A Day for Local Action on Housing Justice, a Q and A with J.D Klippenstein

ACTIONN from Washoe County to Carson City

On March 26th, ACTIONN, a faith-based non profit group whose acronym stands for Acting in Community Together in Northern Nevada, will work on further developing a new Washoe County Affordable Housing Trust Fund.  The initiative aims to increase the accessibility of housing for those in low income brackets.  It’s been announced this will operate with public funds through the Community Foundation of Western Nevada.

March 26th is also the national Housing and Homeless Awareness Day.  Those interested in taking part in this local initiative will carpool from the Washoe County Commissioner Chambers to Carson City, taking these issues to both county officials and then state representatives. Service and food providers, concerned citizens and business owners, activists are among those who have signed up to take part.

Our Town Reno reporter Prince Nesta recently spoke to J.D Klippenstein, ACTIONN’s 30-year-old executive director, to find out more. Note, this is just part of the interview, as we trimmed answers for conciseness.

The event also comes against a backdrop of more and more motels, which have also been a place of long term lodging, being blocked off and then demolished amid yet to be detailed private redevelopment plants for large swathes of downtown Reno.

Q: So what will be happening exactly on March 26th?

So for the past year we've been running a campaign to … have our Washoe County commissioners create an affordable housing trust fund. So on March 26th, it's set for the second reading and official adoption of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund… So in the morning, we're having a bunch of folks. We have 115 people who RSVP'd to this point, just to go and show support and celebrate that victory.

It took us about a year's worth of advocacy. We had town hall meetings with county commissioners. We had a group of … experts help us put together a proposal for how the housing trust fund would work. So kind of from beginning to end, we've shepherded this policy tool and in the morning they're set to officially adopt it, which is, the culmination of a lot of work.

March 26th also happens to be housing and homeless awareness day at the state legislature. We have been planning on that for quite some time and we had to kind of adjust when the county commission decided to have the second reading… We've rented some charter buses and ,most of the folks who are there in the morning will come down with us to Carson City in the afternoon to meet with legislators to do office visits and talk about some of the bills that are in session right now, particularly around minimum wage, affordable housing and homeless services. .

Q: Why are these issues so pressing right now?

The big reason of why now is Washoe County has a historic housing crisis. Our community hasn't seen this kind of growth and this kind of housing crisis before. And we're in such a bad spot for low income, affordable housing and affordable housing for middle income, working class folks, because our region does not have a single tool, to encourage affordable housing at the scale that we need.

So the reason now, is, we're already behind the curve. So at the local level, we just want to keep making sure that our county and cities build the toolbox they need to truly resource and enable the housing construction for affordable housing that we need at the policy level and the resource level.

And then at the state level, because our state legislature meets every other year for four months, there was an interim committee that we were engaged with that brought forth some of these bills that would increase tax incentives to build affordable housing. It would increase the way that Medicaid can provide support to keep people in their housing…. some really important big picture systemic tools that we need.

Fundamentally we think the housing crisis is not a generosity problem. We can't donate our way out of this. We can't wait for some large donor or Elon Musk to come in and save the day. It's a systemic problem. We have a broken system that will not build the affordable housing or provide the homeless services that we need ….

What we're engaged in is advocacy work that specifically is designed to encourage those who are in places to make decisions to make the right decisions.

Developers have promised some of their new construction will go towards affordable housing, but activists worry on how affordable that might be. They also say the housing issue is systemic and that a public solution is now needed.

Q: What message would you like to tell the general public so that they can come out ?

I think one message is, it's really important for our elected leaders to see what's happening. So even if someone is not experiencing homelessness themselves, they know someone who is struggling with rising rents or their kids are struggling with rising rents. So it’s a crisis moment. And this isn't the time to sit back and wait for someone else to solve it, it's the time to kind of get in there and move so that with one voice we can influence the direction of our community.

So on the 26th, if you care about affordable housing and you want to see better tools to build affordable housing, I encourage them to be there at 10:00 AM at the County Commission meeting so that our County Commissioners know we're not going anywhere. And this is just one of many tools and resources that we intend to fight for to change the direction of our community.

They can go to our website. It's actionn.org/march26 and they can register. The form is embedded for them to sign up if they're interested.

Reporting by Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno in March 2019

Wendy Wiglesworth, Giving Hope, a Big Heart and Infinite Wisdom at the Overflow Tent

A Collective Effort with a One of a Kind Volunteer

Wendy Wiglesworth, who slept for years along the Truckee River after fleeing a bad relationship, now helps others at night, volunteering at the overflow tent in the parking lot of Reno’s main downtown shelter.

“I do this because when I was homeless everybody really looked out for me and it's the least I can do because I would run around making sure everybody was sleeping safe at night and wake them up before the cops do so they don't have to go to jail for being homeless or sleeping. So … it's just something else to give back because I don't know, I have lots of hopes so they need more hope. So I have plenty,” Wendy said, explaining why she sometimes works both shifts at the tent, from 7:30 at night to 7:30 in the morning, which also involves lots of clean up.

On the night we caught up with her, she said there were about 100 people in the tent. Making this tent run is a group of effort, she explains. “ACTIONN got the tent and then the VOA … checks on it. The City of Reno supplies the cleaning supplies, like the gloves and masks, the bleach spray, the paper towels and Kleenex and enhanced sanitizer. And then we have a cleaning service for the towels and sometimes we have water. Sometimes people will bring by snacks and that's all donations,” Wiglesworth explains as to some of the components which go into the organization.

“Tonight we're only two and in the morning shift we'll have two as well. A lot of the times they'll be three. When the churches do it, they usually have three, three people on each shift,” Wiglesworth said of keeping the tent going. “Doing this makes me feel rad. I love it everyday. Like I'll talk about it all day long. It's good stuff cause nobody, unless you come down here you don't even know. Like you don't even know what kind of people are here. I mean you could be meeting like who knows? There's just so many great people. So I love giving back.”

A Sisterly Anarchist Night Owl

“I'm a night owl anyways, so I would be awake at home and I'd rather be here awake, you know, knowing that it'll help people sleep,” Wiglesworth said. “So it just works. It's what I do. It's like my full time job.”

She deals with people being sick, or running away from others, or complaining about each other, all with a huge heart and street sense. She says no one is better than anyone else and that’s why she helps.

“It’s sad that we even have homeless people in the first place ,that we haven't like helped our brother and our sister. Like they're hungry. Like first of all, how did they even get here? Like people closing their doors on their family because of their choices… It sucks that we even have the situation just like hand in hand with the housing situation right now. It sucks that it's even there. It just sucks because it's still people. It's still someone's brother, mother, sister, daughter, uncle, whatever. “

“The best thing I could tell everybody is come down here … be a part of your community. Ask a question, make the conversation, changes someone's life….” Wiglesworth said. “I'm an anarchist because I give someone something because they need it and I have it to give and I figure it's the right thing to do, not because I'm expecting something. I'll think for myself like if right now I'm not happy with my local government, I'm stepping up and doing something. I'm not going to be in a cubicle just following the herd.”

Last Days of the Tent but not of Wiglesworth’s Impact

The tent will close end of March, even though it’s been full.

“We're full capacity every single night, with a wait list,” Wiglesworth said. “Be a part of your community. You don't like something, speak up. Otherwise no one will know,” she advises to others who see the problem of homelessness and the affordable housing crisis but don’t know where to start. “People, copy me to the fullest extent, be a copycat and do things for the greater good,” she advises more generally.

For those without shelter, what does she have to say to when the tent will close?

“If your family forgot you or you don't have family, I'm your family now and I won't forget,” she said before getting back to work, making sure everyone was getting as good a night’s sleep as possible.

