Cruz Rodriguez, Staying Upbeat and Looking for Love on the Streets

Hoping for a Nicer Shelter and Finding Love on the Streets

Cruz Rodriguez became homeless in 2015 after she says she mismanaged money after her husband passed away.

But she says she was able to find love again. Rodriguez moved to Reno 15 years ago from Gilroy, California.

She says that Reno is beautiful. She has been staying at the Record St. shelter. She said that she has a comfortable bed and has made close friends there but that the shelter could be better.

“A bigger place, nicer helpers, sometimes they throw us out in the snow or in the rain,” she said. “I can handle it because I can get a raincoat but some people are barefoot and it’s really sad.”

Rodriguez said that she can handle most things thrown her way because she is strong.

Before Rodriguez moved to Reno she was a seamstress specializing in dresses. She said she retired but started again because she needed money. Rodriguez gets food at the shelter compound, which is where she also met her current boyfriend.

“I met him when I was in line for food. So we’re in line, and he’s standing there, and he just wanted to kiss me I just knew it. I waited for this man all my life,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said one day they were just together and that’s how it started.

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Elizabeth, On the Streets with MS and Fearing Coronavirus

Fearing a New Sweep and the Global Pandemic

Elizabeth, 35, is living in a tent, alongside dozens of others after a large sweep in Reno along railroad tracks sent houseless individuals to this new spot, tucked away under Wells Avenue.

This is her first time being homeless and she’s only been living on the streets for about a month. It couldn’t come at a worse time in terms of her health. She has Multiple Sclerosis, which weakens your immune system. This has heightened her concerns being exposed to coronavirus which can be deadly to those with weaker immune systems.

Medical experts say those living on the streets are among the most vulnerable to contract the virus, as they are often in close proximity to one another, while poor sleep and high stress weaken their immune systems even further, whatever their underlying medical conditions.

“People are dying out here,” Elizabeth said of the growing number of people in Reno camping outside, moving from place to place due to repeated displacements by cleanup crews.

Difficulty in Getting Basic Items

Grocery stores in Reno are being emptied of items such as soap, hand sanitizer and toilet paper, and for people living outside, it’s even been harder to get these items.

She said maybe people might realize what it is like to always be short on basic but necessary items.

“Be grateful for everything you have from toilet paper down to forks, things that you think are stupid, we cherish out here,” she said.

Elizabeth says she became homeless after her boyfriend went to jail for stealing cars. She used to be a Certified Nursing Assistant and a Licensed Practical Nurse, but said she was charged for a felony for having pain pills she wasn’t supposed to have.

While physical health care is important to her, she said what Reno really needs is better mental health care. “Honestly I didn't realize it till I got out here but a lot of them [live with] mental health,” Elizabeth said. “So we need more people to help with mental health.” 

“This is the most humbling experience I've ever been through,” Elizabeth said. “When I walk down the street right now with some of my stuff, I get looked down upon as the cars are passing by like I'm trash, like I'm nothing.”

Needing More Help to Rebound and Hoping for a Tax Refund

Elizabeth said ReStart helped her get her ID, find food, clothing and helped her apply for disability. But that hasn’t been enough to get her off the streets for now, and that her neighbors in tents could also use help.

“I want to see a lot of these people get up off the street,” Elizabeth said. “I would like to see NAMS reach out and help these people. We need doctors to help more…. There's at least ten disabled veterans here. They fought for our country and they're out here homeless and that's not right.” 

Still, the camaraderie among the encampment is something she says which keeps her going. “We stick together more than anybody else does,” Elizabeth said. “Even more than in your own family.”

Elizabeth said she can’t work because of her disability. But she remains hopeful that she will soon live independently and get off the streets within the next month with the help of her and her boyfriend’s tax return.

Photography and writing by Lucia Starbuck, with additional writing by Scott King and reporting by Gracie Gordon for Our Town Reno

Art, Trying to Help Reno's Newly Displaced

Improper Procedures?

As about 200 people were being moved from train tracks in downtown Reno last week, while shelter were full with waiting lists, Art Gillespie was there to warn them and try to help them.

“They have no place to go and no one's told them whether they can come back or not. The notification process is supposed to be written notice, within 24 hours of a cleanup. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that they have to be cited first for public camping and then given two weeks notice and then their stuff stored for 30 days…. none of which has been done,” he said referring to a 2018 ruling.

