Meghan Simons, Individualizing Help for Substance Users at The Life Change Center

Really Listening to Help Those Seeking Help Make Progress

A simple black sign hangs on a white office door, stating: “Meet people where they are.”  The message is the personal mantra of Meghan Simons, a substance use disorder counselor at the Life Change Center in Sparks.  It’s a message that also embodies the organization’s mission in helping those struggling with substance abuse to take their life back. 

People come to LCC, which specializes in opiate use, for a variety of reasons. Some arrive for external reasons, such as encouragement from a family member, friend, or a place of employment; while others come for internal reasons out of their own initiative.  

“First and foremost, what we do is set individualized treatment plans [for our clients],” Simons said of her work . “A counselor sits down with the patient and sets a collaborative treatment plan.”  This collaborative plan serves to find out what the client’s goals and expectations are going forward, what they want to get out of treatment, and what’s been tried before and didn’t work. 

The ultimate goal, Simons explained, is to find a long-term solution for recovery.

A Variety of Strategies including Medication and Harm Reduction

The Life Change Center offers a variety of strategies to aid in recovery, including medication assisted treatment using Methadone, Subutex, and Suboxone.  

“Our goal, especially with the medication assisted treatment, is to treat the actual physical symptoms of withdrawal and addiction while we build those relapse prevention and coping skills on a collaborative level with the patients,” Simons said. 

A large focus in their treatment strategies is building their client’s internal motivations to stay clean while they begin the recovery process. There can be a misconception in the public, however, behind the role medications like Methadone play in the recovery process.  

“We titrate them off [Methadone] safely and when they’re ready,” Simons explained. “After they’ve had the opportunity to build those relapse prevention skills, those coping skills, [they] get treatment for the chronic underlying condition that might be causing them pain.” 

The primary goal LCC has for its clients, of course, is abstinence from opioid and other substance use. But The Center is also realistic about the struggle of overcoming addiction. 

“We do employ the principles of harm reduction here,” Simons said. “If people are going to engage in risky behavior and if we cannot get them to abstain or they are not ready to abstain, the least we can do is give them the tools to reduce the harm.” 

These strategies are in place to ensure clients understand what they’re getting and where they’re getting it from, as well as always keeping Narcan on them.  

Lots of help is given once you walk through the doors of this modest building in Sparks at 1755 Sullivan Lane.

Narcan Kits for Free and Showing You Care

The importance of harm reduction strategies and understanding the inherent risk of opiates has played a prominent role in the recent news cycle, as the mixing of opiates and alcohol is what was determined to have killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs in July. Skaggs had been an integral part of the Reno Aces’ 2012 championship team.

The Center says it wants the public to understand not only the dangers of opiate use, but also the role a bystander can play in saving a life. It gives out Narcan kits for free, no questions asked. It’s a measure taken to fight the stigma against substance use. 

“I think the most overarching, challenging part of our jobs is combating the stigma associated with drug use, specifically with opioid use and getting people to understand that bystanders can save a life,” Simons said. 

Opioids provide a challenge for users that non-users often struggle to understand, because it changes your brain chemistry. Many who have used long-term are no longer using to get high, but use to take the withdrawal away and feel normal. 

More people are affected by opioid use than people realize, too. Many don’t realize the role they can play in getting those struggling the help they need. 

“I can just about guarantee that anybody reading this knows somebody who is in treatment or somebody who is using and they have no idea,” Simons said. “But you can’t force them to come [to us], the least you can do is encourage them.” 

Even if the response is hostile or dismissive, the important thing is that the person struggling with opioid use would know that somebody cares.

Every day is a busy day at work, and crucial to helping someone turn their life around. “You’re going to at least validate them that, ‘Hey, I care about you.’ Because a lot of folks come in here and they feel like nobody gives a damn about them,” Simons said of when she gets new clients.

A Holistic Approach

There is also a holistic approach LCC takes toward caring for their clients, including providing transportation, housing referrals, and even finding childcare. 

Simons believes this approach in connecting with patients personally is what makes the organization so effective in its mission. It’s a mission she has a personal stake in, given that she has been in recovery herself for nearly 13 years. 

“It’s very gratifying to me to be able to save people from that same struggle I went through, because it’s not just being off the drugs, it’s about recovering your life and who you are without the drugs.”

It all starts, like the sign on the door says, by simply meeting people where they are. 

Reporting and Photography by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Jaren Hutchings, Leading Reno's Youth Climate Strikers

A Youth Organized Fight

Youth around the world are coordinating a strike action today to convince more politicians and companies to create policy to save our environment before problems worsen further. In Reno, the Nevada Youth Climate Strike will be held at City Plaza in front of the BELIEVE sign at 5:30 pm. One of the local organizers is 17 year-old Jaren Hutchings, a senior at Davidson Academy.

“We really want our politicians to know that we care about climate change and that this is the most important issue for us and not to take our future for granted. We hope that people go away [from the strike] with renewed motivation to help mitigate the effects of climate change and to join climate activism groups. We really hope we can start a movement here in Nevada, which is one of the most vulnerable states to climate change,” Hutchings said. 

Hutchings is president of the Green Earth Community Knowledge Organization, an environmental club at his school. He said that he would like to major in some type of environmental studies and continue to be a climate activist his entire life.

“I've noticed my generation, in general, feels kind of a grim resolve towards climate change. I don't want to say it's unfair for us to have to like protest for our own futures at the expense of going to school, but I do think there is a broader motivation to end climate change because we recognize that this is our future as well,” Hutchings said, as high school students prepared posters for the event.

Ideas for Nevada to Be a Sustainable Model

Hutchings doesn’t want the conversation regarding climate change to end after the strike. He said that Nevada can be a leader in the fight.

“Nevada and Reno and even down in Las Vegas specifically could be the poster child for clean energy and for a carbon neutral future,” he said. “If you think about the resources we have available: we have 300 plus days of sunshine per year, we have endlessly windy valleys out in central Nevada. We really have no excuse to still be extracting energy from fossil fuels here. So I think Nevada could become the model, not only nationally, but globally, for how to have a sustainable carbon free energy system and still have a successful economy.”

Hutchings said that it’s important to act, especially in Nevada. In 2016, Reno was named the fastest warming city according to Central Climate. In 2019, Las Vegas got that title and Reno was excluded from the ranking due to inconsistencies in the data from the city’s weather station.

“I think in general with climate change, and this has been changing for the better over time, but people especially in privileged scenarios like those in Nevada who don't necessarily have to face direct effects of climate change yet feel really distant from it. They see other issues as potentially more important and more pressing,” Hutchings said.

“While I don't want to deny the importance of any other political or social issues, at the end of the day, if we don't fix climate change, none of those issues will have meant anything because our society will grind to a halt,” Jaren Hutchings said, taking a break from helping organize today’s protest.

Gen Z Ready to Soon Vote for Change and Taking Responsibility

As students get ready to participate in the march they say they feel a heavy responsibility on their young shoulders.

“The youth are really passionate about this issue and that to those politicians who discount the importance of climate change or to those politicians who say it's an issue, but that we have more pressing matters to deal with first: We're going to be voting soon,” Hutchings warned.

“I'm voting next year and I know everyone at my high school is going to be voting before 2024. So if you really want to stay in power and if you really want to be reelected, you have to begin to treat this issue seriously because I know the youth care because this is our future,” Hutchings said.

Hutchings has taken his own steps to lower his carbon footprint. He has switched to a plant-based diet since the beginning of high school.

“Barack Obama said that we're the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and we're the last generation who can do anything about it. And so more people need to wake up to the fact that if we want a secure world for our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren's generations, we really need to act now for our sake and for theirs,” Hutchings said.

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Darcy, Holding a Light of Hope in Our Community's Battle Against Addiction

Addiction Can Affect Us All

The night featured several community speakers, some of whom are several years in recovery and others who have lost a loved one to substance abuse. Each one had an intimate story to share, often times bringing the audience to tears. Although their stories varied, there was an underlying theme that resonated with each one: it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, addiction can affect us all.  

“It was said on the podium [tonight] that the face of addiction is different for everybody,” said David Rutherford, who attended the event with his wife Susan. “There are people with very successful careers, family people, everybody battles with it.” 

“I was very blessed to be here,” Susan Rutherford said. “It is comforting in a situation where you are feeling isolated and alone to be surrounded by other family members who have either lost someone, or who are still in the battle for someone else’s life due to addiction.” 

At the event, handcrafted tributes for members of the community killed due to addiction were prominently displayed.

Coming Together to Break the Stigma and Empty Loneliness

“It was amazing to see so many people come together to fight for people addicted, whether it’s to alcohol or drugs’” said Cindy Gollahon, whose son is currently battling addiction. “To have a community of people come together for something like this and to hear everybody’s stories was heart-breaking and heartwarming at the same time. It gave me hope that maybe before it’s too late for my son, that there may be some hope for him.” 

