Jonathan, an Injured Logger who Self-Medicated

Recovering from a Broken Back and Trying Rehab

Jonathan Brewer, says he comes from a long line of loggers in the state of Washington, including his grandfather and father and all his uncles. But after his injury, and self-medicating, his life veered away from logging.

“I've been labeled an addict and I've been through rehabs and jails, America's reprogramming or whatever you want to call it and I accepted it and went through it but … it's just another mind trick. They want you to …. enslave yourself too. I've been in jail for different things. I was a spoiled brat.”

“These people have given up, took losses, detrimental blows that were hard to mentally recover from,” he says of others living without housing. “There's vultures, you know, there's creditors out here. They prey off the weak. Even I, even I prey offr the weak. we all do….” Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

A Family Man with a Broken Car

He says he has five daughters and the hardest is when he can’t find food for his youngest who he says is seven.

“When your seven-year-old daughter asks you what you're gonna have for dinner and you can't answer her and she's hungry,” he said his is toughest challenge. “Asking a stranger for some food or change because your baby's hungry. … and you ain't got shit to feed them….”

He says he found the car he’s currently working on. He said he wants to fix it and get out of Reno. “I found the car on the side of the road. It was abandoned… about to be towed by the city,” he said.

“I've had several cars and I had to do my own maintenance. I didn't have time or money to pay mechanics so I had to figure it out on my own,” he said of trying to fix this car so he can leave Reno. Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Jimmy: "Things are Looking Up" after Being Attacked in a Motel Room

Recovering from an Attack without Insurance

Jimmy Penrod says it was an attack by a woman in a local motel room and a severe injury to an eye which got his previous life, which included a job as a printer, derailed.

“I didn't have no insurance,” he told us. "It took a long time. They build the eyeball up with nitrogen and put the … retina back into where it's supposed to be. But I kinda got half (of an) eye side out right now….”

He says he has two ex-wives and one 28 year-old son, but that he doesn’t try to bother them with his ordeals.

“I don't tell them nothing. Nothing. I call them up or I go down there and take the bus down there to Carson city…. You know, we have wings and shoot pool … and then I come back here …”

Jimmy was relaxing on a bench by the Truckee river in downtown Reno when we met him. Besides beer, Jimmy says he might also like to gamble too much. After he receives paychecks he says he goes to the Cal Neva. “You know, sometimes it hits, sometimes it don't…. I've lost everything, but the most I hit, I hit $6,000 one night. Had a royal playing, a dollar machine. I played it back over the days and lost it all…”Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta.

From Motels to the Streets

Jimmy says he used to be able to afford a motel room on his own but not right now, even though he’s working again. He tries to stay in motels with friends. He says being outside at night feels dangerous.

“You know you're walking around here at night. Somebody wants to … like molest you. Take your shit,” he said. “You gotta be tough. You gotta be awake. … You know a bunch of bad things happen here. Someone wants to take my money, take whatever is in my pocket. And I'm like it ain't happening. That's why I carry a knife now. You know, I'm an ex felon so I can't have a gun…”

“I wish I did not drink alcohol because your mind works better when you're sober,” he said. “You always do a good thing. I mean I've always had a job. I've never been unemployed, you know? But there's been a couple of times I did not want to go to work because of drinking. Like today.” Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta.

A Prior Hellish Prison Experience

His crime dates back to 1979 in Texas and he recounts in minute detail his capture, which sounds like it could have been in a movie.

“I wanted to come home to Nevada,” he remembers vividly. “I was out in Texas, had no money. I walked in this restaurant and wanted to take their money and take a bus to Nevada. Well, they didn't have any money. It's Christmas Eve. So I was in a stolen truck. I pulled a truck out of a gas station and police started chasing me and … the truck started running out of gas, so I jumped out of the truck. I started running and then I heard these bullets. I was going through the apartments. I could hear the bullets hitting the walls in front of me. So I dropped. At that time, the police didn't even know what they were chasing. But it came across the radio and he says, hey, you ain't that hijacker are you? I said ‘yeah’. And I did eight years time in a Texas prison picking cotton. Texas is not a good place to do time. They make you pick cotton out there, you're tired… and like your, your fingers are bleeding. Oh my God, man….”

“Of course everyday is another day when you wake up in the morning,” he said when we asked him if he had any regrets concerning his turbulent life. Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta.

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

"Stop Looking at Me!": Mary, Healing from Abuse With Her Own Voice

A Nightmare Birthday

It’s my birthday. I wake up excited like I do every year on this day. My partner of fourteen years has been unusually grumpy the last couple of weeks. So I decide to make today a mellow day. An on the couch snuggling, movie kind of day. I put out some snacks and pick out a movie and then all of a sudden there are sheriffs around me, telling me to leave the property.

I have five minutes. What? They can’t do this, I live here! But they can do this. I grab my dogs and their food with no place to go. I go out to the edge of the carport where there is some shade and I just cry, and cry. I’m out there for over eight hours. I didn’t even have water for the dogs. My now ex-partner of fourteen years was too afraid to tell me to my face that he has decided to end our relationship so that he can start a relationship with this twenty-eight-year-old prostitute that he has been seeing.

Finally, I call my son. He picks me up. My ex is nowhere to be found and everything is locked up. My life will never be the same again. And what I’m thinking most as we climb into his vehicle is, “stop looking at me.” As all the neighbors have been watching this unfold.

Photo provided by the VOICE writing workshop.

Fighting for My Life

Over the next two days, I get a court date set and the judge allows me to go back home. The eviction was illegal and immoral. I get back home and my “area” has been separated from the rest of the house.

My belongings are gone, everything! I’m not leaving! We go to court again. Again, the judge permits me to be there. I feel like I am fighting for my life. As everybody watches me play a fool. “Stop looking at me.”

I learn what fighting for my life means when three days later I was beaten so badly that I now have no teeth. [Most of her facial bones had been shattered as well.] I hurt everywhere, and I have no memory of what happened. I keep running. I find a friend. She helped me but I didn’t want to stay there long because everyone who comes to her place keeps giving me that look. Shock. Sympathy. “Stop looking at me.” I again call my son. He gets my dogs for me and I go to his place. I stayed inside for eight and a half months, mostly out of fear.

One of the inspirational quotes on the VOICE Facebook page provided to Our Town Reno.

Sleeping on Cardboard

Then my son had to move for his new job and I am facing the world. I really have no place to go. I grab my dogs and we begin that walk. The walk with no destination and I am sure that everybody I pass is watching me. “Stop looking at me.”

After eight and a half months inside, to being outside completely, so many changes happened. Survival kicked in. Instinctively, I found a piece of cardboard to sleep on top of. The worst part wasn’t sleeping on the ground. The worst part was waking up, in the park, with people doing park things and watching me. “Stop looking at me.”

Making my way to the food line every day, to the resources for a change of clothes and a backpack. I even came up on new dog dishes for my loyal companions. I also came up on the worst sunburn that I ever had. It required medical attention. The homeless doctor was great, giving me the medicine I needed. She even gave me a hat to keep it from getting worse.

Between the heat and the blistering burns, I was getting tired easily. I sat down on the edge of a building and closed my eyes. A few minutes later I was woken up by someone I used to know. He says, “Is that really you? What happened to you? I will be back.” I sat by that building until dark. They never came back. I missed dinner. The way they looked at me when they asked “What happened to you?” I wanted to scream, “Stop looking at me!”

A member of VOICE first met Mary here at Paradise Park. “I think about the first time we met and how many times we sat in the park talking before she was bold enough to come inside,” her VOICE partner remembers.

Finding Help

I heard those words in my head every day over the next year. “Stop looking at me.” By the time somebody found me, that could help my situation, I was angry, withdrawn, mistrusting of almost everyone.

But this one was different because she didn’t look at me. She made me feel like I was a human being. I listened to her, followed her advice. She built me up on the inside and gave me the “inner strength” that I needed to get myself out of the park, out of the elements, and into a place, with my dogs. Safe!

My story doesn’t end there. It continues. I still have issues. I don’t like to leave my house, mostly because my ex stalks me, watches me, and makes me still want to yell, “Stop looking at me!” But life continues. I deal with my issues and live my life day by day. A little bit healthier, a little bit warmer, a little bit safer, and with a new outlook on life. I feel like I have been returned to humanity.

“A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from human lips; not be represented on canvas or in marble only, but be carved out of the breath of life itself,” once wrote Henry David Thoreau.

What if …

Being homeless will take you to unbelievable places. It drives you mad, makes you angry, removes you from life.

What if… what if everyone came together and demanded “that new housing be built.” What if everyone came together and pulled money out of their pockets for a construction company to build a place for the homeless to go, a privately-owned building. There are so many plans that never get put into action. So many ideas that never leave the paper. The thing though that is so overlooked, the thing that would help so many people…is to stop looking at them.

When you see someone on the edge of a building, down on their luck, homeless, try as you are passing by to put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and simply say, “try to have a better day friend.” When you see someone who has the desire to not be desperate anymore, sit next to them in the park, start a conversation. Something, anything to remind them that they are still human beings. 

Story by Mary with VOICE shared with Our Town Reno

Timothy Doss, from Going Undercover Homeless to Donating Removed Appliances

Going Undercover

When we first met Timothy Doss, he was taking part in an outreach program several years ago, living the life of a homeless person for 72 hours, with dirty clothes, just a backpack, and no money, relying on food lines to eat while sleeping in hidden spots overnight.

“I actually tried to go in a few establishments and I was shunned upon,” he remembers. “I felt the lowest I've ever felt in my life. Like I didn't belong there… Walking in homeless to a restaurant or anything like that, you're actually shunned upon … Reno is actually a completely different world. It's completely different being homeless than being a regular person. You’ve got to find somewhere to charge your cell phone. We were actually kicked out of the bus station several times and we needed to keep recharging, but we kept getting kicked out.”

He says he believes local elected officials, including Mayor Hillary Schieve, should try the same experiment.

“She should come and try to do [it] completely dressed down and feel what it’s like to be homeless so she can better realize what's going down here. I do dare her to come down here and do that. It would be really cool. That would be something that, you know, even any council member should do and know how Reno is a completely different town [if you’re homeless].

