely they're under the influence of something.”

Now that his older brother moved back with his mom though, he says his plight is to remain homeless. “My mother was the reason I used to go back,” he said. 

“I would be homeless and then I would go back to Jersey because when I would speak to my mother she'd say no one helps her. And so I would go back to help her. But this time … this time I can't because, she keeps bringing the pain in her life. And I'm tired of that pain and I don't want to see her in pain. And so the best thing to do is just … to just to forget it…..”

Reporting and Photos by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

'Carl the Steve', Seemingly Lost to the World in Reno

What we could get from Steve is that he used to work in a seafood restaurant in West Virginia, before leading a single, traveling life, criss crossing the country and ending up in the Biggest Little City.

His words are like poetry but they usually don't make much sense to outsiders. He ran the gamut from talking about being victimized by the Ku Klux Klan, to once using steroids and also being the father of quadruplets. As reporters on the streets, it's hard to verify the stories we hear.

We want to give a voice to the voiceless, but what if that voice is lost in a static fog, in a jumble of incoherence, accusations, conspiracies and pain?

Mental Illness on the Streets

We aren't doctors, we are just trying to relay stories which don't usually make it to the front page, six o'clock news or social media feed, but it seemed to us Steve suffered from unfortunate mental ailments. 

According to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about a quarter of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of what is qualified as severe mental illness. 

This includes disorders producing psychotic symptoms, such as schizophrenia, major depression and bipolarism. In comparison, according to this research, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill.

"I'm tired, my brain is tired now. Time to stop talking to you. My brain is tired," he said as we asked more questions. Steve carries a mini black attache case with knick knacks such as colorful dice, deodorant, flashlights and jazz instruments. Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Our Society's Deinstitutionalization

Over the last 60 years or so there has been what's called deinstitutionalization in this country, with more and more mentally ill pushed out of public psychiatric hospitals onto the streets and then often in and out of jail. Would Steve be better off in a psychiatric hospital at this point? Hard to tell, and who are we to judge?

This is how our interview ended as Steve had enough of being asked questions.

Do you love music? "Yes." What kind of music do you like? "My brain is tired. I've said all I could say to you..."

As the interview ended, Steve went back to sifting through his neatly organized and varied possessions. Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Reporting and Photography by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

The Chandler-Isacksens, from Barren Land to Wormtopia in Reno

What If?

What if some of your guiding principles were what Martin Luther King Jr. called “The Beloved Community”, and you created project after outreach project to also move your home, your neighborhood and your town in that direction, not worrying about social media likes, keeping up with the Joneses new plasma TV or even completing tax forms?

For Katy and Kyle Chandler-Isacksen, full-time change activists and parents of two “unschooled” boys, former teachers and cross-country travelers, their Be the Change Project in Reno has recently included producing a play on undocumented immigration, organizing events related to Standing Rock protests and going themselves, helping with community gardens, starting a garlic community festival, and leading a local bike-powered compost collection system for residences and restaurants.

As winter approaches and cold weather sets in, though, the Chandler-Isacksens actually slow down and huddle at their home on McCloud Avenue. “We actually live very simply without electricity, without fossil fuels on site. So what that does is, it ties us in with the rhythms of nature very closely, so in the winter and the fall with winter approaching right now, we wind up sleeping a lot more and we kind of slow down our work… And that's a really lovely time for us, it's kind of a time to rejuvenate and renew.” 

From Reno Rot Riders to Worm Topiaries

One idea they are looking forward to is expanding their Reno Rot Riders initiative, which turns waste around town into compost to build healthier soil and grow local food.

“We're also creating a new entity called Wormtopia,” Chandler-Isacksen explained, “which is going to expand on that. So it's going to be using food scraps and other green waste too and then using worms to make even more compost which goes to healthy soil.”

Any conversation with Chandler-Isacksen can quickly turn into big picture common sense reasoning.

“For the last several hundred years, particularly in the West, we have degraded our soil so much that some people estimate that 40 percent of the anthropogenically-sourced carbon dioxide that's been admitted into the atmosphere has come from the degradation of our soils through poor agricultural practices,” he explained.

“So we started the Rot Riders to bring awareness to that like, ‘hey we shouldn't be throwing this stuff in the trash, we shouldn't be throwing food waste out into the landfill.’ And so that's been an amazing project for a couple of years and it's been quite successful and it's growing. And now offshoot worm topiaries is coming out of that. It's an even better way that we can deal locally, hyper-locally, with the waste that we create. So it serves people and it also serves planet.”

The home garden feeds the family and animals. “When we got here the place was just kind of barren land with terrible soil,” he explains while birds chirp in the background.  “And we spent years building it up. We've got a ton of fruit trees here, just dozens of different types, peaches, cherries, apricots, apples, pears. We've got goji berries, we've got all sorts of different shrubs, and grapes and some of them are food for us, some of them are just food for the you know wild critters that fly around. We've also got annual garden beds with all the different types of vegetables you can imagine.”

Chandler-Isacksen is particularly proud of the Be the Change garden, on the half acre of land around his family’s home, bought dilapidated in 2011 with the help of fundraising related to their overall project.

He says this is an escape from what he calls “very violent” industrial food production. Their garden serves as an example to others, and a place for workshops for those thinking of starting their own backyard gardens.

“A lot of times people just pull up and say ‘what's going on here’ because it looks different. We have cornstalks in the back yard that are like 12 feet high right now. So it kind of drives a little bit of curiosity and opens up some people to coming in and seeing what's going on.”

Doing a lot on the homefront without electricity can save money. The family lives for very cheap, Chandler-Isacksen says, for under ten-thousand dollars for a family of four per year.

Challenges and Hurdles

Challenges include some loneliness of not having more people around live the same way.   “I think the biggest challenge we face is that some of the things we're doing are kind of wacky and weird or that could be seen that way like living without electricity," Chandler-Isacksen said. "So it's hard to do that without having a large group, that's doing that as well. So sometimes we feel isolated, and a little lonely in our work, especially around sustainability, but overall, we feel very supported.”

Attempts to start a new urban farm have also been challenging.

“Sometimes, it's hard to do what we want to do in the existing kind of legal structures like we've got this lot of land a couple doors down that we were able to fundraise for and we would love to make it into an urban farm and community space,” Chandler-Isacksen said.  “But there's several hurdles to making that happen. And some of them are kind of code and permitting, and I think they could be overcome but it's a lot of energy and it will take more time and more money.”

Chandler-Isacksen says it's also difficult operating at a micro, family, neighborhood level, while trying to interact on project with others not in their immediate surroundings.

Limits and Possibilities

There are limits too, Chandler-Isacksen admits, to saving the planet while so many humans suffer from poverty.  “I feel strongly that we can’t have any sort of environmental sustainability when people are struggling to have food, shelter, clothing and things like that.”

His advice for what others should do, as the globe teeters and political divisions within the United States and elsewhere deepen and divide?

“We need to be taking some risks and we need to be making changes because it's not going to happen at the federal level …. we can't wait. We can't wait for those solutions to come down the pipe. So it's what can we do in our own lives. That's why we call it Be The Change Project… People need to look into their own lives. What are their gifts? What do they have to share with the world? What is it that they can bring to the table?"

"What would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail?  If there were more people or even three percent of the people really following that, ‘what is it that you would do, if you knew you wouldn't fail?’ ... this world would be transformed overnight,” Chandler-Isacksen said.

Combating Apathy and Getting Wings

Chandler-Isacksen says many people feel overwhelmed by the news cycles they are sometimes bombarded with, which can lead to apathy.

“I experienced that too. It's like ‘oh my gosh! How are we going to do this? How are we going to combat this? How are we going to you know make this better?  But just go do it, go do something. And try to do it with a smile. There's positive feedback loops in that... you start doing stuff, you start getting support, you start getting some recognition maybe and it makes everything easier. So take the risk. You'll be given wings.”

Photography by Jordan Gearey with Audio Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Bill, Back on the Streets after a Stint in a Motel Room

Reno-native Bill Wright, also known by some as William or Mountain Man, is happy with the new storage space, PO box, bike, sleeping bag, Social Security income, food stamps, and modified health insurance he's gotten in the past few months.  These are all welcome additions to his rugged life.  They came with help from a social worker with Northern Nevada Hopes, who also set him up in a motel room.

But now he's also back on the streets of Reno, because after a while, he says, staying in a motel room just wasn't for him. His last stint "on the outside" as he calls it, lasted 15 years. How long will it last this time? 

 "I’d rather be out here on the streets," Bill told Our Town Reno.

Pros and Cons of Motel Life

He says at the motel he stayed at he could leave his dog Hurley and his possessions inside, while he ran his errands or went to get medical help for a myriad of problems, which all started with a workplace accident years ago to one of his knees. He could also leave the drama of the streets behind, he says, and play video games while being warm inside.  But eventually he says the cons started outweighing the pros.

Bill says he feels healthier now that he's living on the streets again. 