A member of AL-ANON who attended the event but wished not to be named, believes events like these are an important stepping stone toward breaking the stigma about substance use and addiction. 

“The stigma is that addicts should stop what they are doing or shouldn’t get started, and all they have to do is stop. Truth is, they can’t,” she said. “It’s a snake that lives inside everybody that’s affected and never goes away. The only thing an addict or alcoholic can do is to get it into remission and keep it there. It is a struggle beyond anything anybody can even imagine. It is so terrible to even try to get out of it and so many never can.” 

“Addicts should be treated much different than they are; they should be treated with compassion and with love,” she said. “If the only thing you can do is send out that kind of feeling to someone you know that is an addict: we need that, they need that.” 

Attendees could also take home a memento. Patterson, the organizer, was pleased with the turn-out and the bond the audience seemed to form with each speaker.

“I think the event was well-attended. People were very connected with those who were sharing their stories. We’re getting the word out to more people and reducing that stigma and shame. We’re letting our addicts know that we love them and that we have compassion for them as they fight this disease,” she said.

Candles and Hugs

As the sun set and night fell, the event proceeded with a candlelight ceremony in which members of the audience had the opportunity to share their story or the name of their loved one affected by addiction. 

Afterwards, attendees sang Amazing Grace in memory of lives already lost.  Narcan kits and training on how to use them were provided. A reception concluded with new and old acquaintances embracing each other in support before going their separate ways.  

Patterson hopes to see Lights of Hope continue to grow. “I hope [people] know that addiction is a disease and it’s okay to talk about it,” she said. “We need to be strong for our community because we’re losing kids every day and I want them to be aware and remember the kids that we have lost, those that are in jail, and the kids that are out there suffering and in recovery.” 

“Just don’t think you’re going through it alone,” David Rutherford said. “There’s a lot of people going through it. Even if you’re not going through it and you know someone who has, just be there to support them. You don’t need to have the answers, you just need to be a shoulder to cry on sometimes.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

New Location Identified For Future Volunteer Community Meals but Questions Remain

A New Location Further East

A new location on East 4th street next to Threlke street across from Hooten Tire Co. has been picked for future volunteer meal services in Reno, moving these activist services away from the main shelter, but creating a whole new set of concerns and confusion.

The land is owned by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority and is being leased to the City of Reno for three years, with an option to renew every year.

A meeting to discuss these changes was held on September 9, at the Regional Public Safety Training Center on Spectrum Blvd.

Reno Deputy Police Chief Mac Venzon, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam and Amber Howell, the Washoe County Human Services Agency Director, and volunteers who provide meal services also discussed the new mandatory “contract” that was recently sent out making volunteers responsible for security, safety, cleaning bathrooms, and trash before, during and after the meals. 

The new location won’t have help from shelter staff, as it’s a 25 minute walk away from there. Details remain hazy as to when and how the location will be used. It’s on a bus line, but buses in Reno are notoriously infrequent. Beyond accessibility, volunteers are also concerned there isn’t any lighting there. They would also want chairs and tables to be permanently available for all of the different volunteer groups to use.

More Anger About New Contract

As Our Town Reno reported previously, volunteers are angry and confused about a new form the City of Reno is asking them to sign before being able to serve community meals.

At the meeting, law enforcement officials told them they will be able to prepare food at the new site just not cook it there. They also said volunteers will not have to clean the bathrooms, as seemed to be indicated in the form that was emailed earlier, but just make sure that there is no one left at the site after 8 p.m., when the gates will be closed.

While the site is being prepared, groups are continuing to serve food at the Record St shelter.

According to its website, RISE and Dine happens every Saturday (except the second Saturday of each month) from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. Pictured is Benjamin Castro, the RISE Board of Directors President, in an archive Our Town Reno photo at one of the meals.

Much Needed Meals

“At the end of the month we'll serve 400 people dinner,” Barghouti another member on the RISE Board of Directors for RISE said. “A lot of these people are working, they have jobs, they have a place to live, they simply don't have enough food. And so, you know, people don't want these kinds of programs in their neighborhood. But the reality is that food insecurity is in every neighborhood in town. If you're concerned about your neighbors who are unsheltered, you should be more concerned if they haven't eaten.”

Before its Saturday evening meals, RISE also distributes clothes and toiletries.

“None of us know how many days we have and all we know is that we have one day less today than we did yesterday,” Barghouti said of her now three-year commitment to RISE. “If this is something I can do to help someone else, then it's time well spent. I'm not a religious person. I always said if there is a God, they expect us to take care of one another. And if there isn't, we're all we've got,” she said.

Many questions were asked at the meeting. “I want to be sure that the people who are in wheelchairs or walkers have access to it,” Barghouti told Our Town Reno. “I understand that we may not get everything we want right away but we have to have access for people who have mobility issues and a place to sit while you eat dinner rather than sitting on the ground, you know, adequate lighting. I’m not as hung up on the aesthetics of the place. I do understand [if] it’s pretty, people like it's an uplifting thing. I think that's very secondary to: does it serve the need and does it treat you as a human being?”

No Timeline Yet

Another meeting is expected to be held in a month for more information, about when the move will be made, and whether some of the volunteer concerns will be addressed.

Barghouti for one would like to see more volunteer meals at more locations, finding people where they are, neighborhood to neighborhood.

“I would love to see multiple dinner sites around the city,” she said. “I think because there are people who don't have access, who wouldn't necessarily come down to 4th St, who could probably use the meals. I would like to see the town, the whole area, working together to meet the needs of our neighbors.”

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Residents Bringing a Community's Diverse Culture to a Bridge Underpass

A Work in Progress

Changes are happening under the highway overpass of US-395 and Wedekind Road and people are starting to notice. 

What used to be an underpass caught in a cycle of being tagged with graffiti painted over by abatement teams is now turning into a large new canvas.

After coordinating five new public murals in the Reno area over the past couple of years, Kyle Chandler-Isacksen, the executive director of “Be the Change Project,” an urban homestead and learning space, is teaming up with local mural painter Asa Kennedy for this latest project.

“We’ve had our eyes on this one for years,” Chandler-Isacksen said. “Asa and I met about a year and a half ago and talked about the possibility of doing [a mural here] and raising some money. We heard about the “Art Belongs Here” grant project that’s run through the city by their Arts and Culture Commission.”

After receiving a grant, they started work on the project in late August, while also starting a GoFundMe fundraiser page.

The mural, in its early stages at the time of this picture, will be depicting vivid imagery and vibrant colors fitting to the theme of Día de los Muertos, otherwise known as “Day of the Dead.”

A Metaphorical and Literal Gateway

“It is an underpass, so we saw that as a kind of underworld-a physical gateway between Reno and Sparks, people’s homes, businesses, and schools,” Chandler-Isacksen said, explaining the theme. “It’s also in a diverse neighborhood with a lot of Latinos that live here, so we thought the idea of a Día de los Muertos theme would be very appropriate. It can serve as both a metaphorical gateway that the ‘Day of the Dead’ is, but then can also serve as a literal gateway because of what the physical structure is, itself.”

He says the community has had a lot of input in what will be depicted on the mural.

“We worked with the students for a couple of days and got their ideas [for the mural],” he said of visiting the nearby Rita Cannan Elementary School to hear from its students there. “Coincidentally, they had ‘Day of the Dead’ themed artwork up that day, so Asa has been incorporating what he’s been hearing from the community onto the walls.”

The community involvement has gone beyond just the ideas, however.

“We had a bunch of kids from Hug High School out here yesterday, impromptu, just helping paint the mural,” Chandler-Isacksen said. “Asa just showed them what to do and they were out here for about 45 minutes. We look forward to seeing more of that. The location is a perfect place to get a lot of people involved and I think we’re going to have a really good time with it,” he said.

On the GoFundMe page, Chandler-Isacken proudly announced Kelly-Moore paints on Market Street is donating all of the paint. He is seeking help from other businesses as well. If contributions are made at the $500 or $1000 levels, the donors name will be painted on a side panel displaying the mural’s supporters.

Hoping to Include More Intimate Elements

The mural, which aims to be completed by November first during Día de los Muertos, will have panels consisting of dance, music, celebration, and iconic graphic imagery representing the holiday. It will be filled with bright and lively colors, such as the prevalence of marigold, as a way of bringing the culture of the neighborhood to life.

Additionally, Asa is inviting community members to incorporate a more personal element to the mural. 

“The centerpiece is going to be an ofrenda, which is an offering altar. This is going to be an open space where anyone willing to participate can contribute something to the altar piece.”

This added element, Asa believes, will bring a more personal connection between the community and the mural; one where it can really tell the community’s story.

“It is asking people to be vulnerable in a way, to put their losses in the public. But it’s also inviting them to be a part of a greater meaning of the project. It’s their altar, so if anyone wants to come down and paint they can, or I can help them paint their personal passing on the altar.”