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Eric Englund, Preparing Warmth on Cold Mornings in Addition to Daily Lunches

#OperationNoFreeze

In recent weeks, when the the weather was bitter cold, Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada opened a warming center, with hot beverages and cereal, in the St. Vincent's Dining Room at 325 Valley Road from six to nine in the morning.

It’s part of an operation hashtagged #OperationNoFreeze.

“For these guys to hang outside even with gloves and hats and all of that, it's just, it's horrid,” Englund said. “It's kind of inhumane, maybe even cruel. I mean, try it, it's rough. So the thought was let them come in and at least warm up. That's the very least we can do. I have the space. It's warm. It's easy to give them something warm to eat so that started it [the warming center],” Englund said.

Helping a Population often Stuck Between Difficult Choices

Englund says every little bit helps as for people without shelter, it’s so difficult to eat healthy and feel warm. Shelter space is often at capacity, which is why during winter there is now an overflow shelter in the parking lot by the main shelter.

“There is a need in our city to help take care of them,” he said. “They don't have the facilities that do all of that in one place. They like get to sleep over here or in the summertime there is no overflow tent. You know, they just, sleep on the street or in an alleyway or wherever they can find that they won't get bothered. And then as far as served food goes, a lot of them don't have money, so they can't buy it. And when they do buy it, they're not able to go get a carton of eggs and cook it and all that sort of thing. They have to buy something that's already made. They're kind of stuck.”

Englund started in the restaurant business when he was 18. He says that cooking for the St. Vincent’s Dining Room brings him happiness. Photo by Jordan Blevins.

A Stream of Donated Food for Free Daily Lunches

For St. Vincent’s Dining Room, the food comes from a variety of places like individual donors, US Foods, a restaurant food supplier, the Raley’s supermarket chain, bread from Subway, and also from local businesses such as Truckee Bagel.

Englund says when trucks can’t get through due to I-80 closures he receives thousands of donuts. At the beginning of the month, Englund says he serves about 400 people for lunch, a number which swells to 600 people by the end of the month.

According to the St. Vincent’s website, its dining room is Reno’s oldest "soup kitchen". It serves a free, hot lunch, Monday through Saturday.

“We’ll let anyone come in as long as there's food,” Englund said. “Even if there isn't food, we would let them come in, but we never run out. We just keep it rolling. We find something. We may not (always) have hot cereal but we'll have sandwiches or something else … soup. There's always something here to eat.”

Dedication: Englund says that his favorite food to prepare is anything that’s fresh. He says that the most common food he’s made during his career are burgers. Photo by Lucia Starbuck.

The Joy of Cooking and Giving Back after Getting Sober

Englund says that his life changed after getting sober. He used to be involved in Meals on Wheels, a program that delivers meals to individuals who are unable to prepare or buy food, before he went to St. Vincent’s Dining room.

He says that it feels good to help others. “It brought some life back to me,” he said. “I was reaching a point in my career where I was ready to make a change.”

He says this type of cooking is also a challenge. “Our menu evolves around … your donations ... So it's fun putting things together and then coming up with something really good to eat that you know people are going to enjoy and seeing happy people.”

Reporting by Lucia Starbuck with Additional Reporting and Photography by Jordan Blevins

Joanne, 73, A Reader on the Streets after Facing Mounting Bills

Retired and Struggling

Joanne, a Michigan native, says she’s been living in Reno for 40 years now, but that recently mounting bills, and problems with family she was living with led her onto the streets. She is trying to secure some senior housing, but in the meantime she said she avoids the main shelter.

“I just don't care to be around a lot of people, you know, I just don't,” she said.

She says she used to work at the local newspaper, putting inserts in, until she retired a few years ago.

An avid reader, she says she goes to the SPCA of Northern Nevada, and finds books for a dollar.

“I love to read… Once I get my own place, I can get them out. I read all the time. I read all kinds of books. I read most of the day and I do my puzzle books. My favorite books are like, John Grisham, Sue Grafton…”

Hoping for Her Place to Help Others

She says she thinks she’ll be able to get a place soon, and that once she does she’ll put it to good use, to help others.

“Once I get myself together and get a place, I can start cooking in there,” she said. “Like I'm gonna make my homemade spaghetti and put it in containers and bring them down and pass them over.”

She has her eye on the Carriage Stone Senior Apartments, which she says she can get for $450 a month, if she gets the smallest room there.

During the day, she says she feels mostly safe along the Truckee River, but that there have been a few instances where she didn’t feel comfortable. “We've got cameras all over … so you can't get hurt here. They do have police on bicycles right around. But last week I had one guy, he said something, I didn't let him finish and I told him, ‘get the hell out of my way. Get away from me.’ It was nasty. Another guy yesterday said something … if i wanted to smoke pot. I said I don't smoke. And he said something else and I said,’ I don't want to hear it go away.’”

Missing Warmer Temperature

She says winter this year has been rough and she misses the warmer temperatures, when she sits outside all day.

“In the summer here at the Truckee River, the birds come out, the geese come out, the ducks come out and you can watch them. Sometimes you see people out there fishing and sometimes you see them riding …down the river.”

“Do what you want to do, go forward … try and better yourself,” she said as we concluded our interview.

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Dewey, Stranded and Homeless in Reno Because of a Winter Breakdown

Trying to Get Back to Stockton

People can be homeless for a long time, or temporarily. You can be homeless in your own town, or in a town you’ve never lived in before. There is just no set story. Dewey said he has a home in Stockton, but just doesn’t have the means to go back right now, so instead he’s been homeless in the Biggest Little City amid the recent rough winter weather.

“It's a nightmare. It's the first time we've ever been homeless, you know, snow and cold, but being homeless in the snow, crazy cold, freezing … My wife's diabetic and sometimes I ain't got the food to feed her and much less feed ourselves, but we're going to get home somehow, some way.”

He says he feels like he’s going crazy, trying to find the money he needs.

“I just gotta have faith and I'm losing that. But my wife, she tries to stay faithful. It's been crazy hard and people out here are stronger than I ever thought they could be. You know, I thought I was tough, but this right here broke me.”

Dewey said he’s had a rough life, including being in prison, but that now at 52 he considers being homeless in Reno during the winter his worst experience. “You know, I've been in prison riots, I've been stabbed, I got shot and everything. Nothing's broken me as a man as this has. When your wife looks at you with a tear running down her eyes, she says that she's hungry and you can't do nothing about it. Your pride and manhood, everything goes right out the window.”

Turned His Life Around, But Still Fragile

He said meeting his wife 13 years ago, saved him, convinced him to stay off drugs, but that his financial situation makes it so he was still living day to day, and that a mishap can derail all the progress he’s made to have a simple, safe, sober life.

”You know, I had a good life going and then like I said, my truck blew up. I didn't expect that, you know. And we've been here ever since, so I'm trying to get the money to go home. “

His dogs he says are eight weeks old, and that he’s trying to keep them fed, while also figuring out how to get money for bus tickets back home.

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

Warmth Warriors of Reno with Coffee and Blankets

Spreading Warmth During a Chilling February

The group, Coffee and Blankets, recently set up a donation drive on Lake Street near the 4th Street bus station, not far from other services for those without shelter in the Biggest Little City.

They propped up two folding tables for hot drinks and granola bars. A tarp was set on the ground covered with blankets and clothing items.

“I personally decided to do it because I don't like being cold,” Reno resident Brent Woodley said of creating the group with his friends last year and hosting several similar events since then. “I don't usually do any winter sports … I pretty much hibernate in the winter and not everyone has that luxury, to be able to go into their home and get under a bunch of blankets. So I just figured, for all the people that don't have that option to actually a have place to be warm and comfortable, maybe we can help them a little bit.” he said.

This windy morning there were dispensers serving coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Woodley said that they gave away 60 cups in just an hour and a half. “All you have to do is walk down the streets of Reno to see that there's a lot of people in need,” he said. “I don't feel like our city leaders are doing a good enough job to address it. So we kind of have to start grassroots and see if we can build momentum until people take notice and notice that the community is willing to do the work. So our leaders should be able to also.”