If he comes across items that can help, while removing them, Doss will donate them back to people in need. “We try to turn around and give to the homeless… You know, things that they really need , we get sleeping bags, pillows, we try to bring socks and clothes, stuff they would have to pay for like a fresh set of socks and a fresh set of shoes. And I mean, they're not brand new, but the items we bring can definitely be reused,” Doss said. Photo by Jordan Blevins and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Giving Back

Doss, a graduate of Reno High, not only gives items he comes across to the homeless, but also to those who are struggling and moving into new housing.

“We will try to furnish your apartment with whatever used goods we have. .. very clean beds, tvs,” he said. “It's not perfect stuff, but it will definitely get you started. Maybe some dish ware, clothing and stuff like that. A lot of people, when you got to start moving someplace … something bad happened where you had to move and you left everything. We try to furnish your house. It's not the best things in the world, but you can always upgrade, but it's something that you can definitely live with, with the kids.”

A single father taking care of five kids, he also sets an example for them to give back as well.

“My sons are very in tune with the homeless,” he said. “We happened to go to McDonald's a couple of days ago and my son got his allowance and he saw there was a homeless person sitting there and he took his allowance out of his pocket. He walked up and bought them lunch. That is just the most amazing experience that I can pass it on to my kids,” he said.

“There's a lot of people that really need help,” Doss said during our interview as he was out at the main homeless shelter. “There needs to be more programs for the mentally unstable … We have a lot of them wandering around. There's definitely drugs and alcohol with the homeless, but there's a lot of people that have just fallen really bad on their luck that shouldn't be here and there should be more programs,” he said. Photo by Jordan Blevins and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Feeling the Pain

Doss says he recently struggled to find new housing for himself and sees that while there is growth going on in Reno, there is also an affordable housing crisis.

“I personally just moved and it is really hard to get an apartment,” he said. “Everything is overpriced… the motels are getting demolished. All the motels downtown are leaving now and there's less and less places to go. And me having a job, having money, it was actually hard for me to actually find a place that I needed to go through because it's getting so expensive. Anything that does come up for rent, people are throwing three, four, five months worth of rent and it's, it's hard. It's hard out there.”

He says Reno is a beautiful place with a tight knight community but that there’s a risk the Biggest Little City could lose some of its soul if it doesn’t do a better job helping those in need.

“There's two towns. there's really just two towns. You don't realize it until you're down there and you're homeless. You have zero money. You can't walk into a restaurant … You're being kicked out because the way you look. I say to everybody, if you see a homeless person, smile, and that might be the best thing that's happened to them all day.”

He says going undercover also made him realize how kind homeless people can be.

“They knew we weren't eating. One of the homeless actually brought some food to me … They're probably the best people in the world that they will actually give you the shirt off their back instead of somebody that's just living a regular life.”

“There's other people that have a junk removal companies and they're trying to figure out the way to do it,” Doss said of growing his own business model. “I do actually teach. I do have a channel where I do teach people how to start a junk removal company. And it’s got a few thousand subscribers. They watch the channel religiously. I put out videos every day,” he said. Photo by Jordan Blevins and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Growing his Karma Business Model

Doss said he is planning to grow his model into other cities.

“We're actually talking about going some other towns almost like franchising and we're trying to give back to the community, Karma based businesses,” he said. “We're just trying to get it bigger and get the word out and have a better business across the US and it's gonna grow. It's gonna get big.”

He says everyone should think of their own karma when encountering homeless residents in Reno.

“Next time you see the person on the street and you say something rude or derogatory, they're in that position for a reason. Some people don't belong down here, but they are, because of a physical disability or something. Some people fall back on hard times. Some people fall on drugs and alcohol. Try to see if they need something, don't give too much but give an open heart. And definitely it could be you holding that sign…”

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Quinn, Helping Others while Living Out of His Car

At-Risk Youth Giving Back

Quinn, 21, was part of a group of teenagers and young adults serving food recently at the shelter on Record street. He’s helping though he himself is living out of his own vehicle.

“We all have varying degrees of education and we’re living with parents or living alone or some of us are living on the streets as well. We understand how important it is to get people food and water and we just want to help people,” he said.

Like the others in this program he is a high school dropout. “I was super stupid and I was like, I'm going to be a musician and go into the world and you know, that doesn't always work out ... So, you know, finding a job has been difficult but this program has helped me not only find a job, but they give a stipend every week for education that you find. Come the 15th, I'll have a place,” he assured us when we met him.

“Young people should try their best to get out there. It seems like, especially when you're down in the dumps and down into the negative, it seems like that's all there is. But there's a lot of life out there. There's a lot of life to live, especially as a young person. You owe it to yourself and your future self especially to get out there and help people and help yourself,” Quinn (left) said. Members of the YouthBuild program pose in front of the Children’s Cabinet bus which dropped them off to do community service. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

Moving Forward Again

Quinn says the Children’s Cabinet run program has given him new incentive to find a better track for himself. “I have regrets about my life getting me to this point, but this is now life less about regret and more about fixing mistakes and just getting myself moving forward again. They're helping me move along in my education to get my high school diploma. That kind of stuff is very, very helpful for somebody my age. Just direction and structure rather than just aimless wandering.”

Reporting by Prince Nesta and photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Joy, An Artist-Philosopher 'Trying to Find a Landing Spot'

Moving Around

Joy, 40, says she’s previously lived in many other states, including Texas, Colorado, Florida, New York, Arizona, Missouri, Maryland, Illinois and California.

”I was on my way back to California and kinda got stuck here,” she said when we met her by the Truckee River in downtown Reno and offered her a cup of coffee. “Well, I just didn't get my stuff together. Because I was overwhelmed with what I felt my potential was and how many different directions that drew me, not wanting to find specialties and trying to figure out just how many specialties I could have,” she said as a way of introduction.

She’s worked many jobs, include office jobs, filing paperwork and doing mail deliveries, or working as a barista at a vegetarian restaurant and coffee shop. Her favorite job was when she was a ceramics assistant while going to college in Colorado.

“It is something you really have to have a studio setup as well and it can be thousands and thousands of dollars. You can build one technically speaking, out of a barrel or a trash can. I like to make hand sculpted objects, like coil pots. I am really good at coil pots, actually. You just roll out a coil. It's like a Native American method that they do. I learned all this stuff at a small private college in Denver but I didn't stay there for long,” she said.

“Some of them are tattoos and some of them are things I have just been doodling because I wanted to doodle and stuff,” she said when asked for the meanings of the inscriptions on her hands. “I like philosophy, it helps me ponder and explore the nature of reality itself.” Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

On Being Homeless in Reno

Joy says she’s been homeless for about a year now. She says she fled the threat of violence elsewhere, and also got her ID and bank card stolen. She says she usually sleeps outside next to friends, for protection, but avoids the shelter, where she says she has had bad experiences.

“I'm fed up with it and I am really looking to find my landing spot,” she said.  “It's rough out here if you ask me, because I am not used to this climate and environment and I don't have the physical habits of adapting that quickly. I didn't embark on my journey planning on just camping out or being homeless per say… I had planned well enough that I should have been able to get rooms along the way but then all my stuff got stolen.”

Joy says she hasn’t figured out how to find a purpose in society, and that others also create setbacks for her. “Someone did threaten to kill me once and it terrified me but that's a totally different story. I just meant the circumstances I was in, I was just feeling so miserable and despite all my best efforts to work on my goals, to do something meaningful, it just wasn't working.”

“It represents the Third Eye. I drew from the Hindu tradition … and it was a very spontaneous decision actually and it just felt like exactly the right thing to do. The first basic step, I would say it represents, is kind of an insight into the understanding of how you work… insight into being able to apprehend... perhaps visionary capabilities like the ability to shift your perspective and put yourself in someone else's shoes, so to speak. Even literally, like trying something that allows you a different perspective.” Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

Looking for Intelligent Conversation 

”Coffee, cigarettes, pot, food, water, money, intelligent conversation, music for dancing too. These are things that will enable me to put my skills to work and to get money and make some for myself, to build a career for myself and express my talents. The things I mentioned first, some people think of them as drugs but I think of them as medicine and drugs to be used,” she said when asked what passersby could offer if they wanted to help her.

She says she has newfound respect for those living on the streets for a long time.

“It’s rough out here and I respect and admire anyone who has done it for a long time…. It is also hard to get work or respect sometimes or even what you need without people trying to wrangle you into their weird schemes. Or manipulate you in some way …” she said of how those without housing often become a prey for others.

“I love to dance. It’s one of my favorite things to do. And sing, and I love art. I found my skirt at a great store here,” she said, finding some hope in her new life in Reno. Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

Nicotine, Experimenting with Drugs and Hoping for Brighter Days

When we first asked to do this interview, she hesitated, and then said she needed to find a cigarette first. “It picks you up and calms you down at the same time and there is almost nothing else on the planet quite like it for that and I like to be in that state. I like to be alert and calm. The things that help me do that are coffee, marijuana and cigarettes. And I feel like I have been forced to give up on those various things and I have found I am on my peak performance using all three,” she said.

“I have experimented with some other things, mainly psychedelics, like mushrooms, acid... I don't look at myself as addicted to drugs. I look at myself as an experimenter in consciousness finding adaptogens that make my life better,” she added.

Any regrets? “I have a few and it’s mostly to do with what I have done which felt necessary that has hurt anyone in any way. My future is brightening. I feel like I am figuring out what I can do to start something. I hope to leave a legacy. No kids yet. I do still want to get married someday,” she said as we parted ways.

  
Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Christian, From a Childhood on the Streets to Jail to Now Helping Others

Christian says even when it’s not mandated by the YouthBuild program he tries to organize his own volunteer events to give back to the community.

“A lot of us from experience have lived on the streets. We have lived with no home, no food, no shelter,” he said as he helped pass around healthy sandwiches and water bottles on a sunny fall day at the downtown shelter in Reno.

“I do this quite often,” he said. “I'm out here probably every month or so.”

“You might seem like everything's gone down, really rough, but you will get out of it. Just push yourself to strive yourself to do better,” Christian advised to other youth who are going through tough times. Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins.

A Life Without Any Stability

Christian says he lived on the streets from birth until he was five in San Jose. “It was just stuff happening with my family,” he remembers. “My mom ended up going to prison.”

His grandmother was able to get housing through the Reno Housing Authority so he moved to the Biggest Little City. But he said living on Neil Road where he ended up brought its own problems.