Bill says someone tried to frame him. "It was a mixed deal while I was there, but towards the end it got bad. Someone tried to set me up by throwing syringes underneath the counter, in the closet ... Some people, they’re bored, it’s a game for them. Other people, who knows?"

On his dog Hurley: “She’s a blessing, she keeps me … from hurting people, because they’re so stupid.” His new bike also allows Bill to control Hurley a little better: "All I have to do is turn the wheel and she goes the other way. "

His Social Security income is now about $700 a month.  He's found storage for $60 a month, and pays $200 a year for his new PO box.  Still with regular food and health costs, he doesn't have enough money for housing without assistance.  He doesn't want to stay in a shelter either, preferring to sleep outside with Hurley.

Asked if he had any concerns about the upcoming winter: "I spent 15 years outside already," he said. "I’ve been through 20 below one night. I’ve been through when it didn’t get over 25 for three weeks with a couple of feet of snow on the ground.... I’ve got a new double 25-below sleeping bag, so we should be ok." 

Empathy for Those with Few Options

With more motels being razed to the ground in the Biggest Little City and affordable units being harder and harder to find, Bill is pessimistic for many fellow citizens of Reno. "There’s going to be more homeless definitely," he said. "There’s very low vacancy rates.  All the low income housing, you can get the voucher, but everywhere is blocked up."

He says if someone wants to help, good gloves, hats, tarps, blankets and sleeping bags are always useful for those barely getting by, enduring every moment as a fight for bare bones survival. 

Whatever his own predicament, though, Bill always has a laugh to finish off sentences, and according to one social worker who recently met with him, "is the gentlest soul you will find around town."

Here is a previous story and video we did about Bill after a bridge he slept under in downtown Reno was cordoned off with new fencing:

Story and Photos by Our Town Reno, October 2017

A Downtown Motel Owner Resists, and Defends Himself

Pressure to Sell

McAllister says he gets calls, visits, even offerings of food, as part of efforts to have him sell the Desert Rose Inn motel on 655 West 4th Street in downtown Reno, amid expansion plans by Jacobs Entertainment Inc. to build a new "mini-Vegas" stretching from the Gold Dust West to the Sands casinos.

“People are coming to my door on a Saturday morning and offering contracts when I refuse to answer their calls," he said. "They are contacting everyone. People on the side the Desert Rose Inn is on have not sold. Some of the motel owners have been here 20-25 years, this is their life. I’m sure some would sell at a decent price. But some might also say ‘I like doing this. I don’t want to sell but I feel like I’m being pressured to sell or I am going to be legislated out of my existence'.” 

The Carriage Inn, recently a motel for long-term residents, has been bought off and razed as part of Jacobs Entertainment Inc. plans for new downtown development.

Soon to Be Legislated out of Business?

Talked about ideas around City Council include requiring motel owners via ordinances to add costly kitchenettes to rooms for longer term tenants, such as what recently happened in South Lake Tahoe.

McAllister has previously thought of remodeling and adding amenities, but also thinks these changes would make the cost of rooms go up at his motel, which would hurt his clientele. "There are people who can’t afford a deposit, who can’t afford first/last month, they don’t have the credit checks required for an apartment," he said.

For new clientele, his going rate is $200 a week. "With that you get your phone, your wifi, full cable, housekeeping, and you get all your utilities paid for, plus your trash and everything else," he explained. 

He used to have monthly possibilities, but that created problems.

"We got rid of monthlies. It was too much trouble," he said. "Once a person plops down money for a month, you’ve got them and the next day they turn out to be crazy. It’s safer for our clients, it’s safer for us. You don’t want that in the place."

"I don’t mind redevelopment, but if you are using subversive tactics and you are being forced to something you don’t want to do, it’s really an affront to your freedoms," McAllister said of his motel's uncertain future. Small businesses around the Desert Rose Inn catering to a less affluent clientele are all gradually disappearing amid the Jacobs Entertainment expansion- related buyout spree.

Media Bias and a Bad Rap?

McAllister has also contracted with Northern Nevada Hopes for clients transitioning from medical cases into permanent housing. He sees his motel as having value for people who can't afford to live anywhere else. He also says the treatment of motel owners in local media is generally unfair.

"You’re getting the voice of developers, the city looks at them and says there is going to be more revenue coming in. The bad rap? In some cases it might be warranted. These are old places. But they’ve also been providing housing for people who can’t find housing. Statistically people who have shelter cost much less to cities. They are more secure. They are more mentally stable. You can also find them if you want to have outreach programs for them."

Part of the parking lot of the Desert Rose Inn, where McAllister says clients include travelers, temporary construction workers, young individuals and also families and elderly citizens.

A Diverse Clientele including Families

McAllister says those who live longer term at his motel include casino and hotel workers, cab drivers, warehousing employees, elderly on Social Security, veterans on military pensions , and young families trying to find better housing.

He doesn't like when families are forced to live in a motel room, but he says he does what he can to help them.

"If this is the only place they can stay, then at least we give them a safe environment. We have a pool for the kids. We’re very proactive about families. We’re very proactive about sexual predators. We’re doing a good job in that niche that we can provide."

A backside of the Desert Rose Inn. "Here we have rather diverse walks of life and we also have people who come through and need a place to stay for a few weeks while they transition to other housing, while they look for a job," McAllister said. 

Dealing with Code Enforcements

McAllister has heard code enforcement is getting more stringent on motels around town recently. A former policeman from the Bay Area, he also views this with suspicion. 

"Sometimes, they will swoop down on your property and they look for every little thing they can find. I think that can be an improper use of government. Having been in the police department, I’ve seen some things that I don’t particularly care for. I’ve seen things that are unfair to the person that it’s being put upon," he said.

In his own experience, so far with the Desert Rose Inn, he said it's mostly dealing with the Health Department and minor complaints.

“If there’s a complaint, they’ll come out and address that. We’ll find a smoke detector doesn’t work or there’s a screen missing from a window. We’ve been pretty good with them. Any bed bug complaints we’ve had, they’ve never been founded. And we have an aggressive program to protect against it."

He says the city government has a unique position, but that it shouldn't overstep in its hyped 'fight on blight.' "They have the ability to regulate facilities, through code enforcement and things like that. As far as blight, whose responsibility is it? The city has all those forces available to it through code enforcement. I think sometimes they are dumping it back on (property) owners, and giving bad PR to them, where they could be working with them, trying to clean places up. Those who can’t, of course you have to come down on them," he said.

The Star Dust Lodge and its iconic sign are no longer.  McAllister also warns against too much destruction.  "Sometimes the historical aspect of the building can be the selling point," he said. "It also adds character to the city. If you continually wipe out your past, you are going to wake up one day and say I don’t remember anything. There are anchors to every city which should be left in place. You have to keep in touch with your past. "

A Difficult Journey as an Unflagged Motel Owner

McAllister purchased the Windsor Hotel on West street in 2007, and the Desert Rose Inn the next year, just as the recession worsened. "The Windsor was more hotel and casino employees and they all went away with the crash," he said. "I lost the Windsor through lack of clients, and it got repossessed. It was purchased in a bankruptcy sale."

Unflagged means McAllister is independent and unaffiliated with a major chain. He spent his early days at the Desert Rose Inn, he says, getting rid of bed bugs, prostitutes, drugs and bad contracts.  “It was pretty disorganized," he said. "Contracts didn’t make sense. Money was being paid off for services which weren’t even there."

He says he also changed some of his business practices. "We used to bleed money, because people used to skip out on us and wouldn’t pay. You’d get somebody and they’d say 'ok I can pay you next week', and then they’d say it again. So now you’re out the window with the money, but you’ve already provided the services.  Now, we try and give people what they expect to get for the $200."

Hiring a new team also really helped, he says: "I finally got a really great crew, and that makes a lot of difference because they’re thinking of things before the problem is even there," he said. "I have a great general manager, housekeeping, and maintenance crews. My general manager has a lot of contact with people, she’s sharp."

As more and more people get displaced from downtown motels, McAllister says they are fearful of what's next amid high occupancy rates in apartments, where they sometimes can't meet credit checks or deposit requirements, seemingly endless waits for subsidized housing and a severe crunch on affordable options.

Worries Grow Amid New Development

What his manager keeps telling him, McAllister said, is that people living at the Desert Rose Inn are also worried.

"They’re worried about what’s happening around here, because their security is being threatened. We don’t like change. It’s work to change. We’ve got some place where they feel decent, and they can afford the rent and then go out and work and provide for themselves and their families. Now they are not sure what’s going to happen to us, or motels down the street," he said.  "For people who have a fixed amount they can spend on housing, they’re really strapped."

The view from the Desert Rose Inn office.  According to website records, the 97-unit motel was built in 1960.

Not Against Development

McAllister says he's not against development, but he says if things aren't done right it could be catastrophic for some of the less affluent members of our community, as more and more motels are shut down, before any new construction begins.

"The area is in need of development. You’ve got vacant lots," he said. 