Helping People Battle the Winter

Alongside the hot drinks, Coffee and Blankets Reno also hosted a warm clothing and accessory donation drive. On the blue tarp there were jackets, fleece blankets, shoes, and socks. However, this isn’t good enough for Woodley. He says that he would like to see more funding go towards helping people without shelter get by during the winter.

“For the most part, I would like to see developers look at doing small-tiny houses, affordable living, maybe even having warm shelters for the winter months. Our shelters are totally inundated with people. They cannot keep up with the demand. So mainly, I would like to see just more effort and more...funding for things that seem like simple solutions but all they really need is actions,” Woodley said.

To acquire the necessary items to give to people, Coffee and Blankets Reno collects donations from people dropping off clothing at their events, including blanket drives. Some volunteers donate items from their own homes.  Woodley calls himself and the other volunteers who participate in this form of direct action, “Warmth Warriors.”

Shermi Tam was one of the warmth warriors who showed up. “Anyone who's interested in joining us and helping us distribute either; just cleaning out their closets or start helping us serve coffee. We’re all volunteer-based so a Warmth Warrior is anyone that wants to come out and help warm people,” Woodley said.

Plans for a Mobile Cart

Woodley asks people who stop by the table about their circumstances. He says some people only expect to be without shelter for a month, while others fear they will be much longer. He says that people need resources to break the cycle of homelessness. Woodley wants to explore options to help people get back on their feet.

“A lot of what they (people living on the streets) say is that they just don't have access to jobs, clothing for a job interview, an email address, a PO Box, they don't have the things that are required to apply for a job. So that's one thing in the future we might look at doing is trying to help get people established with an actual location and some contact information so they can apply for work,” he said.

Before winter ends, Woodley wants to transition into a mobile cart and deliver coffee to people during especially cold times like early morning and late evenings. Woodley’s agenda doesn’t stop there. During the summer, he wants to continue helping the community by delivering cold water to people.

“All you have to do is listen to the appreciation of the people when you do something very simple as give them a cup of coffee and how appreciative they are. Just to see the smiles and a lot of the people come up to us and they ask us, you know, ‘Which church do we belong to, what do I have to give to you in order to get these free coffee and blankets?’ It's just amazing that they're so surprised that they actually don't have to do anything all I have to do is; pick out something they like and we do the rest,” Woodley said about how giving back makes him feel.

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

A Q and A with Leann Silvia, Researching Student Homelessness

Q: How does geography and student homelessness interact?

Well, geography is the study of place and why things are where they are and so by studying homelessness, as a geographer, I'm able to see how the homelessness problem is in Reno and then I'm able to connect it to the problems in other cities and hopefully provide solutions that will improve the situation in multiple areas.

Q: What sparked your interest to study homelessness?

Well, it actually started out as a course that I took during my undergrad here. It was a qualitative field methods course, but it was designed as a service learning course, so we were all focused on issues around homelessness. My group in particular was working with the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, looking at youth homelessness and so through those experiences that I gained by being able to interact with the students, I just found a real passion and love for this topic and then when the semester ended I didn't want my research to stop, so that's what inspired me to start my master’s.

Q: You also come from Las Vegas. How would you compare the homelessness situation in Las Vegas and the homelessness situation right here in Reno?

In terms of pure numbers, I think that Las Vegas has a bigger homeless population, but given that Reno is a much smaller city, I think the problem is easier to spot in Reno because it's on a smaller scale …

A screengrab of images which come up when you google “student homelssness.”

Q: You did your homelessness research, when you were doing your undergrad, and it was part of a class, so what did you find out?

So for that project we were focusing on student homelessness at UNR and just trying to get a sense of the problem and when we first started it was really, it was a bit of a surprise because the UNR campus doesn't have any idea of the homeless population… That arises because there is not a department or an office on campus that tracks homelessness or student housing. And so when we were starting research for that class, we were starting with nothing essentially. We had no baseline. And so throughout the semester we were just interviewing people both on campus and in the community to try to figure out how the problem is understood both at the university and the local level

Q: At the local level, did you go to the downtown area at all or how did you find these homeless students if you didn't have that baseline? How did you go around and find these people?

Our project was working with the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, which is basically a transition home for young women, 18 to 24, who don't have stable housing and so the director, Monica DupPa, was really helpful in helping us find students to interview.

Q: When you were doing your research and you encountered homeless students, where were they staying?

A lot of them will get together and form a group of 10 and then they'll chip in and buy a motel for the night. But I mean that's not stable … Another common thing that we saw was couch surfing … where they stay with one friend for like maybe a week and then they go to another friend because there's a huge stigma around being homeless and so these students don't want to admit that they're homeless, but they do want a place to stay.

Silvia focused some of her research initially on the NYEP program in Reno helping young women.

Q: What are some of the reasons that they gave you as to why they were homeless?

A lot of them were escaping a bad situation at home, whether it be violence, abuse or a parent passed away. Or for most of them it was something in the home that was broken that they didn't want to be a part of anymore. It wasn't their fault in most cases.

Q: How were they feeling?

I mean, of course when you first leave home at 18, you're going to be scared and nervous, but you know, a lot of them expressed that they felt better staying on the streets or just wandering around the city than they felt being at home because their home environment was so abusive or violent or it was negative,

Q: Any safety issues that they shared with you, like whatever they go through as far as their safety is concerned?

Most of the people that I interviewed were young women and so of course there are safety issues. I mean a lot of them mentioned that they would ride the bus during the night hours because they were afraid to be alone in the city at night. So they would ride the bus all night and then they would sleep during the day when it was light out.

Q: So what are some of the conclusions that you drew from this particular research?

So from the undergraduate research, our main conclusion was just that there was no real knowledge of how pervasive the problem is and we don't really know how many students it's affecting, which is one reason why I was inspired to continue on to do my grad research here.

Silvia is doing her work based out of the Geography department at UNR.

Q: What would you recommend as far as helping the homeless is concerned?

When we were doing our interviews, something that kept coming up over and over was that the city has temporary solutions in place. There's places where they can get food, there's shelters where they can go sleep for a night. There's places where they can shower. The Eddy House offers snacks, showers. I mean there's resources, but they're all temporary. So like there's no resource in place for them to be able to get housing and live by themselves. Like most of these students don't know how to budget, don't know how to grocery shop, don't know how to do laundry. So to expect them to live independently right now would just be insane. And so I think we need a program or we need to take steps to make them be able to be independent because right now we don't have such a program in place.

Q: What are your own plans currently?

So for my grad research, I'm hoping to get a better understanding of how pervasive the problem is here in Reno because as I said, we just don't have a baseline. And then going forward, I want to see how a student's housing, a student’s stable housing or lack thereof, influences their ability to feel like they belong both on campus and in the community at large.

Q: What concerns you personally as far as homelessness is concerned?

I guess the reason that I'm so inspired to do this research is that when I was doing the undergraduate research, most of our interviewees were young women, 18 to 24, and as a 22-year-old woman, I found it so easy to relate to them and then by hearing their stories it just made me realize that they're in this position through no fault of their own and so for one reason or another I could certainly end up in that same position and if I was, I would hope that somebody would be willing to help me.

The Our Town Reno documentary Invisible Girl (above) looked into life as a homeless student in Reno.

Q: What are some of the challenges or difficulties that you encountered was doing this particular research?

I mean, first of all, we didn't really know where to start. We started talking to Monica DuPea and then she suggested that we talked to financial aid to get an estimate of how many homeless students we have (at UNR). Then we talked to financial aid and they told us that they can't really send you information. They directed us to the police department here on campus. The police department said that there was no tracking of student homelessness, so for like a good month we were just sort of lost and it was like the snowball effect. We didn't really know where to go next. We thought we were going to be getting an answer and then the answer always seemed to be, well, we don't have one, try contacting this person

Q: Why do you think that is? I mean, don't you think the city or at least the school should know the demographics of their students?