“I got around the wrong people. I was a smart kid. I could've graduated a year early, had scholarships, but I decided to mess around with the wrong people and it led me down the wrong path.”

His mother struggled again to make ends meet. “My mom just had gotten a house and she was struggling to feed my sister. My brother, he moved out. I moved out and I was just tired of seeing my family struggle, tired of them deciding whether they want to spend money on rent or buy food to feed my little sister.”

“It makes me feel better that they actually have food and actual water to drink. It's good to be considerate,” Christian said of being part of a program which helps at the shelter. “The shelter is actually, it's been packed since I don't know when….,” he added. “I think we need more shelters. We need job opportunities for these people in the shelters So they could provide for the family they have or just themselves.” Reporting by Prince Nesta with photography by Jordan Blevins.

Turning his Life Around

When we met him, Christian said he was getting his GED, and preparing to apply to go to college and also joining the national guard.

“I've had a lot of bad happen in my life, but thanks for that, thanks to all my experiences, I am who I am today, so I don't think I regret anything,” he said.

He had more advice for youth who might be struggling. “You have the chance to change it. Go to school. I know it seems like a pain and nobody likes school, but it's just something you have to do. If you really want to succeed, go to a high school, graduate, you don't need to go to college, just make sure you have the basics so you can prevail in life,” he said.

Reporting by Prince Nesta with Photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Caleb, A Collector, Recycler and Teacher On the Streets of Reno

From the Streets at 17 to Low Paying Jobs to the Bush and Trash Cans

Caleb sleeps in the “bush,” he says. What about the main shelter on Record street? “Oh, I love that place. It's great. If you want to get near threatened to death and almost in a fight …. or robbed then yeah, it's awesome. But the meals are fantastic. Top notch and that's not a joke or any sarcasm on that last part.”

He also finds food scavenging through trash cans. “I eat when I'm hungry,” he said when we met him by the Truckee River on a recent balmy fall day. “There's plenty out of the trashcan.”

Caleb recycles cans he finds for money and stores in his grocery cart, but says it pays less and less to be an aluminum collector. He’s worked different jobs in recent years, as a driver for Circus Circus, or for pizza and sandwich places in downtown Reno, but with nearly a quarter century surviving without stable housing, he says he’s getting used to getting by with less and less income.

Caleb says he first started living on the streets full time when he was 17 and that he’s now nearly 40. He’s had long term relationships, and heartbreak, he says, which caused major detours in his life, but that he’s never married. His mom lives on the East Coast but at his age, he says, he doesn’t see himself living with her.

Caleb says he stays away from hard drugs but enjoys his cigarettes. “I've taken nicotine occasionally when I'm stressed mostly. But it's actually a great anti-hunger thing that I learned about. Like if you're starving and you smoke a cigarette and now you feel sick because you just smoked a cigarette, so now you're not as hungry. It also keeps you warm in the winter.” Reporting by Prince Nesta and photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

Dealing with Mental Health Issues and Violence

“Mental issues run in the family, but I don't deal with them,” Caleb said when asked about rampant undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues among those living on the streets. “They're not my problems,” he added.

“I mean possibly, but have I been diagnosed? I self-diagnosed myself with ADHD, but I don't know if it's a misdiagnosis. I have OCD. I came up with three new forms of obsessive compulsive disorder. I don't deal with it, but just when I'm stressed out. Yeah... Like when people ask me for things that I don't have readily accessible, I take about as long as I can to try to get them to realize that their urgency is not my emergency. That's what's up. I've been in town since 1992. I'm almost 40. I can't live any other way.”

What about violence on the streets?

“I was beat up a few times, but you know, it's neither here nor there. People saw it happen … and just sort of walked on about their business. I'm pretty sure they're around this area at some point. I know there was an older couple. They heard me hoot and holler and somebody was actually on top of me, looking like they were trying to have sex with me … That was some years back. We won't talk about that. Yeah, there was no police report. Don't worry about that.”

“Keep faith it only gets better,” he told us as we finished our interview. Photos by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno of some of Caleb’s many possessions he moves around in his shopping cart.

Is Reno a Friendly Town?

“It's supposed to be like a friendly town, but I don't know. I haven't seen a lot of people get down on like, ‘Hey, How are you? Oh, good to see you!’ But there are a few that will look out for the other people that are in the same situation I am…. especially as far as giving food and sharing food. “

As left to go scavenge in a nearby trash can, another man came up to us to give his views on Caleb.

"He's the most sane, crazy person I've ever met,” the man said. “He's like very practical, insane, very chilled like normal OCD and stuff like stacking rocks. He picks up all the trash, in this whole area. I really appreciate that. And I love you Caleb. I just met this guy Caleb today and he's my brother,” the man said.

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Jody, A Millionaire's Daughter Celebrating Her 50th Birthday on the Streets

On Being Evicted Recently from a Weekly

When we caught up with her, Jody and her teenage daughter had been living without housing for three weeks.

“I tried to do the weekly thing. I had a job, but I was two days late on rent. They wouldn't let me stay for two days and here I am … Shelters are currently full. Domestic violence shelters are full and have a waiting list. Section 8 has been down closed for a year….The family shelter is also full and also has a waiting list and they told me to check back once a week. This is the biggest homeless population they've had in history here… I was lucky enough to find this place called the Prayer House. And we're just kind of winging it here you know. But here I am lugging all my stuff around down to two bags for my daughter and I. And this is my life. I don't do drugs and you know I don't gamble and we're just good people, just got put on the street you know.”

Jody has been trying to navigate the different available services since fleeing an abusive partner. What she needs the most though, she says, is to find housing again. “We just need a leg up you know. Somewhere where I can have my daughter every day and she can come home to everyday and then I can get up and go to work and she can get to school. And that's all we need. That's really all we need. And then I can have a life of my own.” Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

The Exhaustion of Living on the Streets

“My daughter collapsed two nights ago in front of the shelter while waiting for dinner at the shelter. That broke my heart. She's a beautiful girl too. It was just exhaustion you know. And you cannot realize how much you're out. You know they put you out, there's nowhere to stay during the day and my daughter collapsed from exhaustion in a panic attack … So I took her to the hospital. We almost missed getting indoor shelter that night because of that. But, yeah, it's exhaustion. I had actually collapsed about three days before that right over there. Out here, nobody helps you. I'm on Medicaid and I get food stamps…”

Past Abuse and Fears for Her Daughter

“I lost my virginity to a rapist when I was 15. And you know I got over it. But for my daughter who is 15 now it really worries me about her having something like that happen to her. Out here, I've also slept on the river once and you know I had a knife aimed up this way and a pepper spray around my head you know.”

She says other homeless have rescued her from attacks. But she fears she won’t be able to stay at the Prayer House too long, as usually, she’s been told, it’s only for a short time you are allowed to stay. You have to be in before five p.m., and out and about the rest of the day, which she says complicates her logistics with her daughter and finding work hours.

Jody says he phone was doused and damaged by someone else staying at the Prayer House, adding a new complication to her daily struggles. Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Dealing with Social Services, Fights and Pimps

Jody was hoping to get back to school, but says she missed registration. She says she plays music, but recently had her guitar stolen. She used to work warehouse jobs for $14 an hour, but with Prayer House required hours and not having a place to store her belongings during the day, she’s had a hard time figuring out her new logistics.

Often she says people who are homeless get blamed for everything bad that happens on the streets.

“A lot of times you get people fighting, yelling. And some want to fight each other. You know it's just hard for the regular people that are homeless to deal with that and we get mixed into that crowd. They want to corner you here into having a problem. If you go into social services they will corner you literally into what they think your problem is so they can get you in somewhere. And if you don't have a problem, they are like aaargh... Because they have tons of resources for drug addicts, tons of resources or places to go for kids with moms or dads that have drug problems. Their kids can get taken care of in a nanosecond. There's are some people that just go to drugs just because they know there's more resources.”

Because of her situation, she says she’s been approached to be a prostitute.

“I've been accosted by people that want to be my pimp. And are chasing me asking me for my name and I'm like I decline to answer and then they follow me for a block or two calling me names because I won't tell them my name. There are people out here that they see a homeless woman who looks semi decent and they wanna take them in and destroy them you know. So I'm trying to stay away from all that stuff. You know because I don't need that and my daughter doesn't need that.”

“It's like day to day you don't know what the end of the day is going to be. Anything could happen. And that's the scary part,” Jody said of being out on the streets. Photo by Jordan Blevins with reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

A Chicken and Egg Situation

Jody says she can’t figure out how to get her life back on track now without a room to get sorted, and be able to get ready to go look for a job again.

”If even somebody had a house with a bedroom…. I would have rent in a week. That's my situation. I've got food stamps coming tomorrow, so I have that, but I just don't have the income…I just need a room for my daughter and I. That's all I need. Just a stable place where I can say she's going to school. Everyday we have a routine, she's safe and going to school, I can go to work and then help myself out of the situation.”

She says she used to look down on the homeless but not anymore.

“When I was in my 20s, I used to mock the homeless people all the time. And that's because you're in your 20s, you don't know any better, right? But I grew and my view changed for the homeless people … Because you start realizing that you know sometimes you are meeting people on the streets and they're shaking your hand and being polite to you and they're homeless … “

She says she used to cook for people in dire situations and that now she is in a situation where she is the one in need of assistance.

She concludes our interview by saying she is dismayed by the affordable housing crisis.

“With the amount of low income people that we have here why they keep jacking up the rent is beyond me. It's just a bunch of greedy people and a lot of these people already have money. People are just greedy, greedy, greedy …. Walk along this river, go back and donate some money. I hate to say it but money is what we need out here.”

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Photography by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Kyle, an Eye on Government Evil and Keeping Friends Safe

When we met Kyle, originally from Fresno, in downtown Reno last week, he said he was on his way to Burning Man.  He's been homeless for most of the last decade. "I’m not going there to party or drink but to find people who are actually making a difference in this world," he said of why he wanted to go to Burning Man. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno. Reporting by Prince Nesta.

Choosing to Live Outside and Battling Alcoholism

Kyle says he first went to live in the forest with pot growers after breaking up with a girlfriend, who he had tried to save from alcohol addiction. He avoids homeless shelters, and prefers camping outside despite the many challenges such as cold weather, or the lack of security when living in a precarious state. 