"You’ve got closed down properties. A lot of it is because of the recession. There were plans to build before that and then it all got shut down. Developers have been looking at Reno as an inexpensive place to acquire property and with the gentrification of tech companies moving in, they are looking at it as a center for entertainment for younger, more active people, with higher salaries, so there is money to be had. I don’t fault them for doing that. But you are going to have a couple years of lag if you start a project now to get any type of affordable housing in place."

Reporting by Our Town Reno in October 2017

Harry, A Veteran Avoiding the Shelter and Too Poor for Motels

"The waterways are free, they can’t govern that, they can't tell us what can be done along the river, that’s free land," Harry Bogart said on a recent sunny day in downtown Reno, feeding his two small dogs, as he pondered new anti-vagrancy ordinances which are being pushed by city council. 

"This is Baby Bear and Gremlin," Harry, said of his two dogs.  "Lots of people come by and donate if they see you sitting with them. They bring you some food or take you to the store and buy some," he said of people's generosity. Photo and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno. 

Who Does Land Belong To?

"God made that land, not the city," he said of the Truckee river banks. "They should not be able to take that away from us. As long as we are not causing problems, making it worse. If we aren’t hurting someone else, let us live our lives. That’s my opinion."

Harry, an Elko county native, once worked in a warehouse job in Reno on PVC pipes, but he says the company moved to Arizona without him.  He worked for a while in hotel maintenance, but he says he needs surgery for neck and back problems to be able to work again, and he says he can't afford the procedures. As an Air Force veteran he says the local VA is trying to help him find housing, but for the time being his $700 of fixed income are not enough to afford rising local housing rates for even a motel room.

Avoiding Shelters and Hoping for Compassion

Like many homeless in Reno who are sometimes called "aid resistant" by local politicians, Harry avoids shelters and explains why:  "Shelters are made for different kind of persons, people who are there have a prison mentality," he said.  "They don't think along the lines of we could be working with each other. They work for themselves and they put you in a bad mood, put you in danger, I don't trust being in that environment, I can do better out here, that’s what I do," he said.

Harry speaks of violence at the shelters, and the presence of weapons. His dogs, which he walks every morning before the rush of traffic across downtown Reno, would not be allowed at the main shelter either, so that's a no-go for him. 

 "Not everyone that is homeless is a bad person," the country music and rock 'n' roll aficionado told Our Town Reno. "They may be homeless because they made mistakes, they made a wrong choice, or somewhere along the lines something went bad they couldn’t control or get over. Give us a chance. Give us an opportunity to be what we are. We are still Americans. We love this country and we are just trying to survive."

Photo, Audio and Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

The New Reno: Another Mini Vegas, Fewer Motels and More Homeless?

It's an ominous, grey day in the 4th street motel district downtown corridor in Reno. An elderly motel resident with worsening health problems is stressing out, as he will soon need to move.  A casino employee is looking for temporary rooms for his own special events staff. A code enforcement official is milling around. The Star Dust Lodge looks like it's being decontaminated. Pedestrians walk by the now cratered Carriage Inn.

With some but not much local media fanfare, the Jacobs Entertainment group has acquired over 30 downtown Reno properties, in an area anchored by its own Gold Dust West and its recently purchased Sands Regency Casino Hotel, which it plans to renovate with a new name.  

Last month, there was a video and photo op with City Council members and Jeff Jacobs, the Chairman and CEO of Jacobs Entertainment, a former Ohio politician and Wall Street bonds trader, with full-on gentrification optics.  The local politicians and outside developer smiled on top of the rubble of a long storied motel, which like many others has recently served as last gasp housing, amid a backlog of section 8 openings, full homeless shelters, rising rents and often times prohibitive background checks and deposit requirements.

The Star Dust Lodge is also out of commission now.

Will We Get an 'Arts District' as Initially Touted?

The Jacobs Entertainment group which has previously tried but failed to open casinos in places such as Indiana, Mississippi and Ohio, while owning a multitude of casinos elsewhere, mostly in Colorado and throughout Nevada, seems, based on its own indications, to have big plans in downtown Reno: a new mini-Vegas perhaps? a fountain district with roundabouts? an entertainment area mostly centered on gaming?  Initially, plans were touted partly as an "arts district" to assuage our city council inclinations, perhaps, but it seems, lately, the arts component may go by the wayside.

A now increasingly familiar sight ... a motel emptied out and residents who used to live there facing more uncertainty and difficulty in getting a roof over their heads and a mattress to sleep on.  

Where will the Motel Tenants Go?

Long-term tenants of motels, which are scheduled to be picked off and demolished one by one, are also going by the wayside.  The Jacobs group has made some media splashes, donating money to very valuable initiatives such as NYEP, to one homeless family, and to the Reno Housing Authority among others. It's also helping people previously living in motels with some transitional stipends and pointing them to already overworked local government social workers and case managers.

But the tide of displaced will not abate. Negotiations are ongoing with other properties, including motels where hundreds of people now live, amid simultaneous pressure from code enforcement authorities.

On a macro level, and with so many elderly, sick, fixed income residents in motels which will soon be razed, shouldn't the city of Reno have a plan going forward to alleviate all this oncoming displacement, as it already struggles with current conditions now bound to get worse?

Photo Opinion Essay and Reporting by Our Town Reno, October 2017

Karizma, Fleeing Her Past and Present

Taking a smoke break in a parking garage on 4th street in downtown Reno, Karizma Washington, a recent Hug High graduate who loved taking English classes, is dreaming of making an impact in a world in which she's suffered so much cruelty.

"I just want to be a voice for my generation and like where I’m from, my culture ..."  Karizma says she likes to read, braid hair and longboard, but finds it hard to find her path in Reno.  Photo and Interview by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

From Foster Care to the Streets

Karizma, now 20, says she grew up in foster care, and that she's been living on and off the streets since she was 16, sometimes skipping meals as she tries to figure out where she'll be sleeping on any given night, sometimes getting robbed by people she thought were her friends. Her family has never been a safety blanket.

"My family struggled with major depression and I’ve (got) an addictive family, with drug addictions, alcohol abuse, physical, sexual ... almost everything so everyone kind of split up and went their own separate ways. I kind of had to figure it out myself and graduated from school and just didn’t know where to go from there.  I’m kind of like I’m not doing too good but I’m not doing too bad you know, so I’m kind of stuck in life where it’s like I’m reaching out for help and trying to figure out where I want to go next."

She says she's worked in warehouses and caregiving as well.  She's gotten help from groups such as Awaken Reno and the Eddy House, but would like more members of the community to be understanding of people in similar predicaments to hers.

"It’s like (if) you pass somebody, you see them going through a hard day, you never know what they are going through or what they’ve been through (so) just smile, talk to them like say hi, if you were to run into me just have a conversation just like even that small thing is important," she said.

Anti Vagrancy Rules

Karizma says she doesn't understand the anti vagrancy rules currently being pushed by the Reno City Council and Reno police.

"It’s like once you don't have (a) roof over your head, what do you expect ... and you can’t even...like I don't even know what to say about that.. That's like heart failing it's just like ..it doesn’t make sense."

She avoids shelters, and many nights roams around.

"It’s a struggle, it’s like ….  you can be up one day and like down the next day, you worry about things that you never thought you’d worry about, like things we take for granted like 'where you gonna lay your head', 'where you gonna take your next shower'? 'What's gonna be your next meal'? 'What you are running from', 'what you are not running from'? It’s not really the struggle that's like hard it's just like getting out of it."

On being robbed by her own friends: "My kindness (can get) taken for weakness like friends turning on me because they are in the struggle and you can’t blame them because it's like how else are we all going to survive so it’s kind of a sad story...it’s really sad..yeah.." Photo and Interview by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno 

Emotions but No Regrets

Karizma says she has no regrets, even as she goes from place to place, and spends daytimes figuring out her nights. Sometimes she'll stay with her mom, other times with friends, but there are no guarantees in her life.

"Each day, it just like makes me stronger and I know like once I do get the opportunity to live right, I’m gonna like actually take it and go with it."

Photos and Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Morgan, A Musician on the Streets of Reno Who 'Knows Thyself'

Some cardboard signs detail his drug-induced move to Northern Nevada. He says he was taken from a previous home in Texas against his will but wasn’t necessarily drugged against his will. When he came to sobriety, he says, he found himself in Reno. Despite the confusing messages on his cardboard signs, some indicating he believes Planned Parenthood stole his genome, Morgan’s tune on his guitar is smooth and pleasant. The perfect sort of sounds for a cool September morning along the Truckee river in downtown Reno.

Another Our Town Reno reporter Prince Nesta caught up with Morgan a few days before and recorded him playing his guitar as well as sharing his views and insights from being homeless for over 15 years.

"I think of myself as a guitarist, musician, composer. I don’t think I’m quite a performance artist material but I’m pretty good. I’m a little old to become a performance artist but it doesn’t mean I still can’t be a good musician and it doesn’t mean I can’t compose. I actually think i am coming into my own and if I make a mark at all it will be as a composer not as a performer." Photo and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno. 