I don't think it's fine the way it is, but the fact that the university doesn't keep any record of it is partially explained by the fact that if they did, then they would recognize that there is a problem and once you recognize that there's a problem, you have to start to fix it. And I don't think homelessness is a priority for the university right now. Though I do think many realize that it's a concern. It's just not one being spoken about.

Q: What do you hope to achieve?

I hope that my research alerts the community to how pervasive of a problem this truly is and I just really hope that it inspires more people to stand up and make a difference. If my research makes a difference for one person, then I'll feel accomplished.

I would just remind everyone that, you know, we all have a story and we all deserve to have our voice heard and right now the homeless population isn't being given that opportunity. And so just, you know, take the time to listen to them and hear their stories. Because most of the time they'll, end up surprising you.

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Katie Colling, Growing a Garden and Striving for Food-Based Communes

Preparing a New Garden Crop to Help Those in Need

Not discouraged by the current snow-filled winter, Katie Colling is busy making sure Katharina’s Gardening and Compost Program is getting new seedlings for its 24 by 32 foot plot of land provided by the Faith Lutheran Church on West 7th street in downtown Reno. This is the third year the community garden will harvest vegetables, fruits, herbs and grow flowers.

“It’s my whole life, if that makes sense. I’m on disability so I can't really go out and get a job,” said Colling who is currently managing the program. “So I have time to be able to put towards my passions...my passion is growing food, eating it, sharing it.”

The proceeds of the community garden will go to volunteer groups that distribute food such as Washoe County Food Not Bombs and the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality (RISE). This way, Colling explains, all the food goes directly to those living on the streets.

“Nobody should be hungry,” Colling said. ”So I would argue not only that people get physical food sustenance into them, but also the feeling of somebody caring about them and the human aspect of someone genuinely going out of their way for another person.”

Colling checks the seed packages to see which plant needs the most sun before mapping where it will be grown in the garden.

Preparing for More Planting

Colling says that her goal is to grow 500 pounds of produce this year compared to the 200 pounds collected both last year and the year before.

She explained that last year the actual planting got delayed six weeks due to a layer of plastic being discovered six inches below the surface. Recently, a fresh layer of compost was spread across the garden.

Katharina’s Gardening and Compost Program is collecting materials like egg shells and orange peels to convert to soil.

Indoor Session

Unable to spend time in the garden due to the current snowy weather, Colling and other volunteers recently gathered inside to discuss the upcoming season’s plans. These include constructing tiny homes on the end of the Faith Lutheran Church’s parking lot.

Garden wise they intend to plant flowers in an attempt to attract more bees and expect to begin harvesting food in late July.

The next event, open to volunteers, will be Saturday March 16, starting at 11 a.m., to build up the garden’s soil.

“We're growing it together and serving it directly to people in poverty and that's the goal of the garden versus plots where people can take food and do what they want with it,” Colling said, “It's a real community garden.” Colling (left) and volunteer Clark Watkins prepare a map on how to design the 2019 garden.

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Annette and Doug, Working on Love, Sobriety and For Tesla While Living on the Streets

Starting a Janitor’s Job and a New Relationship

When we met him, Doug, 49, was getting ready to go to Tesla for a graveyard shift.

“Today will be my fourth day,” he said. “I'm doing janitorial type of work, which I'm really happy for because that's all I do out in the street is pick up the trash everywhere I go. I've been doing it for free for since I've been here pretty much 25 months and this is my third winter outside,” he said.

He says his life got derailed when his two kids got taken away from him by Child Protective Services in Colorado.

Maintaining a relationship and having intimacy while living on the streets is no easy feat. “There's no sanctuary,” he said. “There's no time to have a relationship. I'm not talking about sexual… I learned that sexual relationships do not make a relationship because we've walked in this relationship for several months now without any sexual activities and our relationship is stronger. “

“This morning when I went to work I was so tired I couldn't even keep my eyes open,” he said of working and then trying to sleep on the streets. “People could see it. I kept smiling and I kept doing my job… I'll keep moving forward.”

Getting Sober and Fleeing Abuse

Annette, 46, who also has two children, has been sober for nearly a year. She used to work in housekeeping, but has a debilitating heart condition, which prevents her from still working. She collects disability payments and keeps her kindest words for her dog Kika.

“I got her in 2010,” she said of her best friend, who is now 14. “She's my survivor right here, you know … She's my great protector. It just kind of hurts me to have her out here so I cannot give up on her. I'm originally from California and I moved up here in ‘88 so I've been up here since I had my boys here growing up.”

She said she fled abusive situations in the early 90s, and that since then her life fell apart. Death in her family, including a brother who died in his 30s of alcoholism, made her spiral further downward. Now as she gets better, she says it takes most of her energy to deal with constant harassment on the streets.

“It's just hard to do anything out here like money wise and stuff like that, but we'll be spending time together,” Annette said of spending more time with Doug.

Love and No Regrets

“Just be honest with each other … and just support him no matter what,” Annette said of her message for Valentine’s Day.

“Treat others how you want to be treated,” Doug said. “Love is being empathetic, compassionate, patient, loyal, honest, kind, gentle.”

Whatever the hardships in her life, Annette said she has no regrets. “There wouldn't be one thing I can change because everything has a story or a memory and that’s what brings life. “

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Paul Espinoza, Cracking Whips for a Community's Protection

Not Your Usual Whip’s Use

The web’s dictionary definition of a whip is a strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for flogging or beating a person or for urging on an animal.

For those living on the Truckee River though, lashing their whip against the bike trail has a whole range of different meanings. 

Paul Espinoza, who is in his 40s and a veteran of Reno’s streets for over 10 years, says the whips are a form of community signaling, warning others of possible dangers. This includes visits from police or of suspicious people.

Espinoza says police repeatedly disband tent cities he lives in or shoo away those trying to hide amid trees, so the whips warn others of their impending arrival. He says women also use the whip to protect themselves in what can be a very dangerous predicament at night on the streets.

Thankful for His Friends On the Streets

Espinoza says he makes whips for others and uses the end of baseball bats to get the most force and loudest sounds.  He says there is nothing illegal about cracking a whip to communicate with others.  He says it’s also something to make as a gift, and to use as an art form, or to pass time. 

He says even though he has health issues and can’t afford rent, he’s thankful for all his homeless friends he looks out for.

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

Steve, On and Off the Streets after Losing His Mother

Aid Resistant or Trying to Survive?

Politicians sometimes call those who prefer to avoid the homeless shelter “aid resistant.” Steve, says he nearly died the one time he tried the downtown shelter and had to go to the hospital, so that’s enough reason for him to stay away.

“I haven't been back. They never opened the windows… So if one person gets sick it goes through like, you know, wildfire,” he said.

The 47-year-old who says he never really recovered from losing his mother says he would like to see more low income housing and less police harassment for those living outside. “There used to be a whole bunch of people camping here,” he said of spots near the Aces baseball stadium. “And they moved them out of here, so they chase them up and down the river, you know, write them tickets for anything, you know, anything they can. Not all the police, but a lot of them.”

Steve has his own spots downtown he prefers not to reveal, as he says he’s remained hidden from both police and violence.

“Canned food helps a lot, you know, even just talking and saying hi and just speaking, you know, a lot of times that helps. Yeah,” he said of how people can help those living on the streets.

A Rise in Homelessness, Addictions and Mental Illness

The recovering alcoholic says he’s seen more and more people on the streets of late.