"I even got stabbed in the face, one night, while walking down the streets in an alley. I was trying to save a girl from a known drug dealer who was on top of her. I'm an alcoholic. I tried to manage it through self-control but I’ve come a long way but it used to have control over me. I have tried other drugs such as LSD, mushrooms, DMT (Dimethyltryptamine, also a hallucinogenic drug.)  They actually helped me overcome my alcoholic issues. I actually think that weed, LSD and mushrooms helps you to expand your mind just like Steve Jobs said you should take LSD and I agree with that."

Kyle is against what he views as a war-driven tax system: "90% of our tax dollars, what they get spent on is decided by rich, evil men who love war and pollution and slavery and they use taxes as the foundation to pay for all their evil .... bombing and killing children in Syria, ...billions for nukes. Our Government is evil.  We have a tax slavery system, which they use the taxes to pay for killing and to get their profits from killing in Afghanistan and Iraq and then get oil and opium," he said. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno. Reporting by Prince Nesta.

Harsh Words Against the Government and the Mistreatment of Homeless

Whatever is said in speeches and political promises, Kyle says he looks at what is actually going on and doesn't believe government in general cares about people like him living on the streets.

"The government doesn't care about the homeless, they want to freaking genocide us," he said. "They only care about the rich. " 

He also doesn't like when people look down on those without stable housing.

"I think it's social hierarchical bullshit when people treat the homeless badly. It's just like the system in India where they have the caste system.... Some of the greatest minds come from the ghettos. It’s just shallow to determine people’s personal values by the money system and that’s just shallow."

Kyle who loves playing music by the river says he feels free around other homeless, and tries to help them out.  "I like to help them get over their addictions because that's the only thing that is really hampering them from their freedom," he said. He was hoping to take his Didgeridoo Tribal wind instrument to Burning Man when we met him. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno. Reporting by Prince Nesta.

A Last Message, In His Own Words

Kyle says he's seen homeless such as a doctor in Los Angeles who lost everything in a divorce but now helps other homeless deal with their ailments, and according to him that's a good street lesson.

"My last message to the people ... is average people walking down on the streets should not look down on homeless persons because they don't know their story. If they were to put themselves in their shoes, which no one ever does anymore, they will realize that they have very good reasons. Don't perceive your own personal values based on this .... system that evil men have created for their own benefits to profit from money and banking. Do you care about making money or getting out there to show some love?" he asked as we concluded our interview.

Photos by Jordan Blevins and reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

 

Another Night on Record Street

As the shabby dressed people shamble pass me at 5:00 a.m. to face another day on the streets at the coldest time of the day, almost to a person they thank me.  “Thank you, God bless you” they say to me as they leave the building where they have been sleeping on the bare floors or trying to sleep sitting in chairs.

This is a Sunday morning and the outside temperature is just below freezing.  I have been watching over these human beings since 1:00 a.m. in a building that is part of the Reno Homeless Shelter complex.  The building called the Resource Center seems to be mainly composed of classrooms some with computer stations for training. This area is being used as a last resort to try to get people out of the cold drizzling rain.  Why am I here? Because the Homeless Shelter is yet again unstaffed probably because of sick call-ins.

Temple Sinai was scheduled to provide the volunteers to man the emergency overflow tent setup in the back-parking lot of the Complex.  We usually have three volunteers, at the tent, from 8:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and three volunteers taking over at 1:00 a.m. to after the final cleanup at approximately at 6:00 a.m.  Actually, four volunteers had arrived before 8:30 p.m. but two were asked to help with the fourth overflow for the third overflow for the second overflow shelter at the Record Street facility.  

The area identified as the Men’s Shelter, which serves as a coordinating center, was being manned by an untrained new person who had no idea what to do and was overwhelmed. One of our volunteers, who is a pre-med student at the University of Nevada, and has helped the Shelter often was trying to assist this person.

Our other volunteer started to man the overflow that was being housed in the Resource Center. As far as I could tell the complete complex was being manned by one security guard, a person at the Family Shelter that I assume were employees and our four volunteers. At 1:00 a.m. two more of our volunteers arrived. They took over responsibility for the overflow tent, one of the tent volunteers went home and I moved to the Resource Center and the two volunteers there went home.  They both had important commitments just in a few hours.

Was this situation unique?  I seriously doubt it, probably more the norm.  

Before I started volunteering to man the Overflow Homeless Shelter I would have thought that my emotional response would be a feeling of good service, a feeling of contributing.  But I find my emotional feeling is anger, anger of how this can happen here. But I also look around and see some of the young volunteers, the young pre-med student who is spreading the word about free medical clinics, the young lady, mother of three children, taking 24 credit hours a semester so she can become a social worker and try to make a difference.

How did we get here as a nation?  This situation isn’t new. It’s been going on for hundreds of years.  Is this just a part of life, a part of evolution, survival of the fittest, survival of the most cunning, or survival of the unscrupulous? What we are left with are the results of neglect, indifference, shame, and our self-inflicted ignorance!

I often hear “But for the Grace of God go I” as people encounter the Homeless, the families sleeping out on the streets and I think do they give that anymore thought than “God bless” after someone sneezes?  I don’t think I did.

We are in a rapidly evolving world except for the Homeless. Some now have smart phones but they are dressed in unwashed, unclean clothing, ragged coats, hats, and gloves if they are lucky.  Many have day jobs but can’t afford to find even minimal shelter, a flea-bag motel, a shared room, some try to stay in small camps along the river or out in the desert.

Often the police will raid these encampments and burn or destroy their few precious belongings.  Do the authorities who order these raids actually go on these encounters and watch? What can be going through their minds, do they feel that is their duty? Under other circumstances would these raids be criminal?

Early in this same evening, manning the overflow tent my friend and I watched an older man probably in his sixties or seventies (hard to tell under these circumstances) try to walk across the pavement (tent floor) with his son trying to help.  The tent was already at overcapacity but we still had two thin mats and one clean blanket.

The son helped the older man over to one of the mats and tried to help him sit. The man’s legs were so stiff and in so much pain that it took the son about ten or fifteen minutes to get his father into a sitting position on that mat.  The son then started to gather two other blankets that were already thrown in the “to be cleaned” bins.

I approached him and told he was not to use those blankets because they needed to be cleaned first. He mumbled a few words to me that I couldn’t understand but he was polite and determined so I stood back and let him gather the two blankets he felt he needed.  He then spent the next almost half hour arranging the two remaining mats on top of each other and padding and stacking the blankets to give his father a more comfortable sleeping space. The son then pulled a deserted patio chair close to his father, wrapped himself in a discarded blanket and went to sleep.

“Thank you, God Bless You”

Photos, Audio and Text by Steven Weidman shared with Our Town Reno

Daniel Fred, an Addiction Treatment Instructor with First Hand Knowledge

How long have you worked at the university?

I have taught since 2010, and then I have been here as full-time faculty since 2011. I took a six-month hiatus where I didn’t work at the university in 2016. When I left for six months I did recovery advocacy work. I left because I got offered a lot more money and I thought money would make me happier. It was good for me because I missed teaching and realized money isn’t good if you aren’t happy. Coming back to campus refocused me on my teaching and not necessarily on the extra stuff I was doing within recovery.

What classes do you teach?

I mainly teach the intro to the Addiction Treatment Services minor (From the UNR website: The minor, available to all students, is particularly designed for those who are majoring in a health or social service field and are interested in the addiction treatment field as a supplement to their major.) It’s the intro to Substance Abuse Disorders and then every now and then I will teach another class if it pops up but nothing consistent.

A screengrab from the UNR website and its Addiction Treatment center.

What are some of the things you talk about in your classes?

Well, they are about addiction. Some of the cool things I get to do is going to fraternities and sororities and talk about alcohol and drugs. My number one goal is to teach students to question themselves. If you never question yourself then that is how you end up in places that you don’t want to end up in. For me, as someone who is in recovery and as someone who went through my active addiction on campus, I just dismissed it because I just thought it was sort of college. I dismissed it and everyone else did too because it was just part of the college experience.

I think for me it is teaching students to question why they are using and how would you know if the drugs or the use was taken more of you than you are willing to give it. It is such a gradual thing and it almost is too late once you realize and you are going to have to put in work. I see students all the tie who are struggling with stuff. I have students right now that can’t go more than a couple of days without using oxy and who are actively trying to give it up but not necessarily willing to do what it takes to get there because of the stigma. The most important thing is knowing you have a problem and then finding out what you need to do to get help. The stigma prevents a lot of people from getting the help they need.

The legalization of recreational marijuana in Reno has led to more types and more potent weed to be more widely available.  Some students start smoking too much and lose some of their focus for classes. Photo by Kody Kitchener shared with Reynolds Sandbox

What led you to seek a career in teaching about substance abuse?

Nothing led me, actually it just happened. I was a graduate student in my first addiction class, and a professor here asked if I ever thought about teaching, and I was like 'nope.' I don’t like talking to people in public or public speaking or any of that stuff. She told me I should try it and I did a TA position, and then I taught my own class and fell in love with it. None of what I’m doing did I ever plan or go after. It kind of just happened. My focus then narrows as I try other stuff.

What kind of campaigns do you run at the University of Nevada, Reno?

Not really campaigns. Our theme is consent-positive and to be a good bystander. We do a different presentation theme every year. This year we did Mindful AF, which is talking about being mindful and fabulous. Talking about how consent is like mindfulness and being present when drinking, being mindful about your drinking and being a mindful bystander.

"My perspective is that I am not an anti-drug person, I am definitely a decriminalization person and I am also a pro questioning why you are using not just doing it because all of your friends are doing it. I think the reason we have problems isn’t that we have no education, but we have the wrong education in college. Students are never taught to question why they are doing it and what they are doing it for," Fred said when asked about his perception of drugs in general.

What do you think about the drug culture with students at UNR?

It is interesting because I found that every college is about the same, (even though) every university thinks they are the party university. All the drugs are the same and they are mostly all experimental, so tons of alcohol use and tons of marijuana use. Even in Colorado, the issues are the same issues that are happening in other schools. I think all the trends are all the same between schools. If you look at the binge drinking average we are right in line with the national average. There are differences between community colleges and the more rural areas.

What are the new trends that you’ve noticed?