Due to its location in a heavily-trafficked area, word has been getting around about this new project. The response they’ve been receiving has been nothing but positive, according to Chandler-Isacksen .

Positivity Vibes and Opening Dialogue

Many pedestrians, bikers, and drivers have been signaling their approval as they pass by.

“I feel like it brings an image that no matter how ugly a thing is, in the future you can always make it pretty or change a person’s life. It used to be a dirty underbridge, and now it’s a mural that we can actually be proud of going to school,” Hugo Lucatro, a student at Hug High said.

Daniel Barnes, another student at Hug High, thinks the mural can be the start of something even greater. “It can motivate people to do what they like, because I guarantee a lot of people like to paint,” he said. “It’d be awesome for people to do that and see a lot more murals in Reno.”

“Given the current climate around anti-immigration, we see this mural as a celebratory effort of diverse peoples who all contribute to the mosaic of what it means to be an American,” Chandler-Isacken said. “So if we can shift that conversation and that thinking in our city and our neighborhood, then that feels really good.”

“Art opens dialogue,” Asa Kennedy said. “It’s something people can start talking about and it doesn’t just stop here at this location. People at the grocery story, a restaurant, their kid’s sports games, anywhere within the community [the mural] can be a source of dialogue. It is something that can open communication between people that might not have communicated before.”

Reporting and Photography by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Uncertain Future of Heated Nighttime Tent at Downtown Shelter Worries Volunteers

Different Interpretations of a Recent Meeting and an Indirect Answer

Volunteers recently attended a meeting on Friday, September 6, at City Hall to discuss the uncertain future of maintaining the heated tent at the Record St. shelter’s parking lot next winter for those living on the streets.

Members from RISE (Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality) and Monica Cochran the Management Analyst for the City’s Community Development were among those attending.

City staff said there will still be a place for people to sleep inside the shelter at Record St. and that the overflow shelter on Washington street will also remain operational.  But following the meeting, volunteers told Our Town Reno they were under the impression the overflow tent, which had 45 filled beds throughout last winter, will no longer be an available option. 

After we reached out to Cochran, Jayna Litz, who signed her email Management Assistant / Housing and Neighborhood Development wrote back saying: “The City of Reno fully intends for our winter shelter plans to be as robust as ever. We are finalizing funding for the tent operations, and we have no doubt that our residents will be safe and protected during our coldest time of the year.”

Last winter, the heated and well organized tent became available in November 2018 and was an option for those seeking nighttime shelter through the end of March.

Is There Enough Money for the Tent this Upcoming Winter?

According to several volunteers and homeless advocates, they said their impression is that the City of Reno does not yet have the available funding for the tent this upcoming winter.

Volunteers said they could fundraise but that it might be too late now to get enough money before temperatures start dipping.  They said they’ve been told last year’s cost of having the tent, blankets, other supplies and doing the laundry cost in excess of $100,000. Our Town Reno did not confirm this amount independently.

These new worries come amid other uncertainty over the future of the Record street campus, including plans to no longer have volunteer meals served there and also new usage of the parking lot for a health care community triage center to be run by the Well Care Foundation. 

Bob Jones was also a volunteer last winter. “I look at it like maybe if I don't show up, 50 people won't have a place to sleep tonight. I can't do that,” he told Our Town Reno at the time.

Should Downtown Ambassadors Help Out?

Volunteers said if the tent does resume its operations as they hope, they would want the person who watches over to get paid or to maybe have Reno downtown ambassadors in charge. Wiglesworth said she would still volunteer for free every night if it comes down to it.

“[It’s] like I'm making 50 more people smile. I got 50 more new friends, I made a point in the meeting to say I would staff it every night because it needs to be done,” she said. 

Wiglesworth knows from experience. She says she played a similar role while being homeless herself along the Truckee River.

“When I lived outside, I was like the overnight person. I would go and make sure the old cats had their blankets, the youngsters were hidden so the cops didn’t see them, everybody woke up before the cops woke them up. Cause that's a ticket and then that sucks. Possibly jail, if you have a warrant that you can't afford to go and get because you're homeless,” she said. 

Volunteers said they are hoping another meeting will be scheduled soon to ensure the tent overflow shelter is indeed revived. 

Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Morgan Green, Helping Break the Stigma of Substance Abuse

Remembering Those Lost and Celebrating Those Here

Last week, before the start of the Labor Day weekend, a crowd of people marched from the BELIEVE sign in downtown Reno to Wingfield Park to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. During the event, organized by Join Together Northern Nevada, people drew messages on craft flowers dedicated to loved ones lost and inspiring notes for those still here. Many, including Morgan Green, who was one of the speakers, wore a purple shirt with #EndOverdose written on it.

“I come from a family of addiction, so this is my way of being able to kind of give back and bring that light to other people, that you can overcome a lot of this,” Green said. She said she stays positive despite losing a loved one to overdose. “I've also been lucky enough to see a lot of my family members make it through and really be able to step up and come together.”

The loving flowers were planted around a tree. People held hands, cried and stood together. Photo by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno.

Using Grant Money and Naloxone Kits

Green is currently a project coordinator for the Opioid Crisis (STR) and State Opioid Response (SOR) grant programs. The government grants aim to increase access to treatment, and reduce opioid overdose related deaths through prevention, treatment and recovery. Green also works on trying to change the way that law enforcement see individuals struggling with substance abuse.

During the event, Green urged everyone to grab a free naloxone kit, which can save someone’s life. She talked about how to use it, what to use it for and how to notice signs of an overdose. She says that everyone should carry a kit with them.

“I'm really excited to see just the wide breadth of people who are here,” she said. “We have treatment providers, we have law enforcement, and we have people in recovery themselves, and people who are currently using. Just seeing everyone come together under one house and for one purpose really gets that conversation starting and it breaks those barriers in our society.”

“Community is only as strong as its weakest link and so I think really just having that compassion and awareness that these are still people. [...] We exist as a community and we are not going to be able to survive as a community if we just keep leaving all of our people isolated,” Green said.

Getting People into Treatment Sooner and Building Compassion

Green kept stressing how important it is for those suffering from substance abuse not to feel isolated. She said these types of events make everyone feel closer.

“This really breaks the stigma around substance use,” she said. “It brings recognition that people are willing to step up and help if they see someone struggling. And when you know that there's people out there who are willing to help you, it makes you a lot more comfortable being able to admit when you're struggling and ask for that help. So, it encourages people to get into treatment sooner. It also just brings the community together so they're not shunning someone who may really just need that comfort.”

Finally, Green said she hoped people’s biggest takeaway from taking part in the march or finding out about it is to not see individuals as their addiction or disability but as people.

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Volunteers Dismayed at City's New Liability Plan for Community Meal Services

Protracted Negotiations Suddenly Gone Wrong

This past Spring, local officials announced volunteer organized meal services for those living on the streets would be moving away from the downtown Reno homeless compound, alleging overcrowding and security issues. At first, a date of May first was given for all the meals to change location, but then that deadline was pushed back giving more time for negotiations.

But now after weeks of discussions, and the sudden release of a new Reno protocol for these meals, the impasse between the city and volunteers has widened. Friday, immediately after receiving the new form, the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality board of directors issued a statement saying in part, “we cannot sign at this time and await a collaborative solution while we and the other volunteers who serve this community continue to provide lifesaving resources to our neighbors.”

The new protocol would have volunteers be responsible for cleaning the new meal space, including the restrooms, by 8 p.m. nightly, maintaining “order and safety”, ensuring no one is lined up before 5 p.m. and that everyone is gone by 8 p.m., and being responsible for calling law enforcement if needed, among other stipulations.

The We Care Volunteers followed up with their own statement on Saturday, which was very clear in its opposition in the first paragraph: “We are appalled that while for nearly 10 years we have provided over 2500 meals per month, without any City of Reno support—that at this time you would burden our volunteers with the “program roles and responsibilities” of cleaning bathrooms, disposing of our guests trash, being present hours before we serve to ensure guests don't gather earlier than 5 pm, and have the sole responsibility to "maintain order and safety" by acting as first-responders to contacting medical and police services.”

Part of the new liability protocol the city of Reno recently put forward for volunteer meal services.

New Scheduled Meeting but Still No Exact Site Identified

An email sent to volunteers, signed by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy of Operations, Greg Herrera, indicates a new lease has been signed with the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, for a site on 4th street, to serve as a new location for the volunteer meals.

“I’m happy to report that the City of Reno has identified and signed a lease with TMWA for an alternative site on 4th Street where your groups will be able to safely provide meals to the homeless population in our area,” he wrote in the email dated August 27th. “I don’t have all the details right now, but we will be coordinating a meeting with you in the next week or two to get you all of the information. “

The “Meal Delivery Release” was sent by Hettie Ploeger, Management Analyst for the City of Reno, on August 30th. “Please keep in mind that each volunteer will need to sign the release,” the email read. “We will be happy to discuss this further at the meeting on September 9th.”