“Over the last few years that I've been on the streets, definitely there's more homeless,” he said. “Absolutely. Main thing is drugs and alcohol. The cost of housing has also gone up in the last couple of years. Like the motels, like Jacobs Entertainments tearing them down. They were supposed to put low income housing and that was the rumor, but they still haven't started.”

He says even if some homeless are “aid resistant” like he is, it’s ultimately sad people don’t get the help they need.

“I think the person who's homeless has to deal with their problems first… with addiction, mental illness. We see a lot of mentally ill out on the street … you know, they're not getting the cure, you know, the help they need either, and there's been a lot more of the mentally ill homeless that I've seen … that's been a big increase in the homeless population.”

He says he feels terrible for women who are homeless as well. “They are harassed all the time and you know … they got to deal with a lot of bullshit out here…I feel bad for them.”

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

The Greek, Dreaming of Other Lives

Envisioning Another Life

Like many of us who are stuck in a rut, the Greek is not short on dreams of another life, and they keep him going it seems.

“I have another calling. I want to get into the boat industry. I want to start being in the lake on a boat. That's what I want to start doing. And I want to live in hot weather too. I like warm weather. So my life, that may change,” he said wistfully.

“I like boating, fishing, water skiing. I like the ocean,” he continued. “See now that's another thing. Because if I think of these two things, the lake and the ocean, maybe some day I'll make a lot of money,” he said.

But he says the longer you are homeless, the harder it is to break the cycle of homelessness. He says the lifestyle gnaws at you and grips you and keeps you down.

“I am a survivor and I don't drive a car and I barely take the bus and I walk,” the Greek said of the importance of having good shoes. “But I'm starting to get older. My feet are kind of hurting a little bit now. So I have to pay attention to how many miles I'm walking because it gets too much…”

Health Problems and Risking Death

The Greek says years on the streets are taking a toll on him, with his feet hurting and his eyes getting cataract he thinks.

He says he almost died in the cold last year. “I had too much alcohol and I passed out. It was like 25 degrees and some people found me on the ground. I wasn't breathing…. Now, I feel good about myself but I'm not sober yet. I can't say that I'm sober yet, but I'm starting to turn.”

He once hoped he could be a baseball player but he says injuries derailed those early dreams. “This shoulder right here has a pinched nerve and I got a slip right here on the back from batting practice,” he said.

Before ending the interview, he wanted to share another dream he had, to start an after school program for kids for dirt bike racing.

“I was going to get two vans, come to your house and pick up your kids and you pay me some money and I take them out to a track … I can charge them a little bit of gas money, you know, for the gas, you know nothing to get rich off of. But that was one of my big dreams,” he said.

Reporting by Jordan Blevins and Prince Nesta for Our Town Reno

Georgia Russell, Coordinating Compassionate Solidarity For Those In Need

A Living Charter for Help

From asking for a skillet to emergency rental needs, the Compassionate Neighbors of Northern Nevada Facebook page has become a post-it, listening and direct caring board for some of those struggling in our community and local heroes lending a hand.

The group, which has over 200 members and counting, has a living charter, emphasizing safety and banning harassment or judgment.

“We are active in the community and we were also noticing on Facebook there were a number of groups out there purporting to be there to help people in need. What we were also noticing was a lot of judgment. So people would come to those groups and say I'm in need and they would be getting lectured instead of helped and it was troubling to us… So it actually kind of came out of anger. There was one particular post that was troubling to me and so I said, you know what, I'm just going to start my own group. And so we started Compassionate Neighbors of Northern Nevada,” Russell said.

“I just put an extra bookshelf,” Russell said. “I put it behind my house and labeled it free pantry and anything I have that's extra in my home I put out there and other people in the neighborhood drop stuff off and there's kind of a constant give and take. I try not to do food because I don't want to deal with messes and what not. But there's been clothing, there's been baby items, there's been furniture, just whatever. Again, the same thing rather than me taking it to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.” Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

From Babysitting to Home Cooked Meals

The group’s headquarter where the free pantry is located is at Russell’s home. The 40-year-old single mother does planning and logistics for a protein bar company and calls this her “passion project.”

She says people have asked for babysitting while they need to go to an important appointment, or sometimes food for emergency situations.  

“There was one young woman who lives in a weekly with her baby and she was saying my kids never had a home cooked meal. And I said, ‘well, I'll just cook you a home cooked meal’,” Russell said.  “Just any little thing that we can do. The main thing is about pooling all of our resources, and rather than, you know, if I have some extra clothes taking it to the Salvation Army so that then they can turn around and sell it, I can just give it directly to the person who needs it. I feel everyone should care, especially now when we're just one disaster away from being homeless . It wouldn't take much. I'm very lucky in that I have this house and I have this job where I can work from home and that allows me some time, that I can do stuff like this … If it wasn't for a few amazing people in my life, I'd be living by the river right now,” she said.

Sometimes just a little help can go a long way. “We've had people who are homeless,” Russell said. “They needed money to get a hotel room for the night and everyone kind of chipped in five, $10 here and there and it didn't take much. It didn't hurt anyone… You know, five dollars. A lot of us can come up with five dollars and enough of us can do that and they were inside for the night.”

In Support of Growth rather than Gentrification

In general, Russell would like to see more low income housing in this area, and more growth for those already living here, rather than gentrification which she views as efforts to bring new, wealthier people in.

She says the “downtown homeless issue” as it’s called by many is not being described through the right lens, and that much more could be done with what we already have. “Homeless people are people, you know,” Russell said. “They are often talked about as if they are not a sentient being, that they're a problem, that they need to be moved out of the way. The problem is our community that hasn't given them a home, not the people who don't have the home. I think there's a lot that can be done. There's a lot of wealth, not just financial wealth, but skills and knowledge and understanding in this community that could be shared better,” she said.

On a day to day, moment to moment level, outside of social media, she would like people to also be more compassionate.

“As far as the people of community, I would encourage them to recognize the humanity in everyone. If you see someone on the street who you think is homeless or someone you see asking for help, say hello and smile even if you don't have anything to give, even if you don't feel like giving, just acknowledge them, you know… it's a scary and lonely place to be. Remember that they're a human being and just say hello and maybe you'll make a friend.”

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Brandon Gaeta, Aiding the Youth in Need at the Point in Time Count

A Place to Sleep During the Count

Gaeta along with Eddy House staff, members of Our Center, the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project and other volunteers are organizing this year’s Housing and Urban Development required homeless youth Point-In-Time Count running 24 hours from midnight tonight.

The buzz of activity for local youth in need is at the old converted home on east 6th street, which usually closes at 5 p.m. On this night though, it stays open.

“I am glad because...this [Eddy House] is the central intake facility for at-risk and homeless youth,” Gaeta said. “So the youth are already familiar with this area. Also, it gives them a chance to sleep here, sleep in a safe environment, which is probably the biggest bonus.”

Free haircuts, hygiene products, and three meals will also be provided. Gaeta believes that, unfortunately, the count will yield the highest numbers of homeless youth yet. For statistics compiled in 2017, HUD reported that Nevada had the highest rate of unsheltered youth in the country.

Challenges to Reach All Unsheltered Youth

Whatever the efforts, including the ongoing use of fliers and social media, Gaeta fears some youth will be missed during the count. Many social workers say the numbers are usually quite higher than what the counts indicate.

“During the count itself we’re going to be trying to find youth that don’t already know about the event or have trouble getting downtown,” Gaeta said, in an attempt to get as many concerned youth counted.

The count’s official page posted this notice: “Looking for young people sleeping in the following areas... On the street/outdoors/park/river … On roof(s)/in a garage/attic/basement/storage structure … A place in a house not a bedroom (kitchen, couch, bathroom).. In a friend’s house or family member’s house on a temporary basis … Sharing a living space with another family … In a Car/van/camper … Abandoned building… Emergency Shelter… Weekly Motel…”

“We have been handing out flyers downtown, little wristbands, informing youth and adults alike about the event so the adults can inform maybe other youth that they see out on the street,” Gaeta said. Photo and reporting by Lucia Starbuck.