I think we are shifting more back to Adderall, coke, and Molly which are more like stimulants. I would also say hallucinogens are popping back up. Cocktail parties are also a thing that is more and more popular, especially in high school. It went away for a while because people were more cautious about taking things they weren’t sure what they were, but now these parties are back on the rise.

I think for me, I don’t think there are many new drugs, I think there are new variations of drugs, like fentanyl which is fairly new, but it is just a more potent form of an opioid. There has been a shift of uppers and downers between every decade, like in the 80’s it was coke and then in the 90s, it was crack and so on. Recently it has been Adderall and coke that are on the rise again.

The drugs nowadays are also so much potent than it used to be. The fact that weed is now legal for recreational use it is almost the same as the Adderall problem because students see no negative with it, which is what sucks about addiction because you don’t realize you have a problem until you’ve lost too much. Most students don’t even think of weed as a drug anymore even though it has the same potential as some of these other drugs to lead to negative consequences. It also has the addictive potential the only real difference is that you can’t overdose on it. I think that trend has been made ever more safe so I think that more people are going to start using it and they are going to start using it at a higher dose than what average people were doing before it was legalized. I think the trend is not to talk about the education but talk about the negative consequences, which does not work.

"Anytime the word legal is put on something it is automatically assumed that it is safe. The reason that we have such massive problems with alcohol and tobacco is not because of how terrible they are but because we think they are safe. This leads to more people using them. There is a direct correlation between the first time you do drugs and if someone is addicted. People get confused when we talk about if drugs are good or bad, but drugs aren’t necessarily the problem .... it is our view and our use on them. I think the view of weed being safe is what makes it dangerous still because more people are using it at a younger age. We just can’t see overdose because it does not affect that part of your brain. People assume that it is safer than alcohol and cigarettes, but I think within 10 years we will start seeing the negative consequences that go with weed," Fred said. Photo by Kody Kitchener shared with Our Town Reno

What are some of the other thing you can touch on relating to students and drugs and in particular students at UNR and drugs?

There are a couple of things. We always want to advise on how to fix the problem, but that depends on the individual and their support and what they need. Would treatment work? Would programming work? Would AA work? I think there are so many different options. I think the most important thing is really learning to believe to separate yourself from your addiction and that your addiction is not you and to separate from the shame that comes with it. Telling yourself, you can do it or be instilling hope that life gets better because it does. I have met, I don’t how many people who are sober and people who have given up fantastic careers to get sober. I have never met anyone who has gotten sober that says 'I wish I never got sober.' It’s a scary thing, but everyone I have met has made their lives infinitely better.

How can you tell if a student needs help?

I tell students I am always open and I am not gonna judge you when it comes to drugs and alcohol and stuff. I just tell them I am always free and they can always reach out to me. I get a lot of students who reach out who are like 'hey man I might have an issue with this' or 'I am worried about a friend.' I think its hard because the classes I teach have a ton of students so it’s hard for me to know who is there and who isn’t. I can barely know all my students names. It is hard because when you are busy with school, sports, or even Greek Life it is normal to pass out in class. I have to rely on reaching out and for my classes, you have to give up something for nine weeks and a lot of the students choose a substance so it comes out then.

"One of the problems I have noticed is that students don’t want to say anything because they aren’t sure if it is a problem or if they are making it up and I try to tell them it is okay to be wrong. It doesn’t have to be a problem but if you don’t say anything then who is going to let you know. All you gotta do is say something. If you are concerned about someone I think the students need to empower students so they can be like 'hey I am worried about you' and try to help their peers. I think we need to train students to be active bystanders," Fred said of if you think a roommate might have a problem with drugs.

Finally, do you have any tips on how to help students who might be addicted?

I think it is always just reaching out and encourage other students to use the services that are provided to them. We have an LADC (Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor) on campus that people don’t know about because she is in student conduct,  but you don’t have to go through student conduct to talk to her. She is a part of the counseling services, but students don’t know she exists. She can do free assessments, which usually cost a lot of money and students usually have to have insurance for. We have really good groups between like counselors and nutritionists that you have to pay a lot of money for and students have them for free. It is (also) important to remain the compassionate friend who is like 'I am saying this because I care about you and I am here if you need me.' If students know their friends care they will eventually be able to hear it.

Interview by Kody Kitchener and Madison Cleveland shared with Our Town Reno

Manuel, A Simple Man, Broken Down by Divorce and Drinking

Missing his Wife and Son

I was working a lot, and not paying attention to my family and my wife decided to move on.  She divorced me. One of my worst moments in my life was when my wife left me. It still hurts. She moved on, but I didn’t.  If I could speak to her, I would tell her, 'I miss you and I'm sorry.' 

I’ve got to go to court because I got sued for child support . My son is 12. The last time I saw him was about a month ago.

I know he loves me and I love him. I just don't know what's going to happen. He's upset with me. We used to go to Disneyland and Six Flags, and we don't do that anymore. I regret not being there for my family before, being more interested in my job than in my family.

I tell him things are going to be ok. I’m going to get better. I tell him to stay in school and do your best. 

"I used to be a contractor, a tile setter and stone mason. I was making up to sixty dollars an hour but now I’m taking a break. I'm trying to get back on my feet. I got to get my head together. I want to go back to work and see my son again. I've been drinking just to forget about those good times I used to have. It's hard. Life has many turns. I don't think it's unfair but it has plenty of turns," Manuel said.  Photo and Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Empathy for the Homeless and for Himself

When I’m out here I see a lot of homeless, and I don’t feel good about that because it seems like people here want to get rid of the homeless, they want to push them out of Reno.  They seem to want the homeless out of here, gone. But they need more help. They need more mental health services. Because some aren't right in the head and they're not being helped.

I was sober for 15 years. When I got divorced, I started drinking again, moved out of my house, and started living at my mom's house again. My mom is sad, very sad. My dad is very mad. But what can you do when stuff falls on you and you can't do anything? I went back to drinking, lost this, lost that. What do you want me to do? What can you do?

As told to Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Lola Mana Yarrow, An Artist Entrepreneur With a Giant Heart for Reno

A New Phase in Reno

Yarrow, 24, is just starting to establish herself at Reno Art Works, and she is full of questions, energy, enthusiasm and wonder, traits she puts to both cosmic and worldly uses in her art and advocacy for a better Reno.

"Reno, you know, there's a lot of heat here. People are pretty fiery, but also there's this element of actually getting things done," she said. "When I'm here, I'm here and people are like, well it's so weird that you moved back and like, yeah, I moved back, like I came home, I came back to myself, I came back to my work with fresh eyes."

She used to base herself at the Generator and went to Burning Man twice, but that was before her three-year detour in Seattle, making her ready for new beginnings in her hometown.

"I'm fourth generation here ... and so sometimes it's a little bit unnerving to not have my own identity.  So Seattle was my way of creating my own identity but I was also having a little bit of trouble just really establishing myself in Seattle. It was really fun, but the gentrification there is even worse.  My house got sold from right underneath me. I had a month to move out."

A screengrab from the Electric Moon Boutique Instagram Yarrow runs. "I haven't even started my Etsy," she said. "My friend is doing all of my product photography, so I'm in the midst of really establishing myself as a business and mostly I've just been selling stuff through pop up events."

The Electric Moon Boutique Adventure

Having cycled through a few other names for this current venture, she has no problems though explaining her deep rooted vision.

"I've been doing this my entire life which is refurbishing old clothing and making it new and fresh and this ability to just be authentic and creative, just to be ourselves in the world," she said. 

Both her boutique though and her work as a nanny could be preludes to otherworldly artistic pursuits. "What I'm really hoping to do by establishing my business is also to be able to support and facilitate some of my other pretty, wacky creative art, because I kind of have some crazy stuff and sometimes I just display it," she said.

She says she is going for "non-gendered, playful, sweet, poppy, light and colorful pink, blue and yellow" aesthetics to balance her deeply intense darker sides.  She has been working with friends, but wants to involve more people in her project.

"The way we express ourselves is like an artistic expression and I definitely have people that I have on my radar for that. But really bringing it together is going to take some time because I still need to let myself establish myself." 

"This is something that I found, a seventies little headpiece that I found for $5 and I put these pieces on it and this chain. This is what I do. I take things that people kind of throw aside and they're like, 'oh, that's whatever.' And then I turn it into something that's like wearable art. I think someone could probably wear this to Burning Man. I'm not really a burner brand, but I do make some eccentric stuff. I feel like it would be really good for Burning Man," she said of a recent piece she was going to display at Reno Art Works.

Apprehension for Reno

"I don't think people in Reno are prepared for what we're about to go through," she says of the affordable housing crisis, gentrification and the current boom which is putting a strain on services and public spaces.

She would like to see more of a communal response to pressing issues such as creating better public transportation, as well as improving education and helping those with mental health issues.

"I'd love to see some creative projects with the university and really utilizing that young creative talent because a lot of these older people are pretty set in their ways. I don't think it just comes down to building homeless shelters," she said. 

"I love all of the people that I've met here and feel super supported here," Yarrow says of Reno Art Works.  "I want to do my art, but I also don't want to be like this lone wolf. I want to have my space, but I also just really, really believe in community.  It feels like a safe haven in Reno when there's so much upheaval and stuff."

Ideas from Seattle

Better pay is one idea she believes Reno could try to follow other cities such as Seattle, where officials voted to incrementally boost the minimum wage up to $15 an hour.

"I can't even believe that people are still paying $10 an hour. No one can afford to live off of $10 an hour in this city. It's crazy to me. I'm not saying that there's one solution, but it's insulting to be paid $10 an hour in this day and age. $10 doesn't even get you a meal anymore," she said.

She also believes there should be more corporate accountability for companies establishing themselves in Reno.  "It's really important to establish boundaries and Reno is not good at that," she said.  

"People, businesses want to move here. They could move elsewhere but they want to move here. I think that the city and our government really needs to take a step back and ask how these companies are actually contributing. Like Tesla has a ton of money. I would love to see them create public transportation in some way for their employees. In Seattle there were van pools. And Amazon bought all these vans to pick people up in different parts of the city. Things like that make a huge difference. So I'd love to see companies really take accountability for what they're doing to our city," she said.

"I think that everything comes with kind of a shadow and a light," Yarrow says of recent changes in Reno. "And so there's always gonna be some benefits and there's always gonna be some setbacks."