Camping Over Homeless Shelters

Like many homeless Our Town Reno has interviewed in recent months, Morgan tends to avoid Reno's main shelter. "It overwhelms my soul," he says.  "I would rather perish exposed in the wilderness than stay in such a place." He feels uncomfortable, he goes on to explain, around others with mental illnesses. 

He wishes every day camping was legal somewhere convenient to simplify his existence. "I could live more comfortably in a tent than most people live in their house," he says.

"Allow me my own sanctuary," Morgan says. While his thoughts run toward the chaotic at times, there is an attention to detail to everything Morgan places around him.  Photo by Jordan Gearey for Our Town Reno. 

A Passion for Francisco Tarrega

"Some of my most favorite songs are from the classical period in history, a fine example would be (the Spanish composer) Francisco Tarrega," Morgan says. 

"I can play three of his pieces fairly well at times and I’m learning a fourth one called Recuerdos de la Alhambra but I can only struggle through the first page of it right now."

"I have played stringed instruments off and on in my life since I was in the fifth grade." Reporting by Prince Nesta and photo by Jordan Gearey for Our Town Reno

Philosophy and Fatalism

Morgan is both philosophical and fatalistic. "I understand (myself) and I know (myself) like Shakespeare (wrote) in one of his plays, one of the characters (says) know thyself ... I think I know myself."

"I hold hope by holding no hope….  as odd as that sounds ... if something good does occur then I can feel a little more grateful for it."

Asked for final thoughts, Morgan had this to say: "Believe in yourself first. Pay yourself first, follow your heart and do that which you know is right." Reporting by Prince Nesta and photo by Jordan Gearey for Our Town Reno.

Photos and reporting by Jordan Gearey, with additional audio recording, photo and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Emilio, Keeping His Guard Up on Reno's Downtown Streets

Emilio, a Native American from the Ute tribe, with an affinity for punk rock, and dreams of becoming a professional boxer, says he has to watch out for other homeless and police as he sleeps on the streets of Reno, trying to get by amid rising rents, motels and hotels he prefers to avoid, with a cart full of possessions and a small dog, which he always feeds before himself.

Listen to an audio documentary of Emilio describing in his own words his current life on the streets of Reno:

As City Council discusses new anti-vagrancy laws, Emilio says he's already constantly told by police to move on, a reality of living on the streets he finds difficult.

"Not everyone that is homeless is worthless," he said. "You know you just can’t judge a book by its cover because you never know who that person was, what they have been through. You know I get a lot of help actually from people that are homeless. It’s a community we kind of have to look out for each other otherwise the cops will get us all. Cops will mess with us, pick us up one by one. There's good cops and bad cops you know you can’t just never judge anybody." Photo by Prince Nesta

Cat and Mouse with Police

Every morning, Emilio says he wakes up and packs up very early to move before any cops can get to him.

"I gotta get ready before the cops come ... so they don’t give me a citation. I’ve got a citation already. You know next time they told me if I’m camping here by the river within 300 feet they were gonna bust me and put me in jail so I have to be on my toes."

He says he gets by with free food at the shelter or some people will give him food as well. He always gives his own dog the first bites.

"You know I have to go down to the shelters sometimes and get food or just like I said there are good people they will hand you food ...My main concern everyday is at least giving my buddy here at least a good meal... He eats before I do. Some nights i go hungry. Humans can last like almost a whole month without food so I’m okay..." Photo by Prince Nesta

The Cargo Trailer Option

His parents made it on their own, he says, so he doesn't want to depend on them anymore.  He thinks living in trucks and cargo trailers should be allowed for those who can't afford rising rents.

"I want a good-sized truck along with a cargo trailer and convert it into a home....  those cargo trailers .... I think they are really cheap and the parts are easy to get and they ‘re cheap too, to replace an axle it ‘s like only two to three hundred dollars .. You can get a good sized cargo trailer for like seven-gs maybe even five ...."

"I wanna be a champion of the world in boxing. I actually want to change the sport back to the way it was in the 1920s where Jack Dempsey could fight a big guy... A little guy would fight a big guy..." Photo by Prince Nesta

Photos and Audio Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

 

Fuzz, Recovering from a Stroke in the Wild

After surviving what he calls one of the “roughest winters in years”, with police repeatedly uprooting encampments along the Truckee River where he was living, worsening pneumonia and congestive heart failure, Kenneth Norton, known as Fuzz, suffered a debilitating stroke. 

The near-death experience happened in late May shortly after police took a photo of him holding up a 24-hour notice to leave sign, since he didn’t have I.D at the time.

Three months later, although still hobbled and walking with difficulty with a cane, his body tilting and heaving, lacking balance, his fortunes are on the upswing again, thanks to Lisa Lee, formerly homeless herself, and now a case manager at Hopes. 

“I just can’t say enough about her,” Fuzz says of Lisa Lee (pictured above) as she rushed over to our outdoor table with medication, which he had run out of a few days ago. “She’s a breath of fresh air in my life. We need a few more Lisa Lees around here.” Fuzz says he's also been helped by local activist Jennifer Cassady who regularly helps the community living along the river.

Lisa Lee to the Rescue

Fuzz found out about Nevada Hopes after they did outreach along the river, bringing food and offering services to dozens of people, many of them with pets, living in several encampments of loosely congregated tents. 

“I got prescriptions here,” he said after a recent doctor’s visit.  “They are putting me in occupational therapy and physical therapy for my stroke. I get regular doctor visits. People here are extraordinary. They just go above and beyond."

"I thought it was just a needle exchange," Fuzz says of Hopes, "but it’s so much more actually. These are the people helping the community, the sick people who can’t afford doctors, the medications which are too expensive, even rides back and forth.”

Forced Down the River

“Lisa also helped me get my ID back, took me to the DMV, she even paid for it.  It had expired from 12 years ago.  I didn’t know what to do, how it would work. It’s scary when you don’t know what to do anymore.”  

Over the past year, Fuzz and the friends he had been living with have been forced further and further down the trail along the Truckee River.  Fuzz has a dog, which prevents him from staying at Reno’s shelters.  “I got a dog, it’s a pit, and I can’t be anywhere near the shelter with my dog,” he says before explaining how difficult living by the river has been. 

“Police pushed us all the way out to the end of the trail almost into Storey County. But Storey County doesn’t want us either.  We just want the struggle to stop. We don’t want to go further out there. We can’t. There’s people with missing toes out there. There’s people with infections. They can’t get the medical attention they need out there. Older people get sick sleeping on the river. It’s just too far from everything.”

The website of the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway suggests avoiding homeless encampments.  Fuzz fears the bike path will make it more and more difficult to find a camping spot. 

Big Loaders, Bobcats and Bike Trails Against the Homeless

Fuzz says their previous camping spots had been hidden but that changed in the past year. 

“These people working for the government chopped down all the trees. Everywhere we were camping, they had big loaders and big Bobcats with these cutters, and they tore down all the bushes, they cut down all the trees, natural habitats, anything where any of us were living. They told us to move on. They were just throwing our stuff away or burying it, throwing dirt on top of it. They didn’t want us there anymore.  We really have nowhere else to go.  There’s plenty of room out there. We don’t harass people. We’re just trying to survive.” 

Fuzz who has been able to start riding his bike again, said it was taking him over an hour and a half from his last camping spot to make it to downtown Reno.  He says he’s extremely grateful that Lee, his case worker, picked him up and dropped him back off in his car.  When we met him, he was thinking about what his friends would be making for dinner.  He says police activity hasn’t been so bad recently.

But he worries about the continued expansion of the Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway. “They’re cutting more and more, making it all wide open,” he said. “Natural habitat for owls is being cut down. They’re cutting down healthy vegetation, erosion protection. There’s very few places left where you camp without being seen. We’re just trying to keep out of the eye of the public.”

Lee listened intently as Fuzz described his challenges when he was living along the river, including dealing with police, and the lack of hidden spaces, with the bag of his medication in the foreground.

Legal Camping and Tiny Homes

Fuzz says he believes somewhere in the area camping should be legal. 

“As long as you keep a clean area, no litter or trash running around, it should be legal,” he said.  “Most of us take our own trash out. We don’t bury it or burn it.  Even after my stroke, I’ll get on my bike and put my trailer behind and haul bags of trash.  But the way it is now, you can catch a felony for camping in Washoe County, just because of priors and how many times you’ve been arrested before.“ 

He’s also interested in what he calls all the current “chatter” about tiny homes.  

“It would be great,” he said.  “I really hope it happens. It would be a good change for all of us if we could live in them. It would give us a much better chance to get going again. Most people just want a new start, a step up.  Somewhere along our lives, we went the wrong way. Something happened to where we can’t get back to a good place by ourselves. We need a little help.  There would be less mosquitoes when it’s hot. Tiny homes would be warmer at night. The cold air at night gets to people. Soon as the sun goes down, sicknesses pop in. Everyone starts coughing. People would be healthier.  It would help us a lot. There’s a couple people out there right now with kids. That’s just crazy. They’re struggling so hard. I don’t want to see cops messing with people like that. They’ll take away their kids. ”

He thinks Sparks could also use a homeless shelter, public shower stalls and food kitchen.  “There’s tons of homeless out here too,” he said.