Lacking Proper Spirit

As part of the We Care Volunteers statement, it said the new protocol “would cause undo concern and instead of starting our meal service with a positive spirit of cooperation, it would instead create a menacing atmosphere and further demonize and purport our guests as dangerous, disease ridden, hazardous individuals who may not deserve our service.”

Other volunteers pointed to inconsistencies in how the city is framing the issue. They said the reason the meals were being moved was allegedly for security, but if the volunteers were now responsible for security, they thought it seemed to indicate city officials had no interest in the security of those being helped, since volunteers did not have any of the security resources which are currently used at the Community Assistance Center in downtown Reno.

Angela Handler, who coordinates the 80 or so volunteers with Loka Cares, said she would soon forward them the new protocol, but was initially stopped in her tracks expressing “utter disappointment.”

She said her group served its community meal as it normally does this past Friday at the downtown compound and vowed “to continue to create meals for those in need as food and compassion is an absolute right.”

Saturday, Lisa Lee, a recovery specialist and advocate for those living on the streets, wrote an email to “the compassionate army of volunteers,” stating: “I am appalled at the direction the City of Reno is moving and hope that meal service volunteers will stand in solidarity with RISE and We Care in refusing to sign on to these harmful, denigrating, and outrageous terms. I also hope that each volunteer group will continue to serve our amazing community members, friends, and neighbors facing poverty and homelessness in the radically inclusive spirit you all exhibit.”

Reporting by Our Town Reno in August 2019

Marilou, Holding on to Her Dog after Being Assaulted and Robbed

Fending for Herself

Marilou Gallegos has been living on the streets and relying on food stamps since March of this year. When we met her, she was staying along the railroad tracks with her dog Nikita. Originally from the Philippines, she grew up in California and moved to Reno in 2014 after a bad divorce. She has friends in the Biggest Little City but for the most part, she says, it’s just her and her dog.

“I love Reno. I love some of the people that got a heart. Really, it makes me feel welcome because my dad died 17 years ago,” she said. “My mom has a heart problem back home. So pretty much it’s just me and my dog because my kid is in the Navy,” she said.

Gallegos spends her days walking with her dog, checking in with people in other homeless encampments and smoking marijuana to relieve her back pain.

Gallegos says she doesn’t want the memories attached with her old wedding ring, which she says was recently run over by a stroller. She says she plans on selling it to a pawn shop as soon as she can.

Dealing With Police and Attacks While Living on the Streets

Gallegos says she has been dealing with police in more ways than one. She recently got a ticket for camping near a different part of the railroad tracks. She says homeless people are treated unfairly and discriminated against.

“I'm not saying that I'm making excuses for me, but in my situation, we need help,” she said of the repeated sweeps and early morning warnings. “You should not push them away. You should ask them what's wrong or anything.”

Gallegos has also filed police reports of her own. She says a man sexually assaulted her while she was camping with a friend. But she says her report went ignored. Additionally, she says she had some of her most important belongings stolen one night while she was going to the bathroom, including her cellphone, drivers license, jewelry, knife, baby photos, cash, and cards stolen.

After being robbed, Gallegos says she doesn’t leave her stuff unattended anymore.

Difficulties in Getting Her ID Back

Without a car, and storage for her belongings, it’s been a difficult task for Gallegos to replace her ID.

“How am I supposed to go to the DMV?,” she asks. “I don't have no place to put my stuff.” 

Gallegos says she especially cherishes the shirts and dresses she has from the Philippines and keeps them in her tent. Once Gallegos gets her ID she says she hopes to get a job. 

“Some of it I brought home, you know, like clothes from the Philippines, but other than that it can be replaced. But the memory, no.”

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Kristine, In a Motel but Afraid to be Homeless Again

One of Many Feeling the “Growth Pain”

Reno is going through a difficult transition from a simple, welcoming western town to perhaps a city of the future. "Growth pain" is a phrase often used by politicians and media to describe this current stage of economic development. Yet, what is the human experience of this "growth-pain"? Who feels it?

 I first met Kristine Lawson, in December 2017, while I was reporting on homelessness in Reno. On a chilly winter afternoon, she seemed to enjoy herself at a community dinner organized by the local group ACTIONN. Kristine appeared open and warm, but a little self-conscious. We kept meeting at her tiny room at the motel and eventually she let out a river of emotions and stories about her past: her comfortable middle-class upbringing, the subsequent separation of her parents, the emotional and practical chaos she felt because of it, her very personal struggle with dyslexia as a teenager, and later, in a grown-up world, her constant struggle to stay close to her six children from two failed marriages. She said she worked several jobs to support her family until a disability induced by acute asthma and sleep apnea made her unfit to work.

In happier times, Kristine on the left in with her mother.

 The Beginning of Homelessness and a Derailed Family Reunion

Kristine became homeless in 2015 in Sacramento, CA. Her daughter and son-in-law, who were living in Hesperia, CA, took her and her young son in. But, she and her son-in-law did not get along. Kristine said she then drifted for a year and then found her way to Reno. When I first met her in 2017, she seemed hopeful for her future. She said she looked forward to reunite with her son on Christmas Day that year. She yearned to rebuild her life to get back the middle-class respectability of a home and family.

 How has her life been all this while? Did her wishes come true? What worked and what didn’t? I recently reconnected with Kristine to find out.

Her family reunion she looked forward to started off on a good note in December 2017.

“My ex husband paid for me and we stayed in the same hotel down there in southern California. I took Amtrak, which was awesome because I've never even been on [a] vacation. I saw my son. He wanted me there for Christmas.”

But she said the reunion turned out to be traumatic. It brought to surface a lot of resentment and anger within the family.

“My son blamed me for losing our place in Sacramento, which wasn't my fault. He blames me right when I was talking to a woman who was staying [at the hotel], for a minute. They say I’m crazy, I’m depressed, I’m on drugs. I do not like drugs … I do not like alcohol. I don’t like to gamble. I smoke cigarettes, that’s all I do. It’s not against the law to be depressed, you know. People are set up, they went through what I went through and they just can’t...” Kristine choked up.  

Kristine carries around several cards to get the help she needs.

“I Don’t Know Where My Feet Are”

Kristine says she tries hard to stay positive by going to church and believing in God.

“I thought I would be on my feet by now,” she said. “But I don't know where my feet are. When money was coming in, you know, the child support was coming in with disability [checks], we would have made it back to California. The child support stopped coming in when I lost my phone [in March].” This year her son became an adult. He lives in Reno. He visited Kristine at the motel but they had a fight as he kept pushing her for money and support she couldn’t give. “My son doesn't want to move back in with me ’cause he has a girlfriend now. I understand. And I thought what I’m gonna do? I cannot stay in a hotel for the rest of my life!”

Kristine is aware of the many different programs to help out the homeless but said they are hard to understand and access

"Kathy [a friend who is also homeless] is the one that told me about a program for senior disabled citizens. Now the program just started like three years ago, I guess. And it was for disabled people too. And it's run by the federal government, I guess. Her place is a one-bedroom apartment. It's eight floors high, just got a balcony. You know what I mean, this is a real home! She loves it. I was there for two days. I didn't want to leave. And you get dinner every day, one dinner once a day and then you can cook in your own house in your own room. You have a full kitchen.  I have signed up for it but nothing has worked out so far,” she said.

Kristine has tried to get Section 8 housing or help from local churches as well.

“You have to go out for like a couple hours every day and put your name on all these forms,” she said of trying to get help. “But my problem was I couldn't keep walking. I barely could carry my backpack.”

Grateful for her Motel Room

Her motel room, she says, doesn’t feel like a home, but neither do the streets of Reno.   She used to take rests by the central bus station but says that has changed.

 “You can't just hang out at the bus station, you can't just hang out in the casino,” she said. “So, people have to walk constantly. Before, when I first came here, you know, like three years ago, you could at least sit at the bus station and then they changed their contract and the new people [are] like, no way [you can be here]. So they kicked people out. So, you gotta keep walking.”  

 Kristine feels that regardless of her health conditions and changing rules for outdoor spaces, she has to keep trying to find a way to get better housing. She has been requesting bus passes from different charities to move around more, but has found that more difficult as well.

Kristine says she gets $771 a month for her disability but then spends $650 on rent, leaving her with very little for day to day expenses. 

“All my money goes to the room,” she said. She said she collects food stamps and sometimes gets food with Christian charities.

Kristine feels that motels are essential for her survival in a housing market such as Reno's. “They [her motel] have very good managers. They're in their seventies and eighties, real good about keeping riffraff out of here. They keep an eye, you know.  It's really neat because if there's any big cars parked here, unless it's people that are actually working for a cleaning or doing repairs, they'll make them park over on the other side. Because at nighttime, I worry about riffraff walking by. They keep this place clean. There's no bugs. That's why so many people want to be in this place.”

When told about other housing options, Kristine explained why renting an apartment via the market scares her. “I hear these horror stories where people pay all this money for credit checks and they never get to know. Or, like I've heard stories about the students who go to school [at UNR] and then all of a sudden you've got to go and move out for the summer for three months … whatever, and then find a new place.”