Being an Authentic Leader on the Homefront

Yarrow comes from a long line of Reno entrepreneurs, and she says she is now ready to pick up the mantle in her own way. 

"I think being really authentic is my value," she said.  "And by being authentic, it's sharing what's not okay with me and what I'm really excited about and that these can coexist," she says of her role in Reno's current upheaval.

She often interacts with others through social media, and engages in constructive discussions to find solutions, to understand all sides, such as with the current destruction of motels.

"My mother is an architect and so I told her, 'I think that it would be really great to turn these motels and to protect them.' She said, 'well, you know, those places are run down and they're not worth saving and they just need to be torn down.' And so she, she has a point, right? There's never a one sided issue. But really understanding the other person and seeing their perspective and saying, 'okay, but this is an issue for everybody and how do we address it? Yes, maybe people can't afford to live in these places that are like $1,600, $2,000 in Midtown, but these cheap places that are being built are not sustainable either. You're being ripped off, everyone's being ripped off because it's just happening so quickly."

Original Our Town Reno Interview and Photography, Summer of 2018

Cheryl and Terry, a Resilient Love and Life by the Truckee River

A Riverside Community

Terry, 45, remembers well when he recently "graduated" from the local Ridge House recovery program for those struggling with addiction.  He quickly found himself sleeping in a stairwell in downtown Reno.  It was people living in informal encampments along the Truckee River he says who gave him what he needed in terms of communal support and living arrangements.

"They helped me set up a tent and helped get me going again. Nobody goes hungry there," he said at a recent meeting set up by a friend who has been checking in on them regularly since the police operation.  "If we see someone's hungry, we'll share food or make sure we find food they can have."

After recently being uprooted from his most recent riverside sleeping spot in a cleanup operation led by Sparks PD, his possessions either thrown in a big dumpster or inventoried and taken away, it's others along the river who once again stepped up and gave him and Cheryl a new tent and tarps to set up their new sleeping spot. 

He says the police said he should go to the shelter, but he couldn't envision being separated from Cheryl and their dog Bubba. Still it was traumatic. "We had all our blankets, our ice chest, full of food and dog food ... my tools I had saved up for to be able to do mechanic work .... We had been there a year," he said.  

A baby bird Terry says was caught up and died as part of the police cleanup. Photo provided by Terry and Cheryl. 

Protecting Animals along the River

Terry says he tries to be a force for good along the river, including saving animals during and after the cleanup.

"There was a skunk, he had his head stuck in a yogurt cup and he was on the main part of the drag. They also uprooted a lot of animals. We called the Humane Society and they were taking too long where I thought it was going to die, so I grabbed it and removed the cup from it so it would survive. You know the skunk sprayed me, but that's ok." 

He says a cat and a hawk died as areas were bulldozed. "It wasn't just the homes of the homeless they destroyed, there were bluejays too." 

"I can understand it from both sides," Terry said of the recent cleanup.  "I see what they are trying to do. We're a mess, but if we're there and these people are stuck in these kinds of situations why not say 'you need to be out of sight for other people,' but you got people living in the community who also leave their mess and trash along the river and stuff, and it's not all from us. We try to pick up after each other and encourage each other to do the right thing and say 'hey, you can't do that.' The police they need to be fighting the real crime that's happening." Photo shared with Our Town Reno by Cheryl and Terry.

Uprooted but Not Gone

Cheryl suffers from recurring seizures and first ended up sleeping under a bridge after being kicked out of an apartment with an ex-boyfriend for making too much noise. 

She says despite the warnings and the clean up operation, and talk of anti-camping ordinances, those living along the river are still there.

"None of them really left the river. They just relocated to a different area of the river. It's just a matter of where. A lot of them just went back to the Reno side. I'm not going to lie about that either. So now it's Reno's problem. They're talking about anti-camping ordinances but a lot say it's ridiculous. You guys can consider it camping, but it's not camping for us, it's living. That's how we survive. Most of us aren't making a mess or causing trouble. We're just trying to get by and live our lives."

Cheryl and Terry say they've noticed more and more people actually coming to live along the river, not fewer, despite the occasional police operations.  They say it's often new people adjusting to a new situation of homelessness who are angry and depressed who make everyone along the river look bad.

"There's messy people and we try to regulate that stuff we really do," Cheryl said. "I've walked down the river path many times and picked up garbage. I've yelled at people who do drugs along the river, or who drop a bag or a needle or something, and I'll scream and holler at them because it's disgusting. You just don't do that. But it's also people who just come to the river on the weekends who also leave trash everywhere," she said. 

Cheryl is trying to get Bubba certified as a service dog.  She says she couldn't fathom sleeping without her dog and Terry as would be required if she went to a shelter.  "They keep me more focussed. They keep me grounded," she said.  

Looking out for Each Other

Both say they were derailed in their lives previously by bad relationships and also "bad choices." Now that they've found each other, they don't want go to shelters and be separated.

They barely get by, with Terry sometimes finding jobs helping people move or clean out lots for businesses. A former musician and certified mechanic with a bachelor's in engineering, he's also worked helping with events at the GSR, and says he's available for any honest job. Cheryl uses pot to deal with her seizures, but the recent stress and heat are worrying her. She says he helped her deal with not "totally losing it" during the police cleanup, and making it worse.

"He's kind of my good angel on my shoulder...." she said. "He's the only person I listen to in the world. I don't know why but I do. With him around, I also can't do something stupid, because he needs me too."

Reporting by Our Town Reno in July 2018

Kenneth Dalton, Preserving the History of Minorities in Northern Nevada

A Mission to Share History

Dalton's mission with Our Story, Inc., is to seek out, collect, preserve and exhibit the contributions, heritage, culture, and accomplishments of people who have not been well represented in Northern Nevada’s public image. Artifacts and memorabilia in his possession include those of boxing legend, Jack Johnson, and activist Bertha S. Woodard, who petitioned the Reno City Council in 1959 to lift a ban on minorities in local casinos.

A Tacoma, Washington native and former firefighter in Reno, Dalton has been living in the Biggest Little City since the mid 1980s, where he's also coached football and track.  He sat down with Our Town Reno reporter Prince Nesta and Emily Hodge for a recent interview.

A map created by Our Story, Inc., outlines some of the black experience in Northern Nevada history. 

Q: When did you start preserving the history of minorities in Northern Nevada?

Dalton: When I came to Reno in 1985, I was one of the six first African-American firefighters in all of Northern Nevada. I was like, 'that’s ridiculous.' In my quest to find out more about that history, I started seeing some other things that happened in Reno like, the fight of the century. I could ask ten people if they had heard about the fight of the century, when Jack Johnson came to fight in town and helped put Reno on the map and they all said they had never heard about that. Most of them only knew about Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King. So, I thought it was important to remind people that we have people right here that have made a difference not only in our lives but in other people’s lives in the country. Like my good friend and board member, Andre Berry, one of the first black generals or the first black general for the state of Nevada. He lives right here and most people don’t even know that, but are always quick to question where I heard that from. I’m like, you can go down to the library and find out.

Q: What are some of the important artifacts that you have preserved in your organization?

Dalton: Some of the artifacts that we’ve preserved is how we stay true to people like Paula Williams, an African American architect, who largely based his practice in Los Angeles, but designed structures in Northern Nevada including; the Lear Theater, the Garvey House, the Rafael Hermon House, the Loomis Apartments and El Reno Housing Project. Bertha Woodard, one of the founding civil rights activist in this community and also known to have petitioned the Reno City Council in 1959 to lift a ban on minorities in local casinos, personally left me her memorabilia to preserve. We’ve also kept the personal history of Jim Beckwourth, an African American who was very important to this community by playing a major role in the early exploration and settlement of the American West. We went up there and took pictures of the trading post that he built. It’s about 40 miles north from here, out through Hallelujah Junction. We have also preserved the history of Ben Palmer. He was one of the first black ranchers in the Carson Valley. In fact, one of the first ranchers, period. Let’s take the black off of it. If you go to Carson City and pull up all the people that were paying contribution and taxes at that time you’ll confirm what I’m telling you.

Dalton holds the framed certificate issued in May 16, 1981 by the University of Nevada, Reno and approved by the Board of Regents recognizing civil rights activist Bertha S. Woodard as a distinguished Nevadan. This is just one of her plaques and awards that is in Dalton's possession. 

Q: Who finances the organization?

Dalton: I finance this project. I also have friends who donate money. That’s it. We don’t get grants. Nothing. It gets a little expensive but I think it’s important. When we get some funding, we also have to be careful because when you get a certain amount of funding people expect certain things, you know.

Q: Apart from funding, what are some of the other challenges that you face as an organization?

Dalton: Some community members don’t value history. They say 'That’s old stuff, that don’t mean nothing.' I also don’t have enough people on board and it takes a lot of work to research, and money. Also, I’m not a historian as such. I don’t have a degree in history. So a lot of times, better historians say, 'Well you know, you don’t have the qualifications.' Yes, I don’t have a degree but I do have a historian on my board who has a PhD in research work. So I’m attached to people that do research. What I’m doing right now is just to tell you and then maybe that will inspire you and then maybe you’ll go find out a little bit more of what you heard.

“I’m also looking for somebody else to get the passion that I have because this is important and we need to keep this organization going. Hopefully you’re interviewing me and you get inspired enough to get involved and maybe you’ll be the one to take it over and take it to the next level. If I stop doing it who’s going to do it? Who do we have out there? I don’t know." Dalton asked for help during his interview with Prince Nesta.

Q: So, if I have a historical artifact or information, what process do I need to follow?

Dalton: Well, send us an e-mail or contact us. Hopefully you’ll have some kind of references or something that we can check and then we follow up on whatever the information is. We’re not going to put it out there in the world of fake news until we follow up and counter-check its authenticity by going through records in the library, public records, newspapers and whatever we have access to.

Q: What if you still can’t find the information?

Dalton: We always wait until we come up with a more substantiated piece of information. If somebody else has more information they can always feel free to send it to us so that we can follow it up. I mean that’s about the only thing we can do.

Q: What are some of the most exciting moments that you’ve shared as an organization?