Art said this City of Reno notice was not distributed widely.

Advocating for a Safe Camping Space

“We need to find someplace these people can set up camp and be safe and not be on the street, not be between a railroad tracks someplace where they have some infrastructure, bathrooms, showers, someplace to just be off the street and safe,” Art said of a solution others have advocated for.

Previously, he had been coming to the railroad tracks to distribute gloves, hand warmers and different ideas to help, as he was helped before. “These are people, you know, the homeless, these people all have stories,” he said. “They need to be treated with the respect that you would treat any other human being.”

Some tried the best they could to get as much of their belongings with them as they were forced to move from a sleeping and living spot many have been in since November.

Too many restrictions with current shelter options?

”What's happening today is just a symptom,” Art said looking over as people were being displaced from their camping spots. “They need to find someplace. It's not just Reno. There are homeless camps nationwide. We need affordable housing available and resources to get people off the streets into affordable housing. A lot of these people, it’s just one missed car payment, one missed rent payment and you're out here with the rest of them. There are a lot of mentally ill people out here that are not medicated, that shouldn't be, that can't get their medication. They need to be offered resources. Most of them will take them if they're offered, but the strings that come with the offers usually are not worth it. “

Art talked about too many restrictions for many of the programs on offer locally. “Some of them won't go to the mission because they have animals or there are couples that are, who've been together for years and they want to separate them if they go inside,” he said.

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

The First Winter of the Eddy House’s 24-Hour Home for Houseless Youth

A Safe Place to Sleep and Find New Direction

Diaz Dixon greets Eddy House’s young residents with a warm smile, a friendly gesture, and the youth return the kindness and make playful jokes that he needs to hit the gym. On Jan. 30, under his leadership, the Eddy House transitioned from its small and quaint home on 6th street to a large, 24-hour shelter for youth ages 18 to 24 who don’t have stable housing on Willow street.

"It's really important because these young people come to us from different situations,” he said. “A number of them have had a really rough time maybe for five, six years, and they've been couch surfing, or wandering around in the streets and they haven't had a chance to have a place for stability. So, we're giving them at least the stability part: in a place to sleep that's safe, and that you can eat, and shower," Dixon said. "We're tapping into the other pieces to help increase their own awareness, so that they can figure out why they got here, and then start game planning as to what they want to do moving forward."

The Eddy House now has 23 beds available in their community living facility, where youth can stay up to six months. Eddy House also has 20 drop in beds (above), where individuals sign in to sleep in nightly. When we did our interview, Dixon said the community living beds haven’t filled up yet, despite local needs.

Intern Help and Yoga Classes

In addition to a safe place to sleep, Eddy House’s new facility is also home to three interns from the School of Social Work and three interns from Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, to provide mental health services. Eddy House focuses on physical wellbeing too.

Eddy House has yoga classes, helped nearly 20 youth enroll in Medicaid, and has a dental hygienist who volunteers their time once a month.

"These particular individuals have been beat up for a while,” Diaz said of the overall needs. “We never know how much that they've gone through. We want to be the first place that gives them a feeling of hope. When they can walk through the door and feel comfortable, as comfortable as possible in that moment, at least we can keep them. We want to be able to keep them in these doors and let them know that inside these walls that there's a lot of work to be done and we're going to be walking alongside them, helping them get those things accomplished,” Dixon said.

The longer term arrangement for beds has a cozier feel and colorful trunks for personal possessions.

The Importance of Nonprofits

According to government statistics, there are roughly 3,000 students in Washoe County School District without stable shelter. He said Eddy House also helps students in college facing homelessness. He said there are about 50 students at Truckee Meadows Community College living on the streets and that number triples at UNR. Dixon said youth living on the streets are a vulnerable population.

"Oftentimes if you're younger living on the streets, you're a target, you're in jeopardy or in danger of being trafficked. Oftentimes some of the older and more chronically homeless individuals will seek them out. When you're younger, you tend to be a little more vulnerable, and impressionable, and can find yourselves in some really tough situations," Dixon said.

Dixon is a strong advocate for nonprofits. Before Eddy House, Dixon ran STEP2 for fourteen years, a nonprofit that assists women and families struggling with substance use disorders. He said he’s always wanted to make a difference in his community and it became clear that Eddy House was the place he wanted to be.