Collecting Donations While Still Striving for a 24 Hour Facility

As the Eddy House collects donations for all its activities and resources, it’s also still working towards one day opening a 24-hour facility, where youth don’t have to fend for themselves every night when the doors at the drop-in center close.

“We want to be open 24 hours at the location that we're at but it's just not financially feasible and that's always hard, you know, to have to turn away our youth at the end of the day,” Gaeta said. “Hopefully with the new facility, if we do get that, that will change and everything will be great but, you know, it's always painful to have to do that. But I'm glad at least one day out of the year we can provide that comfort and a place for them to sleep.”

Reporting, Audio and Photos by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Whatever Happened To? Delayed Local Plans to Ease Housing Crisis and Homelessness

Long Delays at the Village on Sage Street and Hope Springs

Signups are reportedly still ongoing for the $400 “Village on Sage Street” dorms. The all-inclusive living space for applicants making at least $1,300 per month seems far from finished though at this point.

What about the new “tiny home village” planned right next to it? Articles had said “Hope Springs” as it’s being called would have their first residents by the end of 2018. Their webpage as seen below from a recent screengrab remains a call for private donations.  

Much Touted Projects Extremely Slow to Become Reality while Displacing More

While there are glowing articles surrounding future projects when they are announced and buzzwords such as “village” and “tiny” to address the affordable housing crisis, the fight on blight, downtown decay and homelessness, which projects actually materialize? It seems matters are getting worse, not better, and that the pre-election sense of urgency is gone.

Jacobs Entertainment keeps trying to acquire more lots, even as some owners such as at the Gold ’N Silver Inn, the Desert Rose Inn or HBM Technology Partners, patiently wait for better offers.

In the absence of any new development or announcing plans, what Jacobs Entertainment has done so far is reduce the number of motel rooms, which many rely on when they can’t afford first and last month deposits, or pass credit checks, or don’t want to deal with utility and other bills.

We are still awaiting the grandiose Jacobs Entertainment development plan, which for now has led to many empty, dusty lots, with just some renovation inside the still standing former Crest Inn, but no indication yet on how much the new “Renova Flats” will go for. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno from inside a former Crest Inn room turning into the Renova Flats.

What about the Family Shelter Campus, Granny Flats and Reno Works?

What about the renovation of buildings at the Nevada Adult Mental Health Services campus in Sparks? The plan is to move homeless women and families there from the main homeless shelter on Record street, but a plan of that happening early this year now seems highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, long winded efforts failed last year to allow homeowners to build so-called granny flats or accessory dwelling units on 9,000 square feet or plus properties in most neighborhoods.  A subsequent effort to not allow these backyard units in historic downtown neighborhoods, but to go ahead elsewhere also failed. 

Finally, in October 2018, articles celebrated the 10th graduation of the Reno Works program, with reports that 65 people in all have graduated from the program since its inception. But is there follow through on how these 65 people are faring and if the program works?  Have there been audits on how much money is spent on Reno Works and if it does work well? That would be an interesting study, but has it been conducted?  

What is known as we begin 2019, is that there are many projects still unfulfilled, many lots turned to dust and a growing housing and shelter crisis.

Op-Ed by Our Town Reno in January 2019

J.D., Mourning His Father and His Broken Family

Feeling Disconnected

J.D. says he’s from a broken family and that he’s never recovered from facing his father’s death without the support of his relatives.

“That's the reason why a lot of people are homeless because there's broken families, they're fighting each other, brothers and sisters are fighting each other,” he said. “Wives and husbands are fighting with each other. That's what's going on right now in life. That's the reason I'm homeless because my family is dysfunctional…. broken….”

He tried to rebound with odd jobs for older people, raking leaves, helping with yard work, but he says he has had fewer and fewer opportunities.

“Like if somebody needs help, I do it for free, but sometimes they give me something, a little pocket change and I take it because I do need it but I don't ask or beg for it. They just give it to me out of their own heart.”

J.D. says he prefers to keep his belongings with him at all times. “I have food and clothes because I'm living outside. I have everything that keeps me warm inside the bag.”

Avoiding the Shelter’s Drama

Like others who have lived on the streets for a while he now avoids the shelter.

“I used to stay at the shelter the first time but when, my sleeping bag was stolen, I didn’t want to stay there anymore because somebody stole from me in the shelter. Then we would have like a long line, for feeding, people would cut in line and that's not fair for people who are waiting for one hour, if you know what I mean. And then people would just get angry and fight just, just for staying in line to eat. There’s just too much drama.”

He says people think people like him are lazy but he disagrees. He says he tries his best to fit in Reno and his family, but it hasn’t worked out for him.

“I just hope that things will be better for all of us. And one day we will, we will be all happy, one family and no more racism, no more discrimination. It doesn't matter what religion you are, what color you are. We're all human beings. I think everybody should welcome everybody. That’s what I think. There's no harm. Nobody wants to hurt you. I feel like I'm living in the wild, wild, west right now because I'm homeless.”

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Lori, 43 Today and Freezing Cold on the Streets of Reno

Life at the Shelter, Waiting for Better Days

Lori’s job search in Reno got derailed as she says her new Reno boyfriend encountered serious health issues. At the time of our meeting, she said she hoped to pool resources together and find a place with him.

“He's been dealing with cellulitis in both legs,” she told us during our interview. “His legs look like an elephant's legs, and his feet, look like an elephant’s, but now he's better. So I'm hoping tomorrow he'll be out (of the hospital) and then … I won't be homeless anymore. We met when I kept asking him like a million questions because I'm new here and then that's how I met him. He lives in the shelter just like me. “

She has found shelter life in downtown Reno difficult.

“They try their best, but there's not enough staff,” she said. “There's not enough bathrooms. It's cramped, it’s crowded. People argue. You're thrown in with random people and it's like we really need more blankets and towels and I know the workers and the staff do the best they can, but there's just not enough of them. It is just cramped, crowded….”

Lori has been homeless elsewhere, but usually she says she is able to find a new job fairly quickly. “I always carry my hygiene products, like I carry miniatures, like a miniature shampoo, conditioner … When you're homeless you get dirty, you can't go home and wash up, you can't go home and change your clothes… It makes me feel like I'm a little kid in some ways because I'm so dirty. I'm like, oh my God, my pants are so dirty.”

More Resources Needed to Get Back on Track

Lori would like to have more resources on location at the downtown shelter if possible.

“My recommendation would be a larger homeless facility,” she said. She would like the shelter to have more computers so people can look up jobs quickly. She thinks it would also be useful to have a service for immediate access for job interview clothes.

“It's like you don't always have money to buy your interview clothes, but you need the interview clothes to get off the street and maybe have someone help people on their job interviews and stuff...”

She says her boyfriend did find housing before he went to the hospital, but it took him three months, due to the local housing crisis, and lack of affordability. Meanwhile, while her boyfriend sorts out his health issues, she is still homeless, dealing with getting kicked out of bathrooms, ticketed if she falls asleep outside, and hearing mean things said about her.

“They told me I need to be on the grass area and avoid restaurants,” she said of her interactions with Reno’s police. “It's ice cold out here and I'm fighting off all these germs from everybody (at the shelter)….”

Brushing Up Her Resume at the Library

Lori has been trying to write a new resume for herself, she says. She’s gone to the library to get help from books but says it only got her more confused.

“I was reading these articles and they're like, use this font and use that font. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, I'm not sure which one is the best,” she said.

She has had experience helping her Dad work on cars and motorcycles. She’s also worked in the fast food industry, and as a personal cook. If given the opportunity, she’d love to find work cooking for the disabled.

Lori also said she wanted to remind Our Town Reno readers that her birthday is January 6th, and that she hopes they will have good thoughts for her.