Fears for the Future

Kristine said that in the three years she has stayed at the motel the rent hasn’t gone up. “Right now I feel faith because God has got me stable right here. Nobody kicked me out as long as I pay.”

However, she will need to move after a year, she said, as the motel allows four years of stay, at the most. We didn’t get independent confirmation of this but could feel her worry.

“I'm going to die here or I'm going to find a place that's going to have me for the rest of my life,” she said of her options.

Photos and reporting by Sudhiti Naskar shared with Our Town Reno

Judge Tammy Riggs, Restoring People's Dignity at the Community Court

A Low Stress Court

On an early Wednesday morning, a little over ten people shuffle inside the Downtown Reno Library. They are greeted by an abundance of green plants, trees and bushes. It’s like entering a calm forest. And, they aren’t here to check out books. The Reno Municipal Court Community Court is about to begin.

Community court is for nonviolent crimes such as trespassing, open containers, lying on sidewalks, camping in a public area, littering, jaywalking or urinating in public in the downtown Reno area. A majority of these citations are given to those living on the streets. Instead of being ordered to pay off their tickets, at the community court people can instead get connected with services or given same-day community service for local cleanups.

Instead of on an elevated bench, Judge Tammy Riggs, is at a table sitting across from those who have been cited. 

“I'm not wearing a robe. We don't have a big bench,” Riggs said. “So (it’s a) less formal process to bring the stress down.” Judge Riggs says the welcoming, green library is her favorite building in the world.

Making Appointments Instead of Payments

Riggs says that the library is more of a low stress environment than the courthouse. The downtown Reno library is also accessible by bus.

At  white circular tables, different organization representatives help people make appointments to get connected to services for mental and physical healthcare, substance abuse care, help for veterans, GED preparation, job searches, resume writing, getting back their ID, getting access to affordable housing and welfare services.

“We try to provide people with a dignified experience here,” Riggs says. “Once you become homeless, people are very beaten down at that point. They feel like they’ve become invisible. They feel like people don't care about them. We've had people tell us, ‘This is the very first time somebody has offered to help me,’ or, ‘Thank you for being nice to me,’ because people don't experience that on the street.”

Individuals usually get sentenced to attend another hearing to ensure that they went to the appointments they signed up for to get help. 

Community court begins at 8 am on Wednesdays two hours before the rest of the library.

Trying to Make a Difference in People’s Lives

Riggs says that she doesn’t consider punishment by imprisonment an effective remedy for the citations she is dealing with. 

“All of us want to make a difference in our fields,” she said. “We all want to feel like that what we do has meaning and is helping. Especially people in government, believe it or not, people in government want to feel like what they do means something,” she said.

“We get a lot of the same people over and over again. You get to know them and you don't want to hammer people you know, you want to help them, you want to assist them in whatever it is that is impeding their ability to live their life.”

Reno’s community court (described here in full detail: https://www.reno.gov/Home/Components/News/News/18867/576?seldept=9) is being funded for two years with a $200,000 grant from the Center for Court Innovation in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. More information on the Center for Court Innovation here: https://www.courtinnovation.org/

Reporting and Photos by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Joyce, Vouching for More Public Housing after Moving from a Motel

More Affordable and Relaxing

On a hot summer morning, Joyce is having coffee in her spacious room while she snuggles with Aurora, her rescue and service dog. Her roommate, a veteran, is preparing food in a shared, spotless kitchen of their subsidized apartment within the Hawk View Apartments complex, next to a couple of bus lines, by Hug High.

It’s a far cry from other situations she’s lived in, most recently the cramped, noisy, often drama-filled motels she called home for a while. There is a continuation though, such as the Native American dreamcatcher over her bed, which she found in a dumpster and which then adorned the door to her room at the El Tavern motel on W. 4th street.

Joyce has been here since May, after finding out housing lists were reopening and immediately applying in February. “It didn't take that long,” she said. “But my roommate's a veteran so it kind of bumped us up on the list and they offered us this one.”

They are paying less than $400 for the two bedroom apartment, with an extra $100 or so per month for electricity and cable bills, much less than the rising rent at the motel, which she said was going up to $1,250 for a much smaller space. Because she now pays utilities, her food stamps have gone up.

Gifts such as this one from Reno councilwoman Neoma Jardon are part of Joyce’s new living room decor. She is still trying to get a couch and a table with chairs so she can have guests over. The influential local lobbyist Jessica Sferrazza also helped her out with initial furniture. Joyce made these contacts after actively engaging with others through social media.

Challenges of Adapting to a New Neighborhood and a New Place

”We argued on Facebook with each other,” Joyce says of getting to know Jardon personally, while presenting her views on helping the homeless and easing the affordable housing crisis in Reno. “We had lunch, we talked. We were both really honest with each other and we've just stayed friends.”

Since Joyce doesn’t have a car, she does miss the ease of going to the motel’s convenience store, or living on the first floor, as she used to, to take her dog for walks. Her roommate was robbed while walking Aurora late at night on nearby Tripp Drive, which they now both avoid at night.

She has new neighbor friends, including an artist, and apartment community meetings she attends. She says maintenance is a bit backed up, as she’s still trying to get her shower fixed, but that all in all, it’s been a great move for her. “I like it now. I’m happy and calmer,” she said.

Joyce believes building and budgeting for more subsidized low income housing as well as tiny home villages with community gardens should be the way to go for Reno. She is trying to help get a plot at her apartments turned into a vegetable garden, but says the bureaucracy to get that done seems endless.

The Importance of Networking and Local Solutions

”Network,” Joyce says when asked if she has tips for others trying to rebound from homelessness and addiction as she has. Getting free bus passes also helped.

“Make sure you access what resources you can, if you can,” she said. “It’s difficult. It's really hard to get places. I learned that lesson. If you don't have transportation, you're not going anywhere. If you don't have resources or know where to network, you're not going anywhere. Figuring out what your options are. If you can, don't be afraid to reach out to some groups and at least get an idea. If you're going to apply for housing, apply, you know?”

She said when Lisa Lee, a recovery specialist in Reno, told her the housing lists were reopening, she not only applied for herself and her roommate, but for four other neighbors at her motel as well.

Joyce believes in local and state solutions for affordability over federal ones, but believes Reno still has the wrong mindset.

“You know, they want this to be a university town. They want to have districts, which I hate, you know. It makes it sound exclusive. Hey, if you're not this, you can't be here.”

Now that she has a safe place to stay, Joyce’s cousins have been sending her family mementoes of her late parents and brother she keeps safely in a box under her bed.

Helping the Homeless One by One

Joyce believes there should be a wider array of services for those living on the streets, and a wider range of options to help them out. She often points to Eugene, Oregon, as a city which has tried harder to help.

“Some people don't want to be inside or some people don't know how to interact with others enough to be inside,” she said. “That's why there should be more choices and more diversity for people who do want to come in… It's not just homeless people. There's addiction, there's mental health, there's veterans, there's PTSD, there's whatever. And they're all throwing it into one basket. Like a designate X. Nope. Sorry, I never fit into a basket.”

She says every little bit makes a difference, from the help she’s received from others, to herself helping out.

“The other day I was walking my dog, and there was a guy pushing a baby carriage with stuff in it, and when I came back, he happened to be in the dumpster and he said, ‘oh, thanks for following me’. I said, ‘I wasn't following you.’” 

She went back to meet him to give him a jug of cold water and a bag of toiletries. “You know, it wasn't a big deal. Been there, done that, made eye contact, talked to him. He said the way he lives is what he's chosen. I said, well, everybody's got to decide when it's time to change. If you do fine, but you're going to have to do it on your time and nobody's going to be able to make you.” 

Photos and Interview by Our Town Reno in July 2019

Philip, Honoring a Homeless Friend who was Stabbed to Death

The Homeless Dead Often Get Ignored

“His name was Donny,” Philip tells us. “He was stabbed to death for some shit. It went too far and he got murdered… He was brutally stabbed to death and I've yet to hear anything else about the investigation. But yeah, there's been a lot of shit going on,” he says of the insecurity of living in a tent, which also comes with repeated early morning police sweeps.

Criminalizing the homeless, he says, is wrongheaded.

“Figuring out what the problem is and then dealing with the problem instead of sitting here and taking it out on the homeless because these guys want to be assholes to us and it's not okay. Making homeless criminals, that's never going to work, right? Nope. It's just gonna piss them off more, make it worse and make a lot more problems for the future,” he said.

A memorial for Donny used to be here, painted by his niece but keeps getting painted over. “This is the third time they've painted over it, but she's not going to stop putting the memorial there,” Philip said.

Loyalty to Those Living on the Streets

Philip says more and more people who are cited for camping illegally are now sent to the downtown library’s community court, which he says is an improvement.