"When we have people who are struggling or suffering, you got to have organizations and entities who are willing to pick them up. At the same time, those individuals have to be ready to put the work in. But nonprofits are critical to maintaining that stability. People don't go into nonprofits to get rich and nor do the people who are utilizing their nonprofit services," Dixon said. "Nonprofits are important to help, and to educate, and to also increase awareness [of] the health of the particular community."

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Bryan's Plight: Going Blind, Evicted and Getting Displaced

From Owning a Business to Losing His Sight 

“I've been here since Wells Avenue was a dirt road,” Bryan said. “The way the homeless are treated in the state [of Nevada], it’s like, we shouldn't even be alive or we should be lepers on an island somewhere. I don't get it. I've never done anything to be treated the way I've been treated [here].”

In the not so distant past, Bryan says he had his own business as a transmission mechanic. But as health problems started piling up, he says he got lost in the Section 8 system, and couldn’t find his way back in.

“I had a 105 degree temperature and almost died,” Bryan remembers of when he lost housing. “They put an eviction notice on my door while I was totally blind, instead of knocking and seeing if I was alive or dead. I didn’t go outside for almost two weeks because of that and they didn't [bother to] check on me or nothing.”

Bryan says he used to box at Reno High School before serving with the Marines for two years. He says he first started to go blind when a relative hit him. His retina became detached two days later. Then one day when Bryan was driving out to his dad’s house, he lost his sight entirely and went off the side of the road and into the river.

“It was the scariest thing ever,” Bryan said. “I’ve been on and off blind ever since, but I’m totally disabled now. I can’t do what I used to do.”

“I became homeless when I went blind because my whole family didn't know how to handle a newly blind person,” Bryan said. “I've trained for having a guide dog over six times now, but because I can't make it out to all of my lessons, state law says you have to take them all over again.”

Trying to Get a Guide Dog and Living off Disability Payment

Bryan says he has applied and trained to get a guide dog six times. Transportation has made things difficult for him to complete the program. The last three times Bryan says he trained as an applicant, it was his last needed appointment that he missed. Despite his difficulties finishing the program, he’s grateful for the staff that has been understanding of his situation and helping him through the program each time. He hopes that one day he can complete it.

In the meantime, Bryan receives a Social Security Disability monthly payment. However, in today’s market it’s not nearly enough to afford housing. 

“I get an SSD check for $840,” Bryan said. “But any hole-in-a-wall place here costs you $1,000. How am I supposed to get a place to live?”

Bryan has a hard time just getting a loan, as he says his eviction from four years ago continues to hurt his credit score. After receiving a corneal transplant in his right eye, he recently got a job working as a cook at a local senior citizen center as he tries to re-build credit with his bank. However, keeping a job is hard for him when he doesn’t have a place to live.

“I don't have a steady bed because I have to go over to the overflow shelter at nine o'clock every night,” Bryan said. “But they sometimes won’t let you in anywhere, even when it's freezing out. People are actually going to end up dying [because of the cold] and I don't want to be one of them.” 

He would like to see government agency’s do more for the homeless population. He doesn’t believe people understand the gravity of what it’s like being homeless during the winter.

“It's not good here out here and people just don't get it,” Bryan said. “People are dying. I don't want to die here.” 

Reporting and Photography by Scott King and Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Jon Humbert, on why the City of Reno Decided to Move People from Train Tracks

A Challenging Area

“This is a very challenging area because of just the space,” Humbert said. “This is more than a mile long, tucked in between the retract lane and private businesses and the railroad on the other side. So it's about 20, 30 feet on either side where folks who have queued up their tents, have made themselves a temporary home. Today it's all being cleaned out,” Humbert said.

“This is usually, once to twice a week that we go to different areas, all different sizes and all across the city, North Valleys, South Reno, here in the core of downtown. We're going everywhere to keep an eye on these,” he said of encampments.