Fuzz now has a trusted cane, but misses skateboarding, a lifelong passion.

Missing Skateboarding

Fuzz who has had to deal with a lot of pain, including not seeing two estranged children for years, is now struggling with not being able to skateboard, his one pure escape for most of his life.

“I’m always falling. I have no equilibrium. I can’t skate. I can’t even sit on a skateboard, which really sucks. Skateboarding was my life.  It makes me feel less. I am going to have to find something else to feel this void. I ‘m trying to get rehabilitation. I’m trying to get off the streets,” he said.

Lisa Lee and Fuzz headed to her car, before she drove him back to his encampment along the river.

A Message to All 

Before walking back to Lee’s car the day of our interview to return to his “state of the art” tent, a prized possession donated by tattoo artist and another local activist, Jay Dee Skinner, Fuzz has a message for those who look down on the homeless or who harass them, or criticize them, or don’t want them around. 

“We’re not trying to harm anybody. We really aren’t. We are not inflicting anything upon anyone else. We are just trying to get over our woes,” he said as he gingerly grabbed his cane.

Photos and Reporting by Our Town Reno in August 2017

Tyrone, From Truck Driver to Prison to Camping in Reno

“I used to drive trucks, and I used to make $150,000 a year, and then I got into an accident. One accident in a big rig throws up your whole life,” Tyrone said on a cloudy day in downtown Reno.

Tyrone was with his friends and one of his dogs, CeCe, resting in the shade at Wingfield Park by the Truckee river. Photo by Laura Gattis for Our Town Reno.

A Life Turned Upside Down

Tyrone, known to his friends as Ty, glanced down for a moment before he continued talking.

“I did five years for manslaughter in Huntsville Prison in Texas, and when I got out of prison, my ex-wife, or wife at the time, came up to me with divorce papers.”

After signing the divorce papers, Ty moved to Reno, hoping for a new start, having heard that Reno was friendly.

Ty had one dog with him, but was searching with his friends for his other dog who went missing. Photo by Laura Gattis for Our Town Reno

Burned by a Reno Roommate

But despite Reno's popular reputation among the transient community, Ty said it isn’t always a kind place for people stuck in a difficult spot.

 “I was working, and my roommate stole my cash, and left me with no place to stay," he said.

Reaching down to pet his dog, Cece, he paused again.

“I have one more dog, that’s why we’re on the streets. I’ve only been here a year, almost two.”

 Ty and his friends had been searching downtown Reno all morning looking for his other dog that had gone missing. 

An archive photo from Our Town Reno showing a pet on the streets of Reno under a Wells avenue bridge.  Pets aren't allowed in Reno's main shelter or overflow shelter.

Shelters Don't Allow Dogs

Ty doesn’t want to be homeless, but finding a shelter in Reno that will take him has proved impossible because of his dogs.

 “They need to help the homeless more...People with animals, they need to open a shelter for them.”

When Ty has tried to stay at shelters, they have refused him because of his dogs, which he, like many others in his situation doesn’t want to leave behind.

Another Our Town Reno archive photo showing a man camping in the city with a pet. Shelters don't allow pets so homeless people with pets either have to give them up or fend for themselves at night.

Unhappy with Shelter Options

“You have a shelter, sure, but you can’t bring animals in there, and even when I was able to stay there, they need to keep the shelter up,” Ty said.

Reminiscing back on his first stay in the shelter, without his dogs, Ty grimaced and shook his head.

“There were bed bugs everywhere," he said. "That’s why I’m out here, I woke up with these little critters crawling all over me, and no thanks. I don’t want to do that again.”

An archive Our Town Reno photo of government workers checking in on homeless pets.

Camping Outside Every Night

Ty says his story is far from unique, and that many displaced people in Reno avoid shelters because sleeping in an alley or park can feel cleaner and safer than a government-run shelter. 

Ty reached down to adjust the sweater he had put on CeCe, and returned to his search for his second dog, the Truckee River roaring behind him.

Reporting by Laura Gattis for Our Town Reno

Demian Trevor O’Keeffe, once Homeless now Master of Reno’s Wonderland

No words or pictures can do justice to Dudyville, a sloping plot of land nestled between Keystone and California avenues, full of handmade, woodsy art and sculptures mingling with nature, sheds, skateboards, giant hearts, you name it, from garbage rescues to donated items all repurposed together as a therapeutic outdoor museum celebrating creative life and peace in the high desert country.

Dudyville (derived from his son’s nickname) is reflective of Demian Trevor O’Keeffe, a Colorado rancher’s son, an ‘old 1960s hippie’, a retired civil engineer who sold a lucrative patent and bought a marina, a one time harbormaster in San Pablo Bay, a world traveller, a former activist in Reno’s Occupy movement, a welder and gardener, a father and the husband of artist Shannon O’Keeffe, to name just a few of his highlights.

Without a Map

 “I can’t tell people how to live their lives if I can’t do it by example. I’ve always been a guy that bases everything on an example. I don’t like books because … they’re not three-dimensional… By experiencing it and by being a part of if, it becomes three dimensional. It becomes more than just a storyline.  People say, well you’ve done so much. No, that’s what a normal life is supposed to be. It’s supposed to get you from point A to point B, but there’s not necessarily a map. That’s the problem. Most people have a map, and they don’t wander outside of that map.”

A recent addition to the front part of Dudyville is Pushback which O'Keeffe made for Reno's recent Sculpture Fest. "It's pushback against the extinction of humanity. The reaction was really good. Some guy even wants to put it at the back of his hotel, but I haven't had time to sort that out," he said during a recent visit.

Lessons from Teen Homelessness

O’Keeffe has known lowlights as well, including as a homeless teen navigating the streets of Denver.

“I went from two homes that I traveled between weekly to nothing. My next meal was on the basis of my own intellect. So that was a great teacher. I wish the kids who are out there now in similar circumstances, whatever the reason, they find their way as I did. But I don’t want to be a preacher.  I don’t want to limit them. They need to know it’s going to be ok. They won’t know that until they are 45 and they’ve figured it out. But, along the way, they have to be open minded."

Giant hearts are a constant presence in Dudyville. "We welcome all those who come in peace," O'Keeffe said. "But if you have malicious intent, don’t bother. "

Stay off Your Phone

"If they restrict themselves to their phone, they will miss opportunities which surround them. No matter how crappy it got for me on the streets, there were always opportunities. As long as you feel safe and comfortable when somebody asks you to do something for them, sure. It teaches you onto the next and adds onto the next. Put your phone down, and look at what’s around you. All you’ll get from that phone is someone else’s life. It’s up to you to choose your own direction.  No matter what it is you come across, it’s an experience that will teach you. Your life evolves with your environment and you evolve into that environment because if you don’t it will just eat you up. Most of the stuff I do is adaptive by experimentation.”

“I was going to turn it into a camping-mobile for surf trips but then I realized the rear end is too short and the transmission is too low-geared," he said of his truck which has become a downtown Reno landmark.

A Surfer's Greeting for Californians

A sightline for many motorists careening toward I-80 is O’Keeffe’s surfboard surrounded truck which counters screeching tires with 60s music serenading out of its open windows.

"It’s a converted local delivery truck. The truck says Mahalo (which is Hawaiian for gratitude).  It’s sort of a welcome mat for the many Californians in Reno. I’ve been a water dog attached to the ocean forever. If there’s a place on the coast that’s known or unknown, I’ve done it, surfed it, skim boarded it, body surfed it, it didn’t really matter, if there was a wave I was on it. When (my wife) imported me up here, it was like what the hell. It was when there were no Democrats in Washoe County. They are all imported from California….”

The project all started with gardening.  The higher section closer to the property's old home has a more classical style.

A Mansion's Guest House and Garden

The garden surrounds what was once a guest house, where O’Keeffe now lives with family, including his mother in law. It was built several decades after the nearby early 20th century Nixon mansion.

“Now it’s a place to practice art, a place for people to appreciate art, to appreciate the surroundings, to take a moment, to relax right in the heart of the city," O'Keeffe said, eating oatmeal at lunchtime outside, taking a break from handyman work inside.

"It wasn’t really thought out," O'Keeffe said of the garden's evolution. "My wife is the artist. I am the hack and gardener. It’s a place for recycling art and plants.  People come by and say ‘here we think you need this’ and we will build something out of it. It’s a collaborative effort. A lof of this stuff would just appear, and I would say, ‘that’s weird but I could use that.’ It keeps growing and growing and growing …. My wife (who currently works at the Generator on Burning Man projects) will also make her pieces out here, in the garden. It's also a resting place for art that's been elsewhere.”