Our Town Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins

Bill Muck, Epiphanies of Empathy While Experiencing Homelessness

Experimenting Life on the Streets and Being Shunned

This past summer, Bill Muck, a former Air Force bomber pilot and graphic designer turned minister and homeless activist, spent a week living on the streets with the lead pastor of the New Life Christian Center Angelo Austria. Muck had previously done a similar experiment as a class project.

“That week literally, it changed my heart,” he said. “It changed my outlook… I used to be rather cavalier about the homeless thinking that if they just would go out and get a job, they wouldn't be homeless and if they weren't drug addicts and if they weren't alcoholics … I was very arrogant about it. I would be the guy that would roll down their window and yell at some guy, ‘Hey, get a job.’ That week showed me so much about what it means to be homeless and to have nothing and how our society looks down on homeless people,” he said.

He said people avoided him because they were afraid he would ask for money. His first experiment was in March in frigid temperatures.

“Over the course of that week, I walked into 11 different casinos. It was freezing cold, it was snowing. All I wanted to do was just warm up and 10 of them kicked me out and the record was 16 seconds from the time I walked in because I had a big beard. I had a big backpack. I looked like I wasn't there to gamble. I looked like I was there to, you know, maybe beg money, I don't know, but they, they, they're not only escorted me out the door, they escorted me off the property. I couldn't even be standing outside on the sidewalk. I never experienced that before. I never experienced walking into a convenience store and having literally the clerk walk just a foot or two behind me to make sure I wasn't stealing things from him. That was so foreign to me and it made me realize how our community regards people just based on how we look,” he said.

“The numbers that we encountered were just exponentially higher than what I had seen the first time out,” he said of his second experience of living on the streets this past summer. “And I knew that because I've been out in the homeless community every Monday morning, so I know that the problem is growing and not getting better.”

From Chapel Services at the Pit Back to the Heartbreaking Streets

After his first revelatory experience living on the streets, Muck began leading chapel services in what’s called “the pit” outside Reno’s main downtown shelter.

“The pit is the one area in Reno, where the homeless people can kind of hang out without fear of being run off,” he said. “And so for five and a half years, I became intimately aware of our homeless population and I will tell you that over the last year or two, the numbers have just exploded.”

He then tried the living on the streets a second time, but this time in entirely different weather conditions.

“This time it was just miserably hot. Everyday was over 100 degrees. So I can say that I've experienced Reno from both ends of the spectrum now. It was smoky, it was hot, it was just miserable,” he said.

A screengrab from his new organization. Muck said he is open to help all who seek assistance. “They can contact me either by phone or email and I would encourage anyone that has a homeless person or that knows a homeless person to let us see if we can do something with them. Generally we are able to find places that we can help them with to either make things easier or to get them into some sort of a substantial stable environment. They can also write me on bill@upreachreno.org.”

The Get A Job Line Does Not Make Sense

While back on the streets, Muck said he came to understand yet again why the ‘hey, just get a job’ line just doesn’t make sense. “We stunk and there was no place that we can get a shower,” he said. “So I'm thinking, how are they going to go get a job when they got to carry this backpack with him, they got to carry everything they own and, and, and they stink, they don't have a change of clothes. And then you're gonna fill out an application and you're going to come down to that point that it says address and you're going to put none. And how likely is that person going to be to get hired?”

He said he came to realize the complexity of being homeless. “I mean, for that whole week, we looked at it from the point of view of the homeless. We got close to them. We talked with them because we looked the part. We looked like we fit in with them, they were able to open up and give us some amazing stories about what they had been through, why they were homeless. These people people feel overwhelmingly that nobody cares about them. Their families walked out on them, their friends have left them. They feel like God has walked out on them. And as a pastor, that's what really broke my heart, was they feel that they weren't even good enough to be able to talk to God because he was ashamed of them or they were ashamed of what they had done.”

“We slept in the streets. We found a park and we were there for a week. What we didn't know was that the city of Reno turns on the water sprinklers at 1:00 a.m. every morning. And so we got baptized. So we had to find a particular place in the park that was outside of the range of the water sprinklers. A couple of times we thought we were going to get moved on by the cops because they would drive by. Fortunately we had a pretty good hiding place so I don't think they ever saw us,” he said.

Helping Beyond Food

Muck says he’s seen progress lately, with better ideas to help in the community, new projects orchestrated by government agencies, and more acceptance of the homeless population.

He says feedings have not been a problem in Reno, with plenty available, and that his new organization is trying to address other issues.

He listed recent examples, including someone needing shoes. “He was a big man and he needed size 15 shoes. We were able to find some for him. Someone came in and said my electricity is going to be shut off. You know, they're not homeless. They're making money, they're just not making enough. And so, many times they come down to … do you buy food or do you pay your electric bill? And that's where we're able to help out a little bit with and do some things to either defer payments or work with them.”

Muck would like to see more available services, to really help people get to where they can start thinking of trying to apply for jobs. He listed more examples of what’s needed: “places to shower, places to change clothes, places to put your bag, while you're out doing a job interview, places to get a decent looking outfit or suit where you can go and present yourself in an interview, in a respectable manner. These things are vital to these people and they're life changing. We have goals down the road of having training for job skills training, for resume writing, for job placement, for medical insurance, and, you know, being able to apply and qualify for insurance here.”

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

Jacobs Entertainment and Its Local Globe of Influence

Doodling while Waiting for Information

The lack of information surrounding Reno’s emptied out lots owned by Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment has led to many guessing games, including wild goose chases over the company’s similarly growing number of trademark acquisitions.  

What are We Talking About Exactly?

Fountain District?  But wait could it be the Reno Eye with a Ferris wheel?  Or the Glow District with some sort of revitalization of decapitated motel signs? We’ve heard many theories, from the possibility of mixing in more casinos with senior housing to ensure disability and social security checks go straight to slot machines, or simply leaving the lots empty, waiting for the next economic upswing. 

At a December Reno city council meeting, Garett Gordon, representing Jacobs Entertainment, presented this slide and said the company would announce within 90 days a “multi-million dollar, world class public space”, complete with Burning Man art and housing. Previous deadlines to divulge the Jacobs Plan for Reno’s west 4th street have come and gone unfulfilled.

Resistance and Disputes

This has coincided with some owners resisting to sell, waiting for higher prices, while there have also been apparent disputes with a still not moved business over an alleyway, new codes imposed on motels and a restaurant owner angry she is now operating within an apocalyptic dust bowl of sorts. 

There were tears and hugs recently as Jacobs Entertainment announced the 46-room Crest Inn would … gasp not be demolished …. but instead converted into the new Renova Flats. 

A photo from inside a room of the Crest Inn as renovations got underway. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

A Renova Going on?

“The name Renova comes from the combination of ‘Reno’ and the latin word for new, ‘nova.’ It is our hope to bring something completely new and vibrant, yet still have it stay true to Reno’s spirit and contribute to Reno’s growth,” Jeff Jacobs was quoted as saying in a Jacobs Entertainment press release marking that occasion.

Some on the Reno Reddit thread thought that sounded too much like a pharmaceutical product with way too many disclaimers.

“The renovations will be done by Reno Real Estate Development, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jacobs Entertainment, Inc,” the press release continued, indicating yet another name acquisition. 

A redone room inside the Crest Inn shown to visitors. Photo by Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno.

A Mission to Provide?

“Renova Flats is another component of our mission to provide higher quality living conditions to the area,” Jonathan Boulware, vice president of Nevada operations for Jacobs was quoted as saying in the same press release.

Owing to his last name starting with B last we checked he was first on the list of the downtownreno.org Board of Directors list.  

“We also anticipate announcing our plans for additional green space as well as streetscape for West 4th St. before the end of the year,” Boulware said.  Green space? We are now dancing by the countless fenced in dusty lots, full of environmental anticipation and glee. 