Despite complaints that written notices were not handed out, Humbert said the City of Reno went “above and beyond what the law requires. So to give an example, law says that we have 24 hours required notice for folks to just post signs, let them know, come out and save that 24 hours before we start a cleanup like this. Instead, the city has gone above and beyond to offer a full week to folks to know that this action was coming. And even on the day of the cleanup by law, we're allowed to just come in and start taking things out. But instead we give folks in this case today an extra two and a half hours from the time that we arrive to the cleanup truly beginning. We want to make sure that everyone gets the opportunity to get their most prized possessions out of here, when they need to go. And it's one of those things that we add compassion to it by going above and beyond to, to just do the simple, logical, compassionate thing for folks that we don't just want to come in here as jackbooted thugs and take things away from people.”

ACLU distributed leaflets indicated what the rights are for the unsheltered being asked to move.

Proper Notifications?

Humbert insisted both written and verbal notifications were given repeatedly, as well as indications of possible resources. “We have our outreach teams come out here and offer those services, explain where people can go both temporarily and try to find long term services. So there is no doubt and no confusion for folks who are down here that actions like this are coming,” he said.

”There's a lot of chatter within the community as well to let people know, because we want to make sure that there's no confusion, that there's no gotcha. That there's no inhumane way of just grabbing people's things. We want to give people the opportunity to know what's happening and what's coming.”

We asked where these displaced people should go next? “Well, it's a combination of being in the community and hopefully that they take us up on the offer to enjoy some of the resources that we have, to take those opportunities for the Community Assistance Center…. Things like The Village on Sage street, other different opportunities that are there. But one of the most disheartening things is that when our mobile outreach, safety and street teams come out here and you know, offer all this data about where people can go and the different options that they need, whether it is a drug treatment services, whether it is just simply cleaning up, unfortunately very few people take us up on that offer.”

Resistance to Help

”I was told even just a short while ago that nobody took us up on the services, whether it is a charity group in the faith-based community, whether it is County resources, the assistance center, we're holding out the hand,” Humbert said of people not wanting the aid that is being offered. “We want people to grab it and come with us. And it's really challenging when they don't. And I think that's one of our biggest challenges right now because there's the perception that we don't have the resources, that there isn't enough and while it's strained and it's at capacity, sometimes there are still options, but folks have to come along with us and participate in it. And it's tough when we're told no.”

“I mean, they're going to have to try to find some place where they can legally be at, whether it is with other family members or friends… We want to make sure that if we're moving people out that there is some place to go. But that's exactly the point is that folks aren't taking that offer. And so if people are intentionally choosing this lifestyle, what can we do?” Humbert said when asked where people should go with shelters being full.

No Arrests but Possessions Trashed

“We can't lock these folks up. We can't arrest them… And it is, it is really challenging to see what we have to do out here when we've got our citizens doing everything they can just to survive. But there is, I mean, it's no joke on this paper that we hand out and explain to people there is hope, but you've got to be able to come with us and be a part of it because we want to,” Humbert explained of the city’s current approach.

”In many cases we say, we've got cleanups coming. If you don't want it, if you can't carry it, it'll be disposed of,” he said of possessions. “And I've asked of our staff very specific questions to say, alright, if folks say, well I need that still, but I can't move it out of here, you need to keep an eye on it and move it to a location that is an available option. But again, no one's taken us up on that offer. We know that a lot of other jurisdictions proactively do that. But because of safety reasons and the notification procedure, that's not necessarily a burden that needs to happen given the way that we have it set up. It's available, but no one takes us up on the offer. “

“A lot of folks say that the government doesn't do enough. A lot of people say that the government does too much and gets in the role of people's lives, but seeing city government in action like this with compassion, with humanity, but also with reality I think is one of the most interesting things and important things for us. Because as a city we have a duty not only to the people who are concerned about this activity in their neighborhoods or businesses who are concerned about this just feet away from where they're working every day in their livelihoods but we also have a duty to the folks who've lived here that it isn't just faceless folks and just the homeless. These are our citizens too. These are our people and our residents and we need to treat them with respect just as we do everything everyone else. And that's always not a lot of people are, well not enough people maybe perceive it that way. And I think that our city government on our police department has really taken that to heart to say, we're here to give people every opportunity that we can within the bounds of budget constraints, the law and everything else that we want to help every single person out here. We truly, truly do. It's just so difficult,” Humbert said.

Are We Just Pushing Problem Around?