“Usually they tell people to go to services when they go to the library court and when you go, they have all types of services. They have people from Hopes, they have people from social services …”

Philip says he’s been living on the streets of Reno since 2006. He’s thought of going back to Las Vegas, but he says his loyalty and protecting others in his predicament keeps him here.  

“I know too many people out here. I have too many people out here I consider family,” he said.

Philip uses a whip he made as protection, especially from himself. “It's a way of taking out frustrations without having to actually hate somebody else.I do this thing to get rid of the anger and frustrations that I have built up inside …”

Surviving by the River

Philip sometimes helps people move or fixes cars to earn some money, as he doesn’t get any fixed income, or even food stamps. He says he finds peace sitting by the Truckee river, and also answers, when he feels lost.

He believes camping along the river should be legal, and that there should be public showers and more trash cans. He says people who look down on those like him should have more compassion.

“There's a good community amongst us. There's spots all along this river, where everything goes on. Just like everyday life goes on inside of houses. The only thing is we do it in a tent, but it’s still all the same. It's just we're in a tent. The winters are tough, but summers are tough too.”

For those who are just starting out on the river, finding a hidden shady spot and drinking clean water is the key, he says.

“Stay hydrated, that's all I can say. Stay hydrated. If not, you're going to die of a heat stroke.”

Photos and Interview by Our Town Reno in July 2019

Josella, Holding on to the Family's Motel Torch and Feeling like a 'Black Sheep' in Reno

From a Lineage of Sicilian-Americans Who Built and Bought Motels in Reno

Josella Starbuck’s family history is complicated and involves several of Reno’s downtown and Midtown motels. It also intertwines with much of Reno’s history, from quicky divorces, to racism against black musicians, to casinos lowering their room prices all the way to current rebranding efforts and gentrification.

At the root of it for her were her grandfather and great uncle, Sicilian-Americans who first came to Reno from Buffalo, for their own divorces in the 1940s. Her grandfather started a bar and then built the Swiss Motel. With that early success, he built the Virginia Motel, and then the family also bought the Vacation Motor Lodge and the former Ranch Motel.

Part of Josella’s childhood was spent in a house attached to the Virginia Motel and its office, and she remembers her brother, as young as 13, in charge of the front desk. “He would run the office because my parents stayed open all the time. We hardly ever went anywhere as a family … we had no family vacations,“ she told us during a recent interview in Midtown, with construction all around us, forcing her “to grit her teeth.”

In first grade, she said she realized for the first time the stigma attached not only to those who live in motels but also to those who run them. As part of an introductory assignment, she boasted about how proud she was to live and work with her family in the same place, but she says this confused her classmates.

Josella points to the former pool of the Vacation Motor Lodge, which has now been replaced by a small community garden and communal barbecue patio area.

From Working with Casinos to Competing Against Them

Initially, Josella says patrons were a “mix of people staying a few nights, traveling salesmen, musicians, and people in transition waiting for an apartment or a house.”

Casino employees would come by the motels with gambling coupons, as well as Christmas gifts, to attract more patrons.

During the 1960s, when Reno was a destination for big concerts, black musicians were prevented from staying at casinos where they played, so they would sleep at the motels. Josella’s mom once met Tina Turner, who she shared a birthday with, looking for musicians she knew.

But by the 1980s, when Circus Circus had started slashing its nightly room prices, Josella says motels became more of “a housing type situation for folks.”

“We don't do any nightlies now because there's too much risks with people trashing the room, leaving or not leaving when it's 11 o'clock,” she said of how it has remained that way since.

Motels seem frozen in time but many Reno residents still rely on them amid an affordable housing crisis. “We have a vets,” Josella said of her current tenants. “We even have an author who self publishes on Amazon. At the Virginia Motel, we have a retired judge.”

Surviving the Recession and A Changing Clientele, but Still Shunned by Midtown

Josella says her customers now are mostly elderly people on fixed income. Some she says have been at the motel for eight years.

During the Great Recession, she says, she was down to six tenants out of 35 rooms. She decided to lower prices to survive. While some say motel life isn’t affordable, Josella says at the Vacation Motor Lodge several tenants are paying just $450 a month, bills included.

“You don't have to pay a power bill. You don't have to pay for linens, you don't have to pay for basic cable and your heat. Every room has a mini fridge and a microwave and you do have that comfort of knowing if something breaks, it gets replaced. We have some people here who are surviving on maybe $700 or $800 in Social Security,” she said. “And one thing that we haven't done here is raise the rates extraordinarily high. And those people who have been here a long time, a lot of them are only paying $50 more than when they came in on that special rate that we were running nine years ago.”

While motels cater to a less affluent clientele, many new stores in Midtown now have extremely pricey items or menus, but Josella isn’t impressed. “I just feel like we've been here before Midtown. A lot of things that I've observed in ‘Midtown’ are a lot of empty storefronts. People who open and then are gone. We are kind of the black sheep of Midtown. We've never been asked to join a Midtown association…. I think we'll probably still be here when Midtown is another lost memory … We do tend to get ahead of ourselves in this town.”

Josella says Bette Midler once did a long scene in front of the Vacation Motor Lodge for the 1982 Hollywood film Jinxed. “People drive by and take pictures of the signs,” Josella said. “I will say it is sad when things get torn down,” she says of other motels and their signs being torn down. “It is sad when things change, when people don't appreciate the past. That's probably something they do do better in Europe.”

Helping the Community?

Josella thinks motels have value for the community, even now. “If anything, it's just a safe, clean place for people who simply can't afford high rents,” she said. “A lot of times people can't get the money together for a deposit to live in an apartment, or they don't have the credit.”

She says when people complain motel rooms are dirty, sometimes they don’t understand there are limits to what motel owners can do to force tenants to clean them up. “The man in his castle law applies to motels, so we can't just go in there and clean it. We can't go in there and tell them what to do. If they want to sleep on the floor, we can't tell them you have to sleep in a bed.” The man in his castle is a legal doctrine designating a person's legally occupied place in which that person has protections and immunities.

Josella says previous suggestions to force motels to have kitchenettes in all rooms would put most motels out of business because of associated plumbing costs, but she says she hasn’t seen any movement in that direction in Reno lately.

Overall, she says, she resents politicians and media reports depicting motels as blight and unlivable. “It makes me angry because they're not speaking to the residents,” she said. “I mean, nobody here is forced to stay. It's a month to month lease, sometimes a week, or two week lease.”

“I would really like them to come and talk to the people who actually live here and choose to stay here,” she said of media and politicians. “I think we're providing a service for the community. There's not enough housing now as it is. There's not enough housing for families. Over at the Virginia Motel, we have working families who live there and that's all they can afford. And they're hardworking people. They're taxpayers. Everybody's gone crazy with the rents here in town and it's not sustainable.”

Josella says she lets tenants plant flowers and also tries to quickly respond to all complaints. She says she has no problems with police, or the fire and health departments, who occasionally drop by. With lots of speculation on Reno’s continued growth, Josella says there has been pressure to sell. “There's a lot of people who do come out of the woodwork,” she said. “I try to resist but I am getting older myself. There’s people who figure they could run the place better, make more money, which is fine, but I don't know what the future will hold….”

Defending the Wild Orchid and Motels

Across the street from the Vacation Motor Lodge is the Wild Orchid, and its ongoing drama with Reno’s City Council and certain residents over its central location and digital signs.

“I think the City singled out the Wild Orchid to say … this is what's wrong with downtown, but all you have to do is walk through downtown to see what's wrong with downtown. There are closed storefronts on the main strip, boarded up. There's garbage. You can't pick out one thing and say this is what's wrong with the whole area. And honestly we use it as a landmark on the phone when we tell people how to get here. So, I was on the side of the owners of the Wild Orchid the whole time. “

She says Reno has always had an identity crisis.  Lumping motels with a certain view of Reno, she finds that offensive.

“I think it's because of a perception that people have, that we're part of that seedy underbelly of society, which isn't true. I think that's a perception that people have, but we contribute to the local economy. We use local tradespeople for help. I think people wish we weren't here, but they don't know what to do with the people that are here. So it's kind of like a guilty relationship. It's not right. Honestly, I think that the word slumlord gets tossed around a lot. And I find that personally offensive because it's so derogatory. I wish they would just come and see and spend maybe 30, 45 minutes, just seeing what's going on here.”

Where would current tenants go if motel rooms were no longer available?

“You know, people say, everybody who lives there, is on drugs. They're all crack heads. And that's just not true. I mean a lot of people get beat up by society. Not everyone can make it. And you end up with $700, $800 a month on Social Security. I mean, what are you supposed to do? And a lot of people here have had rich full lives.”

 Reporting and Photos by Our Town Reno in July 2019

Phoenix, Leading a Trans Recovery Group to Save Local Lives

Making Support Groups More Inclusive

Phoenix, who has lived in several different parts of the U.S. as a service child, says Reno and Nevada in general don’t feel inclusive, which is why this trans group is so needed here.