From a Few Trees to an Eclectic Art Forest

The garden used to be just a few trees at the end of the road, while now it’s a little Amazon of art at the heart of the Biggest Little City.  People used to drive by and dump their garbage, while now they drop off art. O’Keeffe started the project by gardening in the early 1990s, and used to give free vegetables out by the side of the road, until for some reason neighbors complained. But with the new water lines, more trees and vegetation kept growing.  

Then someone gave them a used windsurfer and windsurfing sails, and he put them up in sapling trees.  The giant sails would flap in the wind, and as Washoe Lake, previously a windsurfer’s destination, dried up, people kept dropping off their sails.

Overlooking Dudyville is a giant peace symbol.  “That’s a fiber optic wheel I turned into a peace sign. That’s my American Flag," O'Keeffe said. "It glows in the dark all night long and I hope people appreciate my peaceful leanings. Life is not supposed to be war like, it’s not supposed to be competitive.  I want people to know this is a place of peace. They can just come and hang out. We welcome everyone that comes in. I don’t want to turn it into a public thing because along with that you get abuses and liabilities and all of that crazy crap.”

Recycled and Reused

When he found out a Lake Tahoe hotel got rid of all its head boards, O'Keeffe went to get them at a local Salvation Army, and made dozens of benches out of them.

“People throw away way too much stuff out. We have plenty. That’s my message to everyone. We have enough. There’s enough to build anything that you could possibly want. You don’t have to mine anymore. You don’t have to strip the forests. We have enough materials. Anyway the materials of yesteryear are actually stronger in their late stage uses, or secondary uses.  It’s my way of saying ‘hey you can make beautiful things out of shit that’s already here. So do it, why throw it away.”

O'Keeffe also made a protest bed out of the discarded head boards for the Occupy protest movement. “I made this bed for them so you could wheel it down the street, and stuff, kind of like the John Lennon and Yoko Ono bed-in for peace (during the Vietnam War). I had to explain it to them.”

An Activist Retires

He said Occupy Reno was his last activism.  He said even though some of the younger protesters got thrown off by his hippie, Abbie Hoffman references, his experience getting beaten up by police during the 60s, helped him manage relations with current cops.  He still has plenty of ideas both for Reno and the world in general.

He believes stay at home Moms should be paid a living wage.  He says City Council should press deal-making developers to help with the homeless situation.

Even if he says he is retired from activism, O'Keeffe doesn't just have ideas about what to do with an aging wheelbarrow.

Ideas to Help the Homeless

“If you are going to keep selling these run-down properties to these developers that don’t have any financial backing, you need to take a deposit from them and use that deposit, and say guess what you created insecurity when these people got kicked out of these places and vacant properties. … You want all these tax credits, and you want all these freebies, and all of this welfare from us, fine then you operate a shelter over here that we can send these people to, that they have a place they can rest and they can get centralized services.”

He also believes legal encampments, with bathrooms, showers and laundromats, would go a long way toward helping the homeless. “Just by being able to sleep somewhere and clean up, to be able to manage themselves, that would mean so much to them,” he said.

More recently, with more notoriety O'Keeffe's art has gone from the garden to places of business, or from events for which he made art back to the garden.  Squeeze In restaurants and the Danny Davis Peace Park snowboard events have been recent clients.  He dissembled part of the Occupy bed to go to a Squeeze In while part of a Phoenix for the Peace Park (above) is now next to the entrance of Dudyville.

Unprompted Visits

People do walk in unannounced, and not just to leave behind donations.

“We’ve also had people come in and rearrange stuff and we’ve left it.  It’s inspiration for other people.” 

Some also steal but O'Keefe said it’s rare.   “We recently had a 'better bike exchange' … They left their bike and took one of ours but they traded down. They were looking for a bike frame I think … They left a short bike and took our short bike… but at least they had one good tire on their bike.”

There have been homeless people as well.  “It wouldn’t be so bad, if they didn’t leave all their garbage, debris and everything else that comes with open air camping.    We get visitors but not too many people will stay long term. They never know where the sprinklers are going to come up here.”

Elderly tourists from Europe navigating steep steps into the garden, scrappers trying to sell iron, kids from nearby Reno High, bears, ducks and deer have also visited.

Avoid Home Depot

In terms of tips for those thinking of trying similar projects, he says: “don’t go to Home Depot, go to Habitat for Humanity first. You can find all sorts of different things there.” He also says not to be intimidated by what others are doing, and just to start small.  He says he's been in awe of hobbit houses himself, but that after a while you just need to develop your own style, in life and in outdoor decoration.

"I found these letters in a box at Habitat for Humanity, and it just so happened the letters which were left spelled peace," O'Keeffe said.

Photos and Interview with Our Town Reno at Dudyville in June 2017

Elvira Diaz, an Activist at Hopes: "I am with the People"

“I direct traffic,” Elvira Diaz says of her Tuesdays at Change Point. “It’s never the same. It’s always different. It’s intense.” Diaz helps with the Northern Nevada Hopes syringe services program as part of outreach work she does for the University of Nevada, Reno. 

“You give people hope, You tell them ‘it’s ok, today is a bad day, but tomorrow will be a better day’. Here you don’t judge people," Diaz (center) with two clients of Change Point she has helped.  "You get people as they are and you just support them, and give them love and compassion and they give you love back. I get a lot of love every time I go there.”

Relating to Other Struggles

As an immigrant from Mexico, who has faced lots of discrimination since coming to the United States and lost everything in the recession when her community bakery in Carson City went under, Diaz can relate to those in our community struggling every day.

“Change Point is also for free HIV and Hepatitis C testing, but people also come for donuts or coffee, a place to crash for a few hours, a place to look for coats when it’s cold or just to talk and figure things out,” she says. The Change Point website says it is Nevada’s first legal syringe services program while also offering harm reduction supplies and counseling.  “It embraces diversity and advocates for medically underserved groups in the community,” the website reads.

Diaz, an all-around activist for progressive causes, who wears many hats, and fights many battles, has been helping the downtown community health center for several years in different capacities, from fundraising, to reaching out to the Latino community.  

“I love Hopes because I have a transgender son and at Hopes they help transgender people,” Diaz says. “They also help people who are HIV positive. I am with people. They are also helping Latinos, whether they have Social Security or not. They help people one on one to move forward. They have special Latino groups to help about the immigration process and I help with that as well.”

A Caring Reno with Risks

She says Reno is a place which attracts people going through tough times, because of its small size and the services offered, but that this also entails risks.

“Reno is transitional for many people,” she says. “I used to travel by bus around town. I like to see people and interact with them. When you are in the car, you don’t see anyone. I also didn’t want to use my own gas. Anyway, I think this little town has a lot of transitional people, with the bus station, the train station, they stop over and see what’s here. We have food kitchens which give food every day. As humans we do a good job, so that brings people in. But some people also (prey) on new arrivals by offering them drugs, prostitution." 

Outside Hopes which sees steady traffic of pedestrians. "We also have rising rents," Diaz says of current conditions in Reno. "So that also displaces people so they become homeless, or live with others in the same small apartment. That also draws people to be tempted and exposed to drug addiction and prostitution.” 

More and More Homeless Latinos

She is also worried that homelessness is starting to creep into the local Latino community, where it was previously unheard of.

“We’ve only just started seeing homeless Latinos,” she says. “When people are lonely and desperate, they go into casinos, they go into things. If you don’t have a support system, you can get into big trouble. I know a lot of Latinos now who are HIV positive, and what they need to do is they need to become more Americanized to survive. You need to take your medicines all the time. Or for transgender Latinos, they cannot be so open usually, because culturally it’s different."

"A lot of Latinos also fall prey to multi-level business scams, and lose money that way," Diaz says. "They bring good speakers and it’s also a social network so they like it, and they sell you the dream of money, but I’ve never seen anyone succeed at that in Reno.”

"People become lonely or depressed," Diaz says of people who aren't able to work and move around Reno during the day, avoiding police. "I’m telling Latinos who have problems, go to the food banks, before they were afraid of trying but now they are going."

Worse and Worse for the Undocumented

She says she feels for Latinos who are undocumented, it is getting much worse currently.

“If you are undocumented and they are doing the e-verify (the Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States),you cannot work anymore. You are stuck, and you become homeless and you are afraid of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and you are afraid of jail. Our community initially came here to work, but now it’s different. Some are fleeing terrible situations.”

Diaz says she believes Reno is worth fighting for despite current gentrification and rising rents, forcing some residents into increasingly precarious living situations. 

Fighting for the Overall Good

“We need to give people alternatives,” she says. “If you use your time to help empower someone you are going to make an impact.  You need to find what is in your guts that makes you feel you are contributing to the way you want society to be. You are going to die soon, so enjoy the time you have on earth and do something good. You can do this in Reno," she said.

"This is such a small place you can even change laws yourself through lobbying as I helped with (on a bill which was passed unanimously to allow transgender people to change their names without publishing their new and original names in a newspaper). In a small place, like here, if I am in trouble I can crash on a person’s couch. People will support you to get back on your feet. So you can do it here, you need to fight for what you think needs fighting for.”