“I think that there's some reality to that, but the question is what are the other alternatives if we have some of these resources and start focusing on the individual shelter option, take a look at the possibility of a space that is specifically for residents like this,” Humbert said when asked if the City of Reno was just pushing the problem around. “If people don't take us up on those offers, it's really tough to make progress and we continue to identify where folks are going. We're having [results from] a point in time count that's going be coming out in April. And that'll give us a lot of hard data of what resources are needed, who are out there, how our homeless population is changing. So we'll be able to work off of that too. We don't want it to feel like we're just shuffling people around and chasing them around the city. But we hope that with actions like this, there's a learning lesson for all of us…. This lifestyle is simply not going to work anymore here, that it's just not sustainable for them, for us or for residents and businesses.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Moriah, Forced Away from Train Tracks in Downtown Reno

Moving Day

As day broke on March 4th, Moriah, 19, was forced to pick up her belongings and move, as police went up and down the train tracks where she has been living and sleeping recently. She was told she would get a citation if she didn’t leave ahead of a planned cleanup later in the day, even though she says she didn’t get a required 24-hour notice.

The Sacramento native has been living in Reno for the past four years, and admits her living conditions on the train tracks weren’t ideal, but that she had no other options left.

“I'm frustrated. I'm stressed,” she said. “This is really stressful and a lot of us, specifically because this is our home. We build our home around us, you know? No, it's not the most hygienic at times, but that's because we don't have indoor plumbing, cooking, you know, stuff like that. So it's really frustrating because, well, they basically uplift us from where we're at, after we've gotten comfortable. And I've been here since November. “

Many said they didn’t get the above notice of the planned cleanup. Moriah said a previous spot she was staying at along the Truckee River was bulldozed down, with their belongings thrown away. Many said verbal notices for today’s cleanup did take place yesterday. The main Reno shelter is full with a waiting list, leaving fewer and fewer options to those without shelter.

No Place to Hide

“We want a place where we can go and be comfortable and have it our own place,” Moriah said. “So then we're not having to, you know, move around once a week, twice a week, you know, it's really frustrating. Reno in general treat the [homeless], like we're the lowest, like we're the bottom of the scale. Not all homeless are drug addicts. Not all are addicted to anything. I'm actually one of a few actually sober people out here, so I'm not dealing with that addiction,” she said.

Moriah says many of the homeless are former foster kids like herself or Veterans trying not to bother others.

Plenty of Reno police were out in force this morning along the train tracks. They didn’t help people move, just told them they needed to go as cleanup crews were on their way. Photo by Scott King.

Avoiding Shelters

“A lot of foster kids actually live out here because they [don’t] have the skills necessary to become participating members of society. Most homeless like the older homeless that you see, those are normally Veterans, people who've served for us. And this is how we treat them like utter garbage. Most of the tents that you see out under the side of the road or in places like this, we're trying to be out of sight, out of mind. So then the normal public won't see us. Some of us try and maintain the appearance that we're not homeless, you know? Yeah, I live in a tent, but I'm making the best of what I have… They've done it because they don't want Reno being seen as a homeless city. They want it to be this perfect little shiny place. And there's homeless everywhere, in a lot of places. You know, you'll see them with a lot of shopping carts. Some of us try not to have those shopping carts. “

ACLU also circulated handouts reminding the unsheltered of their rights.

Hardships of Being Unsheltered

“You don't have the ability to do laundry,” Moriah explained of the many difficulties of being on the streets permanently. “When it rains and snows out here, clothes get ruined. Everything gets ruined because there is no way to actually protect it.”

Like many others, Moriah doesn’t like shelters any more though, saying they are unsafe, and rampant with bedbugs and people with illnesses sleeping next to you. “And on top of that, they don't have enough space. They really don't,” she said.

She goes to food banks or St. Vincent’s for meals, but that sometimes means getting some of her possessions stolen. Instead of a cleanup, she would like to see help, such as people passing out socks, hand sanitizers and trash bags.

Cleanup crews arrived a few hours after day broke and the police’s early morning arrival.

Reporting by Lucia Starbuck

In the Shadow of the Believe Sculpture, Struggling to Find Faith in Reno’s Future

As Reno Changes, Many of Its Residents Feel Left Behind

The shadow of Reno’s famous BELIEVE sculpture hovers over Bill O’Keefe and Jaime Layman, a married couple of nine years.  Looking up at the Burning Man art, its letters beginning to rust over, Bill and Jaime struggle to follow its message.  Belief in Reno is difficult for those who have been left behind during the city’s current change.