We were offered an interview by the Abbi Agency with a former Crest Inn resident but she seemed petrified during the interview.  Was she afraid she would say the wrong thing jeopardizing what she may have been offered as relocation assistance?, our reporters wondered.

A man who said his name is Jacob and who said he has lived at the Crest Inn and the Mardi Gras spoke at the end of our recent live journalism event Who does the City Belong To? He said media ignored what Jacobs Entertainment was doing to help people, and said there was “heart” to the changes. He said he was being helped to get an apartment, including to cover the needed deposit and application fees. He said Jacobs Entertainment was helping many others including “ten senior citizens” he said for whom they were paying all rent, and said the company would do this for the remainder of their lives. Fact check?

Who is Listening to Who?

At the same event (as above) at the yet unsold Desert Rose Inn, Mayor Hillary Schieve got a tv camera interview but then chatted in the background and didn’t seem to look at or listen to any of the motel residents, who said they felt afraid their homes, which is a motel room, would be the next to go.  This led to some angry comments on our Facebook page. Could she not bear to listen to the testimony of long term motel residents who feared for their future? 

So in the absence of knowing what Jacobs Entertainment is planning with all its empty lots, all we can look into is some of the company’s vast network of connections, not surprising since it already operates the Sands Regency Casino Hotel and the Gold Dust West Casino, but still impressive in scope and influence.

Former mayoral candidate Jessica Sferrazza counts Jacobs Entertainment among her clients.

Numerous Ties

The Mayor’s close friend and ally Jessica Sferrazza (“Madam Clerk, in the interest of full transparency I am disclosing the fact that I have a personal relationship with Jessica Sferrazza,” Schieve says at many Reno City Council meetings, including when a Jacobs-related plan is discussed) is a local lobbyist who has worked for Jacobs Entertainment through her company JESSCONVLLC. 

The daughter of former long time mayor turned judge Pete Sferrazza, was blocked from running in the 2014 mayoral race herself when the Nevada Supreme Court sided in favor of a lawsuit by erstwhile candidate Eddie Lorton over termed out council members.  Last we checked, Sferrazza’s Facebook page for her aborted mayoral campaign run was still alive with an endorsement for Schieve and the recurring use of the #Renorevival hashtag. 

An important moment in Reno’s city politics happened when Hillary Schieve emerged as the frontrunner in the 2014 mayor’s race following a court decision.

From the Abbi Agency to Former Managers and Motel Residents

Abbi Whitaker, the president and founder of the Abbi Agency was Schieve's chief campaign consultant during her 2014 bid for mayor and helped her with her successful 2018 re-election bid as well. Jacobs Entertainment has also been an Abbi Agency client. 

Former motel managers working for motels now bought out and former residents have been hired as consultants, movers, influencers, relocation helpers, janitors, etc… the list is long.

A note by council member Jenny Brekhus expressing her concern over terms set out by Jacobs Entertainment in its bid to obtain an option to buy city-owned property on Keystone Ave.

Many Questions and Links, Few Answers

The motel demolitions have led to relocations and displacements, creating more people in need of housing, since motels are often a last resort or a first resort in terms of shelter.

Jacobs Entertainment has also purchased land from the Reno Housing Authority in exchange for donations, and they’ve donated to nonprofits also offering a larger pledge in case of equal community fundraising.  A private-public partnership between Jacobs and the Housing Authority is reported to have led to a condo being used to house a graduate of the city’s much touted Reno Works program.  Those occasions were marked by glowing initial media coverage, but where are the follow up stories?

As we searched the Internet for connections, we also doodled on a napkin some of the spheres of influence we were able to identify, which we found impressive even for a developer/ casino operator, while looking out at all the empty lots, thinking of the recently displaced, and sensing the fear of those whose motel rooms may soon vanish as well. 

Our Town Reno Reporting, December 2018

Gary Foote, A Historical Family Businessman's Perspective on a Changing Reno

In the Middle of a Buying Spree

HBM, with a showroom filled with decades old technological equipment, could soon be swept up in the Jacobs Entertainment buying spree, as the Colorado-based gaming company buys up motels, old stores and lots in and around the west side of 4th street in downtown Reno. This has caused concern of displacements and worsening the affordable housing crisis, which Foote understands.

“They bought the property, wanted to ‘improve the neighborhood,’” Foote told Our Town Reno during a recent interview. “His perception of improving the neighborhood was getting rid of those motels,” he said of Jeff Jacobs the company’s CEO. “Does he have a specific responsibility to replace those residential dwellings If he makes representations and promises to do so then probably, but … I don't know that the city has the purview or wherewithal to force somebody to build something. So then it's a matter of some persuasion.”

Foote says he himself has been given an offer to sell, but that as is the case for the general Jacobs plan, the process remains shrouded in uncertainty. “Even with my own building they say, we may be interested in acquiring it at some point in time. But then they made an unserious offer and they have not been responsive to my reply to them,” he said.

Walking into HBM seems like going back a couple of decades. Photo for Our Town Reno by Jordan Blevins.

A Future of History or Low Income Housing or Neither?

Foote talked about what he described as an impossible task to both preserve history and low income housing.

“The properties on the West Street, Arlington block, were very marginally historical at all and the ones that maybe had some architectural appeal would have had to have so much money poured into them to get them to be of a presentable nature. And then you have those two competing forces of low income housing in historic preservation because if you're going to preserve it historically, you're going to pour a bunch of money into it and then you can possibly have it affordable for somebody with low income. So those are actually opposing forces,” he said.

Foote, though, doesn’t see too many of the bulldozed properties as having much historical value, contrary to vocal preservationists.

“The cinder block buildings have no architectural appeal in particular,” he said. “And then you have a scale, where it's like if there's a historical nature to sort of the 1950s motel culture if you will, there's some stuff on like East Fourth street that has a more open and architecturally appealing, sort of some art deco kind of elements and those types of things, then they can make a move to try and encourage the ownership to preserve it without them saying, ‘hey, we want to buy this or we want you to, to improve it so much that you're going to end up kicking people out there, living there now,’” he said of possible city of Reno strategies going forward.

A screengrab from HBM’s website tracing back the company’s family inception.

In the Dark about the Jacobs Downtown Expansion

Foote said he doesn’t mind the change that’s happening, for himself or his business. He says some people always wanted to avoid certain parts of Reno, including where his business now stands, but that, evidently, he never shared those feelings. However, as others in Reno, he says he remains in the dark as to what exactly Jacobs Entertainment is planning to do with all its lots.

“I think the primary issue I have is that they seem to be fairly secretive as to what their real intention is,” he said. “Whether I agree with it or not doesn't really make any difference… There's some elements of public relations that I think they lack. They're fairly casual in terms of ‘we've got some great plans but we can't reveal them as of yet.’”

One plan Jacobs is pushing for he has disagreed with is the company’s bid to take over an alley that runs on the side of his store.

“Jacobs is, I guess for lack of a better word, petitioning the city to abandon the North South alley or to have the city abandon the property and basically sell it to Jacobs,” Foote said of an alley that runs next to his store. “It doesn't make any sense to abandon the alley,” he said.

The Price Isn’t Right Yet

When we met him recently, Foote said a sale of his location to Jacobs was not happening yet.

“It's one of those cases, that for the right price…. yes. And then it's a matter of what sort of commercial building can be found of a comparable size, location, etc…. that would make sense to move the business to…”

Location is not that important though for Foote, at this point, which also means he isn’t bothered by everything that’s happening around it.

“We're not a tourist business, we're not necessarily that much of a retail business,” he said. “We do some retail sales, but it's for people that find us and 80% of our business, we go to our client. So where we're at ….doesn't really make that much difference to our business,” he said.

Interview by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno in December 2018