Interview and Photos by Our Town Reno in May 2017

For Kids Foundation, Helping In the Cracks

In a small, building housing psychiatrists and therapists in downtown Reno, next to the Renown Regional Medical Center, the non-profit charity For Kids Foundation works out of a small office to in its own words “catch the kids that fall through the cracks.” 

For kids under 21 who couldn’t get help for very specific needs with other local organizations and services, the charity housed among professional offices says it has paid for new braces, computers, special needs classes or after school tutoring. Photo by Laura Gattis

Applications for Help Not Covered Elsewhere

Our Town Reno contributor Laura Gattis recently sat down with Earl S. Nielsen, a board member and founder, and Paula Nielsen, the executive director of this local charity which began in 2003.

“I was actually on an executive board for a for-profit hospital corporation,” Earl Nielsen said. “The owner suggested that...we start a non-profit basically to catch the kids that fall through the cracks, and so I agreed to write the 501(c)(3) and I started it.” 

The charity accepts applications for anything not being covered by other charities and agencies, including additional healthcare, schooling, and sometimes even dresses for school dances or travel fees to sports competitions or to attend senior prom. 

A screengrab from the For Kids Foundation website, which among other possibilities, offers tutoring.

A Case by Case Basis

For Kids say they currently help under 21s in Northern Nevada, and occasionally California areas which border Nevada.  When they receive applications for help, they first try to find organizations which already cover the request for a referral. But if no other organization can help, Paula Nielsen said, the board discusses each remaining application and decides on an appropriate level of aid. If a case is extremely time sensitive, or expensive, the charity sometimes partners with other groups to answer the need. 

Many of the stories are simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting, such as that of one local girl who was abused by a sibling, and placed in foster care.  While she recovered from broken bones and bruises, her foster family asked for financial help to send her to swimming lessons to help her heal. For Kids approved and paid for two months of swimming lessons worth $335.

Friday's upcoming fundraising event linked below.

A Fundraiser

Funded entirely through private donors, For Kids Foundation hosts two events a year, a wine and cheese tasting, and a golf tournament.  The wine and cheese will be this Friday June 2, 2017, and details can be found on its website here.  The golf event will be September 30th, 2017.

Reporting by Laura Gattis for Our Town Reno

Tony and the Loneliness of Homelessness

“What they don’t tell you about being homeless is that it’s cold. Not just the weather, but the way others treat you. It’s lonely,” Tony said as he sat downtown near the Truckee River, after surviving a cold, wet winter, and enjoying balmier weather.

Anthony, who prefers to go by Tony, says he came to Reno in 1982. Photo by Laura Gattis.

By the River with Camo Shorts

Tony, who has a shopping cart full of his possessions, says he chooses to spend his days downtown because of its serenity and beauty.

 “It’s beautiful here," he said.

“I found these," he said holding up a pair of camo shorts. "They may not be clean and new, but there’s nothing wrong with [them]... I just don’t like wasted clothes. If they’re clean, I’ll find a use for them.”

Going through the items in his cart, he proudly holds up a bright yellow reflective vest which he used for work in the 1990s.

“In 1992, I signed a contract with a local fire department and worked with a water company, so things were looking up," Tony said. Photo by Laura Gattis.

Tony describes himself as a happy-go-lucky guy, and he’s been enjoying the weather lately.  Sitting on a bench in downtown Reno, he leaned back to take a nap in the warm Reno sun.

Reporting, Photos and Interview by Laura Gattis for Our Town Reno

Skate Pistols, A Reno Skate Crew Giving Back

A Skater Support Group

After 11-year-old Johnny befriended 11-year-old Ryder at a skating competition in Truckee, it made sense to Johnny’s mom, Michelle, that this should be the beginning of a skate crew.

“The goal initially was just to support each other, to travel together and to go to competitions together so that when they go to the competitions they aren’t intimidated,” Michelle said.

And so the Skate Pistols were born.

But what started as a support group amongst themselves, quickly became a group that loved supporting others.

The Skate Pistols have got serious skateboarding skills and also huge hearts for the community around them. Video above by Alexandra Mosher from one of their training grounds at Idlewild Park.

Handing out Sandwiches and Socks

It began with making bagged lunches and skating up and down the river into downtown Reno, handing out sandwiches and socks to people who were homeless.

“You could just see how good they felt about themselves when they did it,” Michelle said.

Then, Johnny and Ryder became junior coaches for Skate MD, an organization that uses skateboarding as therapy for children facing challenges.

Recently, the Skate Pistols also went to the Eddy House in downtown Reno to drop off food for at-risk and homeless youths, many of whom Michelle said are also skaters.  

So who are these young, community-loving skaters? Let's meet them one by one.

Johnny on the homeless ... "Most of them have lost (money) to gambling and they’ve lost their homes and just lost everything so there’s a lot of homeless people. And it really sucks. And I want to help them." Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

Johnny Morrison

Q: How long have you been skating?

A: Since I was 4

Q: What do you like about skating?

A: It’s really fun and I get my mind off of school and other things that I have to do that are stressful. It just frees my mind.

Q: Do you think skating is something that you’ll do for a while?

A: Yeah, I want to be a pro-skater when I grow up.

Q: Tell me a little bit about the Skate Pistols?

A: Well we’re a team from Reno, Nevada and we go around and we help other people and we skate and just have a fun time.

Q: Tell me a little bit about feeding homeless people.

A: It was really fun, it just...I don’t know how to explain it. It made us feel good and we didn't want to be like them so we tried to help them as much as we can.

Q: Tell me about the members in your team what are they like?

A: They’re pretty crazy and funny and sometimes they get a bit mad.

Q: Get mad about what?

A: Skateboarding, if they can’t land a trick they’ll get a bit mad but it’s all fun.

Q: How would you end world hunger?

A: Uhm. Feed a lot of people?

Q: If someone asked you what Reno was like what would you say?

A: I’d say it’s crazy, there’s a lot of gambling a lot of weird stuff that happens but I mean, it’s pretty cool here.

Q:What do you think about the homeless population in Reno?

A: Well I mean it really sucks. Most of them have lost (money) to gambling and they’ve lost their homes and just lost everything so there’s a lot of homeless people. And it really sucks. And I want to help them.

Ryder on the homeless situation in Reno: "I think it’s a lot, way, a little way too much. Yeah because I know there’s a lot of people but it’s a lot. Just too many people." Photo by Alexandra Mosher

Ryder Howard

Q: How long have you been skateboarding?

A: Pretty much my whole life.

Q: Tell me about the Skate Pistols?

A: They’re nice but it’s like also fun at the same time but we uh, we always hand out sandwiches to the homeless and uh, I forgot what I was going to say.

Q: Tell me about that experience handing out sandwiches?

A: When you’re done it always makes you sad that you’re done because it’s so much fun and it makes you happy while you’re doing it.

Q: What’s fun about it?

A: Just to see the expression on the homeless's faces and to get called really nice.

Q: What do you think about the homeless population in Reno?

A: I think it’s a lot, way, a little way too much. Yeah because I know there’s a lot of people but it’s a lot. Just too many people.

Q: What do you think about the fact that women make .79 cents compared to men making a dollar?

A: Cause men work harder? I don’t know.

Sevannah on the homeless population ... "It also makes me feel kind of sad because I don’t really like people being homeless especially kids because I don’t want them to not have a family." Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

Sevannah Barkman

Q: How old are you?

A: I’m nine.

Q: How long have you been skating?

A: About three years

Q: Why did you start skating?

A: Because my brother kind of motivated me because we forgot that we had cruiser boards one time and then my brother wanted to start skating and motivated me so I started skating.

Q: What do you think about skating?

A: I think it’s really cool because it’s really close to surfing and I really like surfing.

Q: So tell me about the Skate Pistols?

A: Uhm they’re kind of like a group of skaters that work together as a team like feeding the homeless and stuff and just helping each other out if they need it.

Q: Why do you like it?

A: I like it because we’re all a group and we’re all like friends and stuff and we’re all skaters.

Q: How did you join?

A: Well I was at a Truckee skate competition, I was doing that and they were still my friends and I just got handed over a T-shirt and yeah.

Q: Tell me about feeding the homeless what was that like?

A: It was really cool. We went to go to this place called the Eddy House and we got to feed some kids and stuff. We went in there and dropped off some food.

Q: What was that like?

A: Uhm it was really cool, like it felt really, I kind of felt tingly inside because I’ve never been there before and I get shy a lot. But it was really cool.

Q: If someone were to ask you what Reno is like what would you say?

A: I would say probably kind of really hot and cold at the same time. And a lot of mountains and stuff and really windy and rain sometimes and yeah.

Q: What do you think about the homeless population here?

A: Well the homeless population is kind of low but kind of high too cause, it also makes me feel kind of sad because I don’t really like people being homeless especially kids because I don’t want them to not have a family.