Reno’s city government has proudly announced its “rebranding” over the past decade.  A website for downtown Reno boasts about the “downtown makeover” the city is experiencing. The website invites families to experience the “rejuvenated community”.  Worn down apartment buildings and motels have been torn apart to make room for high-rise apartments, pricey hotels, and expensive bars. Lost in the fray are struggling couples like Bill and Jaime who feel they have no place in the “new” Reno.

The block letter sculpture spanning 70 feet is located at the corner of First Street and Virginia Street, where the historic Mapes Hotel used to be, before its destruction in 2000. The spot was then used for a while for ice skating during the winter, and is now a favorite area for skateboarders and tourists taking photos.

 A Steady Paycheck With Little to Show For It

Jaime, a Carson City native, and Bill, who moved to the area in 1983, have seen the city change firsthand.  They’re more than just observers, the couple have felt the sting of skyrocketing rents and disappearing opportunities to find subsidized housing. 

“We have so many homeless people”, Jaime says, though she points out that it’s not for lack of effort or hard work. “A lot of people [work] and get checks”, she explains, “but they can’t afford the rent.”

Bill says he’s talked to city leadership about the growing problem.  “I asked [them], ‘what are you going to do about all the people that are getting displaced?’ and you know what I heard?  ‘We’re working on it”, he says. “I talked to [them] three years ago…You know what I’ve seen? Not a f—king thing. [The sculpture] don’t make me believe in them.”

Bill and Jaime know the struggle as well as anybody; Bill gets a steady paycheck but doesn’t bring enough money home to afford stable housing: “We’re on a fixed income but they got rid of all the housing.  The cheap housing [is gone], and the wages have not caught up”, he says. With no other options and no affordable housing, Bill and Jaime make do with whatever they can to survive. “We stay in a tent”, Jaime says, “we can’t afford anything else.”

Crackers for Lunch, Crackers for Dinner

“I [can’t] get a paycheck because of my seizures,” Jaime explains.  Additionally, she often cannot move around without a wheelchair, leaving her unable to work and unable to pay for medical treatment that could help her get healthy enough to find a job. 

While she receives money from food stamps, the maximum EBT benefit for a single person is $194 a month.  It’s far too low to adequately feed them both. “I get stamps, [Bill doesn’t] because of his check,” Jaime says.  Food assistance is available for low income workers, but Bill is ineligible. “I make one dollar too much [to get stamps] …one dollar”, he says.

Crackers, chicken jerky, and Sriracha sit between them on their blanket; these small snacks make up many of their meals. Bill takes a moment and gathers his thoughts.  “We can’t even afford food,” he begins. Looking up at the statue above them, he continues, “that kind of thing, you know, [not being able to afford food] …it makes it harder to believe.  It brings you down.”

Reporting and Photography by Luke Keck shared with Our Town Reno

Joseph Luis Castillo: Houseless for the First Time Despite Having Multiple Jobs

Pros and Cons of the Overflow Shelter

Joseph Castillo said he’s the most Capricorn man you’ve ever met. He says he’s logical, practical and grounded, referring to the tenth astrological sign in the zodiac. He recently turned 29 and moved to Reno from the San Francisco area about a year and a half ago.

“I originally came up this way because my fiance wanted to and at the time it kind of sounded like a good decision. Prices in California were inflating. It's like $3,000 a month for a studio apartment in San Francisco. So [we] came out here and found out that it'll be a lot cheaper, kind of chose to stick around,” Castillo said.

Castillo is currently staying at the overflow shelter. He said the pros are heating, bottled water and helpful staff. He also said the staff are willing to work with individuals who have jobs. But those who are unemployed are outside for a majority of the day.

“If you don't have work, you know, if you're not the type of person to look for work, you can be trapped outside from about like 6:00 am until 9:00 pm. Given all the elements and everything else, some people are prone to getting sick,” Castillo said.

A Google view of the overflow shelter on Washington st. which opens its doors late, and forces people out early. Castillo explained that if you sleep here but you don’t have a job on a given day, you have to figure out what to do on the streets before sunrise.

Multiple Jobs But Not Enough to Afford a Place to Stay

Castillo says he currently works as an EVS porter for Club Cal Neva, performing heavy cleaning duties. He said he also does side work through temp agencies. He said he spends a lot of time reflecting.