“Las Vegas was probably the worst I’ve seen along with Oklahoma for transgendered youth being basically kicked out of their house for trying to live their true life,” she said. “For the most part, (in Reno), sometimes we're still kind of backwards. You know, the old country mentality.”

Phoenix points to alarmingly high suicide and substance abuse rates for trans youths, as another vital reason for this endeavor.

“It's very important for the group to be inclusive, instead of exclusive, because people need to know it's open, you know, versus just having the same old people sitting around a table,” she said. “You know, if we don't bring new people in, new blood into groups, then guess what, the groups die off … it’s the same thing with any other type of group in Reno, AA, NA, people forget that nowadays. You know, if you’ve been in the same group with the same people, everyone knows each other. There's no new lifeblood and the new person in the group is the best thing in the world, because you get to help that person. You get to show them what you have and you get to show them how you live your true life.”

Phoenix spoke at the opening of the Foundation for Recovery. “People don't realize that if you find a good support system, you can conquer the world,” she said in our interview afterwards. “We can be more inclusive. Don't judge a book by its cover. I'm 6’5. I have purple hair, but you know, I have the biggest heart in the world. I will help anyone that's in need.”

From Crystal Meth Addiction to Becoming a Leader for Positive Change

Phoenix, who now manages a Supercuts hair salon, has a life of struggles and turnaround to share as inspiration. “I started living my true life, in October three years ago,” she said. “That was after I finally had, I was finally done with crystal meth. I was on and off meth from the age of 18 to 32. I’ve been clean as of, August 28th of this year, I'll be clean three years. And my journey … I did everything I could to survive. I was homeless. I was living in a car.  I stole from, you know, family members. It wasn't a true life I needed to live… People forget that, you know, being happy in your own life, becoming your true self, doing what you need to do is the best thing you can do to survive.”

Phoenix also points to the dangerous levels of violence against the transgender community, especially trans women of color.

“If you have some type of addiction that lands you on the streets, it can kill you, especially with everything that's going on in the world today. One thing that makes me really nervous is how many trans women of color have been killed, just this year alone, it's been a lot. Nobody's doing anything, you know? And that scares the living bejesus out of me because I was there. I was doing what I had to do to survive. “

For Phoenix, getting arrested in Reno at one point when she was hitting bottom was a wakeup call. “If I was to stay on the streets, I know that I would've died,” she told us. “The turning point for me was that, so basically the thing is, look at yourself. Do you see yourself there in 10 years or do you see yourself dead in 10 years? Get yourself a good support system.”

“If you're afraid to come to the group, talk to me,” she said. “I'll do what I can to help. If I need to facilitate, you know, where you might need to go for counseling or something like that, I'll try and put you in the same direct path I was … People might be scared to come to the group because they are afraid that they might be outed or they are still living behind a veil. Come out from wherever you are. Life is too short. Live your life. Nobody else will for you. Carpe Diem.”

Advice for Parents and the Community

Phoenix says love and acceptance, including self-acceptance, is generally what’s needed the most.

“My advice for the parents would be they're your kid, love them. One day you're going to need the love. You know, it's just not about what's in between our legs, it's what's in our mind, what's in our heart. People forget that love is just not, it's not a gender. It's your heart. It's your soul. I was born this way and you know what? A lot of younger, the younger generation doesn't realize that… love yourself first. You know, people come and go in your life. There's one person that you wake up everyday with and look at in the mirror, that's yourself. Love yourself before you love anybody else.”

Phoenix would also like to see a local homeless shelter specifically for trans kids as well more pressure on organizations which still practice discrimination.  

Reporting by Our Town Reno in July 2019

Lisa Lee, Opening a Peer Recovery Community Center in Sparks

A Christmas in July with Peers

With community activists, recovery specialists, academics and local residents in recovery on hand, Lisa Lee, herself combining all those attributes, recently opened a new large, multi room, sunny Sparks office for peer community recovery.

After an opening speech introducing staff and the center’s guiding principles, attendants were invited to fill out recovery reminder cards which would be sent out to them on the anniversaries of their sobriety.

The event was billed as a Christmas in July, Grand Opening of the Northern Nevada Recovery Community Organization, with Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve also in attendance. Prior to the gathering, Lee explained the importance of having a staff of so-called Peer Recovery Support Specialists, who have lived experience.

“Not a lot of providers know [...] what it's like to be on the bus for two and a half hours to get from point A to point B. If you're in recovery, chances are you've experienced homelessness, you've lived in abject poverty, you've accessed things like food stamps and food banks, you've ridden the bus, you've ridden your bike, you've walked places, like all of these things. So it's really helpful to have people that are in the know walking with people,” Lee said.

Lee said the local branch of the Foundation for Recovery will be open and free for anyone, at any point of their recovery. She said no one’s journey is the same and people need different help, and that their problems can be worsened especially if they are facing homelessness, food insecurity or poverty. That’s why she said she will also have food stocked and an inviting place for someone to be heard.

A Kind, Open and Mobile Approach to Help

Lee says traditional methods of quickly directing someone to available resources isn’t always the best approach.

“I say things like, ‘How can I best support you? What are your goals? What do you need to do today to be alright?,’ because it might not be like, ‘Oh well you need to work on your resume and look for a job,’ when they're freaking hungry or their lights just got shut off or whatever it may be,” she said. “Like checking in with environmental conditions and how they're coping with those right now is super important rather than like, ‘You need to go to a meeting.’”

The new center will have mobile, outreach programs, like helping incarcerated women, and also meeting with people living without stable shelter on the streets or along the Truckee River. Other organizations, such as a local Crystal Meth Anonymous group, are also using the space to hold meetings.

Yoga classes are also being offered at the space. Lee said anyone with a special talent and passion is also invited to offer community classes. Photo by Lucia Starbuck

Drawing on Her Own Experiences

Lee says inclusivity was a huge determining factor in choosing a location. She originally wanted to be in downtown Reno, but never found a place that was wheelchair accessible such as the Sparks location, which already had a ramp. Lee said Reno’s rents were too high anyway.

She said she will draw on her own experiences getting help, and then helping others with other local organizations in recent years, to guide her work.

“Recovery is an interesting experience because it's a lot like being reborn or something and you're like this little raw, squishy egg in the world trying to figure it all out. I think having other people who've been there, like those have been the most impactful people for me. [...] Not somebody who read it in a book, but somebody who like walked through the fire and came out of it. I just think that's really important. I think it's almost like an obligation that you at least help one other person,” Lee said.

Lee (left) gave the floor to those who are helping with the center during the opening ceremony.

Survivor’s Guilt

Lee, who was known as Turtle while living on the streets during her early adult years, lost many of her close friends due to the hardship of their lives.

“I wake up in the morning everyday at four and I go for a run and I listen to an audio book and I watch the sunrise and I hear the birds chirp and I'm just like, ‘This is something that so many of my friends don't get to do because they’re dead.’ I think about that and I'm like, ‘God why am I here?,’ There's a lot of like survivor’s guilt. [...] But then it’s like, well I am here so I’m obligated to make sure that someone else's kid doesn't die, to make sure that they get a chance.”

Lee says her goal is to one day close her doors because that would mean the problem is solved. However, until then, Lee plans on helping people even if it’s as small, she says, as planting the seed in someone’s mind to consider or at least become educated about recovery.

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Cindy, A Former Casino Employee in a Tent Displaced by Police Sweeps and Cleanups

Living in a Tent while Working in a Casino

“When [the police] come, they'll shake, rattle and pick up the whole tent and just trash it if nobody's there and if somebody’s there and they don't get a response, they will come in,” Cindy says of repeated police actions against those living in tents along the Truckee River.

“I've had an officer invade my privacy or invade my home, if you will, (who) just came right in and grabbed my leg and start throwing my covers around and getting mad because I'm upset because he's in my space. Well, this is my home. Whether or not it's a physical home or not, it's still my home, regardless (if) it's a tent. So what makes it any different from him walking through my tent door as opposed to walking through my home door. It's not okay in my home. In a house, it's not okay for anybody to enter your residence without permission so I don't see why it should be any different for a tent.”

Cindy stays in her tent with her boyfriend and their dog, so for them, it’s not an option to stay in the shelter which doesn’t allow pets. Cindy used to have a job at Cal Neva as a keno runner but lost it last year because she says it was difficult to maintain while living on the streets.

She says she was excited be working at a casino, but on her wages she still couldn’t afford a place to stay, or dress properly for the job. “They wanted me to dress up and I love to dress up, but I didn't have the attire to do that. So I was stuck. Like, now what do I do? I don't have the clothes. They wanted a nice solid color pants, like dark colored pants and then a dress shirt. I didn't have the attire at the time. I had no dress clothing. So with the lack of clothing and the lack of being able to shower on a daily basis, which is big to me, it really made it hard to keep the job.”

Cindy says she wishes there were more services available for people living on the streets like accessible housing, and showers.