Q: If you could tell someone anything about yourself what would you tell them?

A: I would probably tell them that I’m really shy and when I meet someone new I’m really nervous and sometimes I’m funny...sometimes I'm not.

Sean on if it matters to help others: "Yes, definitely, because some people it’s hard for them. They don’t have clean clothes and nobody wants to hire somebody that is dirty. It’s hard for them to get money sometimes and stuff like that and so we hand out sandwiches and socks and shoes." Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

Sean Suyma

Q: How old are you?

A: Fifteen.

Q: What do you love about skating?

A: The adventure. Because you go to new places you skate new things you meet new people.

Q: What’s one of your favorite things you’ve done with the Skate Pistols?

A: Mammoth, go to Mammoth Volcom Brothers Skate Park (in Mammoth Lakes, CA). It was the best skate park I’ve ever been to.

Q: Did you go with them to feed homeless people?

A: Yes.

Q: And what was that like?

A: It was fun. The smile on their faces. I was like, ‘Yeah boy.’ It felt pretty good.

Q: Do you feel like doing things for the community is important?

A: Yes, definitely, because some people it’s hard for them. They don’t have clean clothes and nobody wants to hire somebody that is dirty. It’s hard for them to get money sometimes and stuff like that and so we hand out sandwiches and socks and shoes.

Q: What’s your idea of a perfect date?

A: You know back in Phoenix people didn’t really go on dates. It was just like, ‘Hey, do you want to go out? Yes.’ You didn’t really like take them to a movie theater or anything so I wouldn’t know.

Q: If someone were to ask you what Reno is like what would you say?

A: It reminds me of New York because some of the buildings in some parts of the city you have really old buildings, it looks like you're in New York, and other parts you got weird futuristic buildings with rainbow windows going all the way up them and stuff.

The Skate Pistols put their game faces on.  Find out what they're up to via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/skatepistols/ Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

Photos, Reporting and Video by Alexandra Mosher for #ourtownreno

Motels and Weeklies of Reno, Historical and Current Perspectives

Story and Photos by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Reno was initially established as a mining town in the latter half of the 19th century. It operated as a temporary residence for people who desired to get rich quick, and then return to where they came from. The early driving forces of Reno’s economy would set the precedent for the city’s transience, which in turn would shift from mining to gambling.

Reno's remaining boutique motels, those not being torn down, are both part of what make downtown Reno unique and still affordable for those who can't afford rising rents or hotel rooms. Photo by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Motels for Divorcees

In the early decades of the 20th century, Reno made a name for itself in becoming the so-called divorce capital of the world. The courts determined that only a six-week residency period was necessary in Nevada before processing divorces as official (half that of other states). During the six-week period, many travellers would revel in their newfound ‘freedom’ and turn to the illustrious casinos and bars downtown. Many, however, needed a place to stay. The necessity for inexpensive, momentary housing resulted in the creation of a multitude of motels, weekly or otherwise.

Often adorned with vintage decor of the 1970s, motels have become a pivotal part of Reno’s composition—even if you haven’t stayed in one. On a casual drive up or down one of the main drags of Reno, it’s uncommon to not see at least one motel in a quick glance out of a car window. Photo by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Still Open for Business

To this day, many motels still exist in various pockets throughout the downtown Reno area. Although they don’t operate in the same fashion of the late 1940s, some motels—if they’re still open for business—function as a cheap alternative to the increasingly revitalized hotels located downtown.

Not only do these motels serve as a low-priced option for folks traveling through Reno, they’re also a cheaper housing option for many people who can’t afford to rent an apartment or buy a house.

“A weekly for one bed was about a hundred and thirty dollars," said Chuck, who was staying at the Rancho Sierra Motel. "They also rent monthly and have regular tenants.”  The owner of the Rancho Sierra Motel declined to comment for this story. Photo by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Accessible Housing

There are numerous people who have been afflicted by hard times—gambling losses, addiction, fleeting mental health, health problems, family issues, etc ....  Often times, many people are forced to turn to the precarious, seven-day or monthly shelter options that motels provide.

Cheaper hotels of Reno sometimes get less than glowing reviews from tourists, but for some Reno residents they have no other options given prices in the market.

Surviving at the Ponderosa

Jackie, a 43-year-old woman living on a weekly basis in the downtown Ponderosa hotel, said that a troubled family history resulted in her family moving to Reno from Carson City. Following the move, her mother walked out on her, but she remains at the hotel with her step-dad. 

Reno's motels have a long and storied history up to the present, but current gentrification is putting many of these local landmarks and cheaper housing and hotel options at risk. Photo by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Story and Photos by Jacob Jacoby for Our Town Reno

Brittany Straw, Singing With Wolves

“I’ve always been very intrigued by the wolf,” singer, songwriter and wildlife activist Brittany Straw says.

Straw surrounded by wolves Cheyanne to the left and Comanche to the right. Comanche was found chained inside of a van and it took three hours to surgically remove his collar.Photo by Alexandra Mosher. 

Straw has spent her entire life in Reno, but her solace doesn’t come from the neon bulbs that illuminate the Biggest Little City.

Admittedly she says Reno is “pretty wonderful” but what truly calls to her lies beyond city limits. The forest to the south, the sagebrush to the north and the creatures that dwell within.

The U.S. Wolf Refuge, near Reno, only takes wolves born into captivity and currently houses 17 wolf dogs in five different enclosures. Photo by Alexandra Mosher

An Earth Day Encounter

Three years ago, Straw came face to face with a wolf during an Earth Day event and she was smitten. The wolf dog belonged to Bill Chamberlain who has been running the U.S. Wolf Refuge for over 30 years.

The U.S. Wolf Refuge lies an hour outside of Reno, across vast desert and through long windy dirt roads that travel deep into cacti-ridden hills.

“It was—it’s amazing out there, it’s beautiful, it’s serene, it's in the middle of nowhere," she said. “You know no neighbors, which is ideal you know because when one of them howls they all howl.”

Nala is what Straw considers a low-content wolfdog and she is the alpha of her pack at the refuge. Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

Destroyed Furniture

The wolves at the U.S. Wolf Refuge were raised in captivity by breeders and landed in the refuge because of the general public’s lack of knowledge when it comes to taking care of wolf dogs.

Straw describes the wolves as having cat-like behavior, very independent and living on their own terms. She said they make terrible guard dogs despite what people might think.

“They’re actually very flighty instinctively,” she said. “Only if provoked would they want to attack.”

And to try and keep them inside? She said you’re likely to end up with a lot of destroyed furniture.

Straw blames egos for the prevalence of owning wild animals, stating that the people who are buying them are doing it for themselves when they fail to take care of the animals. Photo by Alexandra Mosher

Caring and Crying for Lobo

Nearly every weekend for the past three years, Straw has driven out to the refuge to do what she says is her passion. “We’ve brought them into domestication so now it’s our responsibility to properly take care of it,” she said.

Straw recounts a wolf named Lobo who wanted nothing to do with humans when he first got to the refuge.

Eventually, little by little, Lobo began to stray closer to Straw as she would walk through the enclosure carrying food like eggs. Until, one day, Lobo walked up and put his head against Straw’s leg looking for affection.

“I kind of started crying a little bit because it was just so touching,” she said. “It made me never say never to myself because before that I said, ‘Oh Lobo would never come up to me,’ just from how he used to act.”

In video above by Alexandra Mosher, Brittany Straw sings "Wolf in Love".

Strumming the Uke

After a day of meandering around the refuge and rough-housing with wolves, we sat down with Straw and her other passion, her ukulele.

 “Yeah I love it, it was a present from my parents almost four years ago and I just haven’t put it down since,” she said. She runs her hand along the ukulele. “It’s my baby."

Straw’s own ukulele is what's called a tenor ukulele. Photo by Alexandra Mosher

Different Acts, Powerful Lyrics

Straw is currently a part of three different acts with her electric ukulele and praises Reno for its abundant open mic scene.

Her affiliation with the band Seedless 10DenC began at an open mic night about two years ago inside Paddy and Irene’s Irish Pub in Sparks. Lead singer Grady Holdridge approached Straw after her set and said, 'Hey you’re really good, do you like reggae?'

Straw said she’s written love songs but some of the songs that are the most dear to her heart have to do with societal issues like the war on wolves in the wild and our culture’s fixation with external appearances.

One of her song’s reads: “Why does society lead us up to standards that no one can meet, well the attention is what we seek.”

Straw demonstrating some of her skills and her beautiful opal ring. Photo by Alexandra Mosher.

A Musician at Heart With Love for the Refuge and Reno

She said the unrealistic expectations that our society places on people is incredibly damaging to a person’s self worth.

“What you’re thinking, mindset and energy is what makes a person beautiful.”

When asked if she would ever like to be a professional musician she immediately shot back, “Oh my gosh absolutely in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat.”

She pauses for a second and then says, “My heart would still be with the refuge, my heart would still always be here in Reno.”

Reporting, Story, Photos and Video by Alexandra Mosher for Our Town Reno