“Well for starters, find a well enough paying job that I actually like, that I'm comfortable with, keep that going for awhile,” he said of his goals. “Slowly start building, whether it's a house or an apartment or something else, instead of staying in the same predicament,” Castillo said.

Castillo said he’s prepping to work at Tesla as a production worker. He said he’s also working on getting his Mine Safety and Health Administration certification in order to get into mining. 

“I'm not too nostalgic, but I'm a bit of a worrywart and it's because I like to have a game plan,” Castillo said.

Reporting by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Angela Gets Robbed and Harassed in Reno, After Walking Here from California

Robbed at a Motel and the Shelter and Terrified of Colder Weather

Shortly after arriving, however, the setbacks started coming. During the first month she was staying at the Wonder Lodge motel in Reno, when she says she was robbed. "Someone came in the door and took everything we had," Angela said. "[At the time] I was out looking for a job."

After the robbery, she started staying at the downtown shelter on Record St. At the time she was still able to live off her disability checks, that is until, she says her Social Security card, ID and birth certificate were stolen from her as well.

"It's been difficult because I get money, so I shouldn't be out here," Angela said of living without stable shelter. "But I can't touch it [now]. I can't even get an ID here without a birth certificate."

When we met her, Angela had been staying at the Barbara Bennett park while waiting to receive her new Social Security Card. Once she gets her card, however, she says it will take another six weeks before she can get another birth certificate.

The Barbara Bennett park has convenient trees for shade and to hide, as well as nearby restrooms.

Rocks Thrown at Her

Since having to live on the street, Angela says she's been disappointed with how she's been treated. A few times while she's been sleeping, she says people have thrown rocks at her and even tried to set her on fire. The harassment, name-calling, and judgement she's received has led her to question human nature.

"Just because of the way I look doesn't mean you should judge," she said. "Because I'd give anything for someone else, [respect] should just be human nature and it's not in a lot of people and it's upsetting."

Of all the things she needs, what Angela would like most right now is a warm, private shower.

"It gets cold jumping in that river," she said. 

Since she started staying at Bennett Park, Angela has found some refuge with others there. Although she admits to being shy, she's appreciated the camaraderie and advice she's gotten.

Besides receiving recommendations on areas to check out such as parks, cemeteries, and spots near the river, she's also been told not to trust anybody.

"That's what everybody tells me. Don't trust even yourself, which is actually pretty interesting to think about,” she said.

An avid reader, Angela recently finished the book Accident by Danielle Steel. It's a story about a woman whose teenage daughter was involved in a car accident while at the same time she discovers that her husband has been cheating on her.

Reading to Pass the Time and Learning Valuable Lessons

In the book Angela was reading when we met her, the main character, a woman, meets someone in the hospital who helps her deal with all her trauma

"The stress of it all [for the main character]," Angela said. "But having someone to communicate it to that has no judgment. It's really cool [to see.]"

By understanding other people's plight without passing judgment, Angela hopes people can be empathetic to her own current reality. 

"Some of us didn't choose to be here," she said. “But we're here and we're dealing with it, you know, it's all we can do."

Despite the setbacks of the past several months, Angela remains focused on her goals for the future. 

"[My motivation] is having four kids that I can't see until they're eighteen," Angela said. "One day I'm going to grow up and be a part of their life. I made my choices, I lost them. I'm making my choices now and I'm dealing with them. One day I'm going to [be] with them. I want to be a grandma, I want to see my kids."

Reporting and Photography by Scott King and Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Alanna, Thinking of Getting Married but Facing Obstacles on the Streets

An Arduous Bus Ride to Nevada

Alanna Farrar and her partner traveled by bus to Nevada to get married, but their plans turned south after getting left behind at multiple stops and then getting hit by a car upon arriving in Reno. Farrar is from Galena, Kansas, a city that borders Missouri. 

“I have two boys. I lost my job, my house, my car. My kids had to go live with their dad,” she said of her difficult predicament. “So that's how I became homeless. We don't really want to go back there, but we would rather be somewhere else than here and hopefully warmer.”

Farrar and her boyfriend got to Reno in October by Greyhound bus. But it wasn’t an easy journey. 

“Maybe because we're homeless,” Farrar said.