An Underpass in Limbo with a Controversial Cleanup

Parcels near the underpass area of Wells Ave. have been linked to a possible expansion of the Generator art maker space. The parcels, currently still owned by the city of Reno and its Redevelopment Agency were envisioned as possible spaces for art performances and markets.

According to its About section, the Redevelopment Agency serves as the economic development arm of the City of Reno, with the power to buy private property for resale; reallocate property and sales tax increment in order to finance the redevelopment program of the community; and use other incentives to foster redevelopment of blighted properties. Its piece of land reported for a possible Generator purchase is about 3.2 acres next to a smaller .6 acres, also linked to the maker space, which is owned by the city itself.

This Spring, several activists and community volunteers say they were approached by the Generator to do a cleanup of the area, which they refused saying the space was being used by people living in tents. Sought out for comment, Jerry Snyder, a board member of the Generator, wrote back on Messenger: “We respectfully decline this request for an interview.”

Members from Food Not Bombs, who host weekly potlucks at nearby Fisherman's Park, usually also bring food to people living along the river when there are leftovers. They said at any given time, there were about 50 people scattered in tents under the overpass. One day, around the time of the suggested cleanup, when they went to bring the food, they said all of the people were gone.  They suspected communications between the Generator and police, which we weren’t able to confirm.

Cindy says the unpredictability of the current situation and always having to move is getting to her. “We get continually pushed and pushed and pushed by the cops. They keep harassing us, keep moving us and they keep telling us we got to relocate, we can't be here, go toward Sparks. I mean they specifically gave us a location, behind GSR on the Sparks side. So we went over there and then all the Sparks police and the reservation police got all pissed off. They're like, ‘Wait, why are you guys over here?’ [...] I mean it's a ridiculous, brutal circle, from trying to find a place where we won't get harassed. If we don't move it, then the next time they come through with the cleaning crew, they will literally throw everything away and I've had them do that to me before,” she said.

Reporting and Photos by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Teme, Around the World to Reno with a Pot of Treasure Scraps

Difficult to Verify

As with many street stories, it’s not always easy to verify details. What we like to focus on is the present and how people are surviving, how they help each other, and what ideas they might have to make our community a better, more caring place.

Teme says he’s a veteran, who has been around the world, studied at various universities, met important figures and was present for important historical moments. This might all be true, we just couldn’t verify it. What is true is that when we met him he had set up his possessions, including his scrap treasures, on a picnic table along the Truckee river.

“I learned the craft from my Dad who also taught me how to make a gold watch. I mostly make men's but I do make women's. I have mostly rings, necklaces and bracelets. I've made anklets and some jewelry in the Egyptian style,” he said of turning scrap to jewelry.

Reno’s Changing Identity

What he did share with us is that he wants to leave Reno, because he says, in his estimation, the Biggest Little City is more about money than it has ever been.

“They're trying to remodel,” he said of recent changes. “Gambling's being downsized. I was here before they built all these new places. You never really saw anybody and nobody really had any money. They built all these (new) places to get money.”

But he says they are still trying to get people’s money the way they’ve always tried.

“My last message to the people in Reno is if you don't gamble, you don't smoke, you don't drink then you don't really belong here. That's just what it is. They don't want you up there. “

We left Teme without understanding his many secrets and hidden worlds but took a few pictures and thanked him for his time and insights.

Reporting by Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins for Our Town Reno

Elizabeth Lenz, Among Music Therapists Helping Heal at Note-Able

A Powerful Therapy

Music is a reminder, a safe place, and an insight into how one can feel. It’s also an understanding, a collection of the most beautiful sounds, and is a powerful form of therapy.

Note-Able Music Therapy Services which has two locations in Reno invites people of all ages to walk through their doors, attend a class and be transformed by the rhythm, beat, and aura of music.

Patients ranging in age from young children to the elderly attend classes weekly due to anything from neurological traumas to mental health issues and even physical disabilities.

“This is a fun environment where serious things happen,” said Sarah Toney, the Note-Able Director of Development.

“People who attend sessions at Note-Able are brought into a community where they are celebrated and appreciated,” Toney said. “It isn’t about getting fixed it’s about the journey in healing.”

At its Riverside Dr. location, at the McKinley Arts & Culture Center, Note-Able’s board certified music therapists lead weekly sessions.

A Varied and Inclusive Community

At the McKinley Arts & Culture Center, there are two, very generous in size, rooms where patients are able to explore a number of instruments, sounds, lights and art which personalizes the room and makes it feel like an inclusive community.

Note-ables also host two dance classes weekly, where people with developmental disabilities are able to gain their fair share of specialized attention in a physical dance class.

Note-ables is involved in the community with projects at the youth drop in center the Eddy House, Northern Nevada Medical Center, Renown, Northern Nevada Mental Health Services, The Life Change Center, and Quest Counseling and Consulting.

“A young girl from Eddy House sang in front of an audience at one of our performances,” Toney said. “She wasn’t the best, but she sang with intention and it brought her and the crowd to tears.”

Music therapists from Note-Able also go to the Renown Pediatric unit to help relieve some of the most stressful experiences the children there and their parents go through. Their services aren’t insurance based so their help comes both as paid services or in some instances free volunteerism, and their focus is on accompanying those suffering, rather than focusing on final results.

“Note-Able is here to create a sense of stability, at this time this is what we are doing, this is where we are present” Toney said.

In class, the experience provided is extremely personalized to each attendee. There is a wall of guitars, multiple drum sets and microphones to get everyone involved in the day’s activities.

Photos and Reporting by Josie Steehler shared with Our Town Reno

Jefferson George, A Struggling Artist Fighting for America's "Lower Class"

Dealing with Homeless Task Forces and Police

While previously on the streets as a struggling tattoo artist in California, Jefferson George says he was constantly hassled by so-called homeless task forces, and cited for infractions of just trying to survive without shelter. He says authorities often sweep through encampments with bulldozers, and crush everything in sight including pets who might be sleeping.

“We're definitely second class citizens,” he said. “You try to grab whatever you can and just move along. You know, it's a PG rated genocide of the lower class. So generally speaking, if you are, if you get to a certain level when you're down, they kick you down, they keep you down. I've literally been starving in the gutter and have people walk over me. When you get to that point, you realize that, you know, it's more than just closed. Mouths don't get fed. People just generally don't care. They don't give a crap. You know, you are a blight on society. They don't want to see your homelessness anymore. They want to just sweep you away.”

He says he also went to jail for taking metals from unused buildings. “It's not exactly the most honorable trade, he said, “but you know, I'm sorry, but you know, I had to eat.”

The last time he was arrested, he says, police went through his bag throwing his stuff out, and just left his bicycle next to a dumpster unlocked. “So that's gone,” he said. “It’s just one step forward, three steps back constantly. You know, you try and be a functioning member of society and you get reminded that you are at a certain level …”

“I'll just go through unwanted refuse, you know, that people throw away. I collect and I will fix it and I will clean it and I will, you know, try to do a resale. I mean, for instance, this Google nextbook. I unlocked it. I erased everything that the previous user had, all their information. I don't care about that. I need to go online and try and order a new glass for it, which only costs a few dollars which I can buy with a prepaid card and have it sent to, you know, any address I can find,” he explained of one of his current projects.

Passing Food Around, Doing Odd Jobs, Trying to Sell Art and Refurbishing Found Objects

Jefferson says he likes going to restaurants, and finding food and passing it around to others on the streets.

“I go to like Little Caesar's and Domino's and at the end of the night, all the pizza and all the food that they're throwing away, I gather it up and I pass it around to everybody else on the streets,” he explained.

He looks for clothes around laundry mats which he says people sometimes leave behind. He had bolt cutters he had found he was trying to sell. He tries to find buyers for his art.

Jefferson says he’s also always ready to work odd jobs. “If I see someone painting a house or mowing, I always see if they need an extra set of hands, you know,” he said. “I can make 10, five bucks here and there, doing what I can.”

But he says with so little money, he feels like a nothing in today’s American society.

“It's all about that all-mighty dollar,” he said. “Without income, no one really has the time for you. You're not a functioning member of society, you know, and as far as Section 8, government housing assistance, that all requires identification, which I am unable to obtain.”

Jefferson says he refuses to panhandle or beg for money. “I try to barter stuff,” he said. “I can’t beg. That’s how my grandparents raised me. You know I go out and try and get an honest dollar.”

“There is no bad art,” Jefferson told us. “I don't care if it's stick figures or if it's paintings, whatever form of expression and artwork that you want to put out into the world. It gives somebody else looking at it a different perspective, a different idea, you know, they see that and then they can take that and then, you know, pass it along somewhere else. So no matter what you draw, as long as you put something creative and original out there, that no one has ever done before. You can have a trickle effect that can inspire something great.”

“Most of the time when I'm talking to people, I draw and I say it's not a sign of disrespect. I just always have to have my hands going. Drawing helps me keep track of time.”

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