Dalton: Two years ago, we celebrated our 20-year anniversary. It was a big moment considering where we’ve come from. When we also find and hear about new stories, that’s always a big moment for us. I’m like, 'oh man isn’t that cool when people talk about what we’ve been talking about?' For instance, when people talk about Jim Beckwourth’s trail going through Reno into California, Ben Palmer’s bar, which is still standing, and we always go down there just to make sure it’s still standing and repaint it, same with this church, Bethel AME Church, which is the oldest black church in the state of Nevada and is still standing. I’m always like, 'that’s so exciting.'

A screengrab from the front page of the Our Story, Inc. website.

Q: Where do you see your organization 10 years from now?

Dalton: That’s probably one of your best questions that you’ve asked all day. I hope to see it still functioning. I hope to see it expanded and keeping up with the times. Particularly how we disseminate information. We want to be at the forefront in the African-American experience in Northern Nevada. A dependable site for the history of minorities. Since 1996, we haven’t also had a physical location. We keep most of our artifacts at home and some at the Nevada Historical Society. It would be nice to find someone to finance or donate a physical building where we can keep all the artifacts and memorabilia. I mean, you know, it’s pretty expensive right now to get to a place or to be able to pay somebody to be a curator and all of that. I wish that we could have that in 10 years.

Q: How can people find your organization?

Dalton: Through our website, ourstoryinc.com. You can go through our site and if you see some information on the website and you think that you know something, send it to us so that we can adjust what our information is. People should also feel free to write and send us any new information as long as we can verify its legitimacy. We can also give them their own area on the site to talk about history. I mean that’s what it’s about, the history of the Northern Nevada community.

Q: How would you like to be remembered?

Dalton: I’d like to be remembered as a person that was passionate, fair and treated people the way he wanted to be treated. That’s pretty much me.

Interview, Photos and Reporting by Prince Nesta and Emily Hodge

Greg, Out of the Workforce and on the Streets with Multiple Health Problems

Feeling Bad about Being Homeless

"I'm not feeling too good my knees are bad and my ankles are bad and I constantly have to go and get them checked because I don't know what’s wrong with them. They are swelling up and I can't stand too long and that really hurts," Greg said when we met him.

He tries to help others who need help on the streets and gets some help for food from local aid programs and relatives, including two younger brothers and cousins, but he says he's just in a deep hole right now.  He has a secret spot in downtown Reno where he usually tries to sleep, as best he can.

He says he doesn't like staying at shelters. "I don't like it there," he said. "Not the way they have it right now. I'd rather stay out on the streets so that I could have a better way of protecting myself."

But he says being out on the streets is also very challenging. "I don't like when you go to sleep, you know, you're looking at a place and then when you finally go to sleep and you wake up and sometimes you don't realize where you are. You are homeless. You just pack up and it's another homeless day," he said.

Greg says he has a lot of ankle problems. "I'm trying to get a date for them to do I think it's an MRI on my ankles to see what's wrong with them," he said. "That's what I'm trying to fix because it's making me overwork my knees and grinding, and it's just giving me incredible pain and I'm trying not to go to the opioids." Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Ideas for a More Caring, Accessible Reno

Greg says he doesn't like the direction things are going in Reno for people suffering. 

"They've knocked down most of the motels that we could afford," he said. "So, you’re starting to see more and more homeless people and that's bad.  It's just, you know, they're knocking those down to make money and those guys (at City Council) are saying 'hey you know we got a homeless problem now.' But you're making it kind of like a little worse than it is. Reno's got to step up and either help or quit knocking them down."

He would like to see more affordable housing options, and also more jobs accessible to those with disabilities. 

"I just have my phone that doesn't work, a blanket and a jacket," he said. Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Dreams and Regrets

"I'm hoping to get better so I can go back to work and do what I'm supposed to be doing you know supporting myself for retirement and you know get everything ready," he said. 

He regrets not going further in school. "When I was younger, I regret not graduating from school, you know I sort of went back and tried harder. I got my GED. But you know that was one of my regrets, not getting a high school education or college. The other ones were just like little regrets where you know you make the wrong decision this way and then you have to go that way."

He also has a son who he thinks lives in Las Vegas who he misses terribly and hasn't seen in 20 years. 

"I hope that he's making it. I'm hoping he found a wife, had a family and had a good job you know supporting them. If he can come back and contact me that would be nice. I want to make sure that you know he's doing okay."

Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Tyrone, Making Sure His Wife is OK on the Streets

In Between Housing

Tyrone said he had recently lost his apartment in a fire, but that he was trying to get transitional housing through a Northern Nevada Hopes program.

"We had to move out and I lost everything except my wife," he said of the fire. "That's all I care about though, everything else can be replaced."

He used to get job in warehouses with temp agencies, he said, but now he has feet and ankle problems and also doesn't feel he would get hired because he can't shower much.

"I'm not afraid to work though. I don't scrounge, I don't go through trashes.  I try to work for my money.  I do some yard work, I fly my sign," he said.

"She fell in my lap by the arch," Tyrone said of Courtney in the background. "I like her sense of humor. I like how she helps people. She is like me. If someone needs help, she'll give her last bite to somebody else, to feed them, that's what I love about her.  She'll give her jacket if someone needs it. When I wasn't homeless, I would give people dollars to help out.  Or I would get them something to eat."

Running Away from an Ex-Wife

Tyrone is from Texas, where he did time in jail, and where says he was also harassed by his ex-wife. 

"I did some time in jail in Huntsville, north of Houston, got released, but my ex wife ... kept hassling me, so I decided to move away to Nevada," he said.

Tyrone flies this sign, but also does paid yard work if he can find some. 

Full Shelters and Tickets for Camping

Tyrone said it's not easy navigating Reno homeless when the shelters are full. 

"Over here, all they do is give you tickets for camping. The churches help out and then there is the shelter, but the shelter can only hold so many people. There's more homeless people than there are spots. Every time we go down there, it's full. But when we get tickets from police for camping they call down there and they say they have openings. If you put us in jail though, all you are doing is filling up the jails with homeless people," he said.

He feels homeless aren't wanted in downtown Reno. 

"They're pushing us out, trying to kick us out, run us out of town, but for us to eat we have to come back into town.  Now I see homeless people everywhere, because the motels that they were living in are being torn down," he said. 

He has so common sense ideas, but doesn't think the homeless would be trusted by local authorities.

"They have so many empty warehouses they could use and put beds in, put a kitchen in there.  Let the homeless run the warehouse.  We'd have our own security if they let us have it that way. It would be fine," he said.

Reporting and Photos by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Arianne, Isolated from Her Family with Addictions

Drug Addictions and Bad Karma

"I made bad choices and you know karma. I've had to be out here now from choices I made so that's what it is. It's no one's fault but my own. I had an addiction to pills and I started stealing them from my mother and lying and you know just all that kind of stuff so I had to leave my parents' dwelling, and my children were there. So, it was the best thing for me. This was about five years ago."

"Once that happened I started drinking and then I started doing other drugs so I didn't have to feel the hurt and the pain you know. So, you really can't get anywhere if you do stuff like you know what I'm saying. So, you know these are the consequences of my actions right now. I've been on the streets of Reno for around five years. It's off and on. You know I get things stolen from me or I'm too nice or too kind to people. And when I have a place I let them stay so they're not homeless like I was and they just mess it up, you know, because they don't care. So that's why you know usually I'm out on the streets because I'm giving to people you know."

She doesn't like the shelters, where she says she also gets her things stolen, and doesn't like the overall vibe. 

"Nobody there really wants to help themselves," she said.  You know so if you're around people that aren't positive and they're not willing to help themselves It's kind of hard for you to want to do it yourself too.

Seeking Help in the Wrong Places

She says she's tried craigslist seeking help for her and her boyfriend, but that usually it ends up being men who want to have sex with her. 

"I find these gentlemen and they take us both. But if I'm not with them sexually then, they just kick us away and toss us out, you know, basically they're not here to help. I get taken advantage of because they want to sleep with me and I don't want that. I'm good."

She says she's reached out to church organizations and hope they will help, as she says she feels like she is reaching the end of her rope, missing her family and feeling so much pain. 

"Hopefully will help us get a place because I have blisters on top of my blisters. That's why you see me like this because I can't walk really anymore right now. It's like this big you know on the bottom of my foot. I wish people would be more understanding and understand that you know this could be you one day. I'm a human and I'm a mother, I’m a daughter, I'm just like everybody else. I just made the wrong decisions. You know. Yeah, I got two kids. I got a 14-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter you know. They're with my mom and dad, my mom and dad take care of them," she said.  "I don't feel like I'm good enough to be with my children. So that's why they're there."

"I have my makeup and I have clothes," she said of her possessions.  "I got shoes and clothes. That's basically what I have. I have a body spray and stuff like that on my jackets but this is what I carry with me. He's got ten times more things than I do. He's worse than I am," she said of her boyfriend. Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

Hoping for Help to Get Her Own Room

She'd like to see the city of Reno convert more abandoned lots and buildings for housing for the homeless, or for teaching people new trades so they can get back in the workforce. She says even one month's free rent in an actual home could maybe get her going back on the right track. 

"I would like to be able to get back on my feet," she said. "I'd like to be able to have a roof over my head. You know stability is key with everybody, everybody needs stability, to feel comfortable and to feel something you know what I'm saying. I would like to have a roof over my head, I'd like it, but that's all the help that I would ask for. Maybe if they could get me a monthly or something, a month paid on rent and then I could go. I have my ID, everything like that. Out here you can’t have a job and be out on the street, it just doesn't work. And then the shelter is no good either. So, I just would like if someone would help, they would help me with a month on a room or a place so I have some stability."

As she continued talking to us, she revealed she had had another child with Brian next to her, but that she decided to give him up for adoption, describing it as one of the worst moments of her life.  "Him and I, he's my husband, I was pregnant and we had a son and because I didn't feel it was appropriate for him to be with us, with the issues that we have. I gave him up for adoption. You know losing our son was the hardest. I know that I can do anything and I know that I have the mind frame and the mindset that I could do whatever I want. It's just you know right now I'm stuck," she said. Photo by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno.

A Relationship on the Streets

She met Brian four years ago, and they've been together ever since. 

"He was sitting on a bench over there, by the Sands and asked me for a charger to charge his phone and I had a charger to charge his phone. He asked me if I could help him with something ... He just kind of followed me around everywhere. And from then on, we were together I guess. He's really nice. He's really a good dude. He's always polite and does everything for me. I don't know where anything is in my backpack. He's the one who packs everything up and finds it for me. He knows what I want before I want it."

She says she wants him to step up and help more, but that she understands since they're homeless, her expectations are unreasonable.  She says not having a home creates a vicious cycle of unemployment and addiction.

"Because we're homeless, it's harder to get a job. It's harder to get another chance ... The reason why people are out on the streets and they're doing a lot of the crystal is because they have to be up 24/7 because they don't have a place to lay their head and if they go in and lay their head somewhere like right here they're quickly swooped up. So, they have to do stimulants so they can stay up and be out and about all night long. Because if not, they'd be falling out everywhere you know. I mean that's a big thing. They don't have a place to go you know so they don't have a place to lay their head so they're always you know getting high and stuff."

"I want to go to school ... And you know I want to be a nurse and have my family and you know just be I guess what they say normal," she says of her own dreams.

Dreams of a Better, Simple Life

She says she could be a prostitute to make some money but stays away from that lifestyle.

"I don't want to be out there on the street asking a guy to pay for me," she said.  "I want to be able to be a lady like I am, and go and get a regular job and do it that way, every day. I don't ever have a break to where I can just sit and collect my thoughts and think about what I want to do in my life, because I'm constantly going ding ding ding ding. I'm just constantly trying to hustle or try to find money so I can have a roof over my head, and nine times out of 10 because I don't do mean things to people, I don't get money. So, I stay broke because I'm trying to be right about things you know," she said.

"Homeless people are good people too. They're just like everybody else. Like if you saw me on the street you would not know that I was homeless because I do not carry myself that way so you can't judge a book by its cover. And help them out. Do something to help them. You never know, there could be one thing that you did for this person that helped change their life. I mean I've had a heck of money. I've had lots of money. I've had no money. And I know what it's like to be both in both places and if I had one person that came up and helped, I would appreciate. I guess love one another. Stop being so judgmental, judging everybody, I don't think anybody has the right to do that," she concluded. 

Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

The Reno Housing Authority, Dealing with a Declining Budget and Rising Demands

A Busy Afternoon at the Housing Office

It’s a busy afternoon at the federally funded Reno Housing Authority with a packed parking lot and lobby on East Ninth Street, as local residents patiently wait in chairs to be called by seemingly overworked staff.

“There are many reasons they could be here,” explains Brent Boynton, the community outreach director. “If you are receiving housing assistance from us, it’s based on your income. So if you change jobs, you have to let us know that. If your cousin comes to live with you, we have to approve the cousin. Or it may be someone who wants to move. If you have a housing choice voucher (defined by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development as its program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market), you may be saying you're going to California and we make it possible for you to make that transition and get your voucher payments there. So people come in for many reasons, as well as the people who are here for the first time to fill out an application.”

Executive Director Amy Jones (right) has been with the local Housing Authority for 13 years. “I love helping our families," she said. Brent Boynton (left), a “former TV news guy", has been the community outreach coordinator since earlier this year. “The Reno Housing Authority has been doing a great job helping people afford to live in northern Nevada for 75 years, but most people don't know about it," he said.  "We help about 4,000 families afford to live in northern Nevada and that's a very important job.”  

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Its Role and Wait Lists

Boynton says there are often misconceptions as to what the Reno Housing Authority does, with some people calling to complain about a neighbor or asking about their yard.  There’s often also gripes among those in need of housing, that the requirements are too stringent (no one accepted with a drug-related crime during the past three years for example) or that the waiting lists are too long or simply closed.

“We have 2,500 vouchers and that's through the housing choice voucher program and then we have 751 public housing units, units that the Housing Authority owns,” says executive director Amy Jones, when asked of a rundown of what the RHA currently handles in terms of local affordable housing.  “And then the remainder of our units are scattered site properties, so condos, single family residences…. We also own a number of apartment complexes that have market rent, so there's no subsidy tied to those units.”

Jones also explains why wait lists are sometimes closed when they get too long.  “When those wait lists start getting very large, they're hard to manage,” she said. “We have preferences on our wait lists. So when our wait lists are open, somebody may apply and be number ten in line, but due to those preferences, if somebody applies that has higher preferences, then they could move ahead of them. We also don't want to give a false hope to somebody that's applying that they're going to receive housing today and we have a limited staff to process those wait lists, to process the families on those wait lists. So we do close them up once they start to get large, so we can then work through them. Then, we reopen them as those numbers get lower. So we do have some of those wait lists currently open for our public housing programs,” she said. 

Jones said there are currently about 3,000 families on their wait lists, including those seeking vouchers and public housing.  

Boynton explained there are also certain priorities for those on the waiting list. "We're going to let a veteran move up in line," he said. "We're going to let a victim of domestic violence move up or someone with disabilities. And if that happens a little bit, you're going to find that your part of the line just doesn't move. So it seems that the best way to be fair to everyone who is standing in line is to allow it to clear a little bit. Plus, we don't want to give anyone false hope. By the time you fill out an application, you should be able to believe that you are going to have a place to live within a reasonable future."

A screengrab from the Affordable Housing Online advocacy website concerning Nevada.  Note, this information was not independently verified by Our Town.  Reno. More complete information can be found at their website: affordablehousingonline.com

A Declining Budget and a Rising Market

Jones did not give specifics but pointed toward a dire and hard to plan financial situation. 

"All of our funding comes federally from HUD," she said, "and so that funding has been continuing to be decreased year over year, and our budget is being cut for both the voucher program and our operating subsidy, which is for our public housing. We also receive moneys to improve our public housing sites, and we're seeing those cut every year as well. So the trend is the monies are being cut and we just have to do more with less."

Another problem is that when working with landlords and amounts for vouchers, HUD works with data which is only renewed every three years and which can quickly become dated in a rapidly changing market. 

"When you think about what has happened to our market in the last three years, you could have lived in an $800 a month apartment three years ago and now you're paying $1,200 a month in rent," Boynton said. "You can see where the problems come from because even if you've had cost of living increases, even if you've gotten a raise or a promotion, chances are your income has not improved enough to make up for that deficit," he said.

"We are basically always playing the role of the advocate for the renter, going back to the federal government and saying you need to raise our ceiling here a little bit because our prices have gone up ...." Boynton explained of the role played by the RHA which serves Reno, Sparks and Washoe County. "The voucher program is basically a three part relationship between the renter and the Housing Authority and the landlord. So if you're the renter, you have an agreement with us and you have an agreement with the landlord. Likewise, we have an agreement with the landlord and with you, and with a voucher you pay a portion of the rent based upon your ability to pay and then the federal subsidy pays the rest." 

A Deal with Jacobs Entertainment

The Housing Authority was recently in the news for an exchange with the Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment company, which has been buying up lots and tearing down motels in and around 4th street, for a yet to be detailed or built fountain district. 

"Jacobs did purchase a parcel from us on 4th Street," Jones said when asked for an update." It was just vacant land that we had no use for. So he (Jeffrey Jacobs) did purchase that from the Housing Authority, and then he also did make a donation to the Housing Authority. He initially purchased three homes, part of the donation, that we could use to assist more families. And then the remainder of the donation did come to the Housing Authority, that we have earmarked for our development on the Sutro Street site that we own. "

More info on that senior housing project can be found here: https://www.reno.gov/home/showdocument?id=73397. Jones gave no details on the total monetary value of the Jacobs assistance. 

Brochures and application forms on display at the entrance of the RHA offices. 

Seeking "Creative Partnerships" but Frustrated

Amid these current realities, both Jones and Boynton say they are open to new ideas and new ways to help with the deepening affordable housing crisis.

"We are looking for creative ways to find solutions to the problem because again, you know, we're not getting as much money as we wish," Jones said. "So we look for those creative solutions, those private public partnerships. It's also asking the community to come to us with creative solutions because we're open to those ideas and what would work best for the community. We have to do more with less and that's what we continue to do and we look at,  how can we partner with another agency or with the city that we can do more for the families we serve." 

She also points to frustration.

"It's frustrating because we do know that there is a big need out there and if we could, we would help everyone and we are trying to help those families as much as we can by providing them the resources we have or if we don't have those resources immediately guiding them to other resources that may be able to help them in the interim with our partnering agencies or other properties that may have some type of subsidy for them. So we want to help any way we can, even if we can't immediately offer them that assistance." 

After a long period without wait lists, some have finally reopened. This is a screengrab from the RHA website. 

No Sustainable Replacement Solutions Yet

"I think this is a time of great challenge for our community and this housing shortage is a serious challenge," Boynton said.  "Anytime anyone becomes homeless, we all pay the price."

He also says the RHA has traditionally worked with dependable, continuous funding, something which can't be replaced by one off donations or help. 

"Whatever solution we come up with as a community has to be sustainable," he said.  "If we were to get this wonderful donation of millions of dollars to house people this year, but we didn't get the money next year, we can't just put them back on the street."

"This was built in 1958," Boynton said of the Mineral Manor apartments where the RHA offices are located.  "This has been a sustainable housing model for the people of Reno. I hope that where we go from here is a community discussion where we come up with new ways of funding that's not entirely dependent on the federal government and that the Reno Housing Authority is able to help in new ways."

The Pains of Rapid Growth

Boynton said over a third of their clients are seniors or people with disabilities.  He said he's glad to see growth, but as he explained at a recent Ward 5 Neighborhood Advisory Board meeting, more jobs, which is good news for some, also now means a housing crunch for others.  

"I am thrilled that this community's economy is improving," he said.  "I'm glad to see the growth. I'm glad to see that more people are working, but the very improvement in our economy is causing our shortage of housing and when you have a shortage of housing and more people moving in who have the money to pay rent, it puts more pressure on the people who can least afford to pay rent and that's frustrating. It's frustrating to see people getting crowded out and to know if you're already living in the cheapest place in town, where can you go? One of the questions that we got, I thought was rather telling, and that is with wages up or with more people employed, and unemployment down, isn't that counterintuitive that there are more people who need housing assistance?"

"This is a challenging time, but it is giving us the opportunity to think outside the box and you know, we are a partner in this community and we need to play a bigger role in assisting our community. So we are looking at creative solutions on how we can do that. We need long term solutions, viable solutions," Jones concluded.

Interviews by Our Town Reno in May 2018 at the RHA offices