Farrar said at one stop which they thought would be a 30-minute break, the bus left after ten minutes, and their belongings were on board. She says they never got their stuff back. After getting another bus ticket and getting back on route to Reno, the two were kicked off the bus again on their way to the Biggest Little City. 

“We had a couple of beers before our trip. Can't drink on the bus or trip but it's [nerve wracking] when you first get on there with all them people, just like some people don't like airplanes. So, we had a couple of beers with our lunch, go get on the bus and they kicked us off. We're not drinking on the bus. We had to sleep outside and get a bus ride the next day,” Farrar said.

"We decided to move away from my home, start our own new life,” Farrar said and picked Reno where her boyfriend used to live six years ago. But they found out it isn’t as affordable as they hoped. “The rent is a lot more expensive now than when he was here so we've not been able to get into a place.”

Marriage Plans Put on Hold

Farrar said the couple also wanted to get married in Reno but health issues have become the priority. After living in Reno for a little over a month, on November 12, Farrar says she was hit by an SUV on the intersection of 2nd street and Keystone. 

This put Farrar in the hospital for over two weeks. She was even there during her birthday which was on November 18. She said her leg is broken and she had to receive facial surgery twice. She said she lost her glasses and phone after getting hit and is in the process of replacing those items. She’s using a wheelchair to get around, which makes the couple’s daily activities difficult.

The couple still intends on getting married but they don’t want to stay in Reno much longer. "I just don't like the big city, and especially now. My hometown has one stoplight,” Farrar said. Photo by Scott King

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Mission 58, Giving a Helping Hand to a "Legit Community"

Not a Solo Effort

The recent Reno Hope Bus block party wasn’t a solo endeavor. Community help was crucial, to make it as big as possible, which is why the local church-based Mission 58 outreach group stepped up to the plate to serve hot food.

Members of the Mission 58 group, aligned with the North Valleys Higher Vision Church, passed out prepared food, chips, cookies, snacks and water bottles.

“I think that a lot of the homeless are actually looked down upon. They're looked as they're less than anyone else. That sits really hard with us on our hearts,” Jason Lane, the Mission 58 outreach coordinator said. 

Mission 58 is named after Isaiah 58, a verse which reads in part:

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear ….

Mission 58 says it strives to help kids in the foster care system, people with substance abuse and those dealing with mental illness. 

“There's so many lost people that have felt like society has left them behind and we feel like that through God's word and through God's will we want to recreate relationships with them and make them feel like they're needed and wanted,” Lane said.

The block party had food, haircuts, games and an overall joyous atmosphere.

Looking to City Officials for Assistance and Trying to Change Perceptions of Religion

Jonathan Fountain, the lead pastor of Higher Vision Church, also volunteered at the block party. He said he thought the event could use more help from city officials and other kinds of outreach services. 

“I do think it would be better if maybe we could have some people from our city, our local officials, that could come and actually start partnering with us,” he said. “ We meet people who are mentally ill. I met a lady today who really wants some help and I wish I had somebody here I could literally just hand her off to and go, 'Here's this person who works for this place,' our tax dollars are already going to it and we believe in that,” Fountain said.

Fountain also hopes that the work Mission 58 is doing changes the stigma surrounding religion.

“We're not here to yell at people about what we're against. I think that's kind of the old religion part of our country. But at the end of the day, it's not a good representation of really who Jesus is. He's not that way. We're just actively trying to also help that message, to help people see that that's really not what the church is all about,” Fountain said.

When Fountain was 20 years old, he says he was houseless himself. He said he found hope and purpose after receiving Jesus as his savior and now he wants to do the same for other people.

“What people sometimes I think fail to look at when it comes to the homelessness, they look at it as, 'Well, they're just homeless.' But what people don't realize: it's a community. It is a community, legit community, within our communities. It's one that a lot of communities don't want to refer to as a community, but it is,” Fountain said.

Reporting and Photography by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Malik Muhammad, Looking to Rebound after Being Caught with Drugs

Finding Hope in Religion and Helping Others

Despite his current circumstances, Malik Muhammad says he is choosing to look forward.

He cites his children and God as his reasons for getting up every morning. He believes that revisiting one’s spiritual side is the key to being empathetic to others’ suffering and that figures such as Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Buddha provide a standard for us to follow.

The Oakland native says he also finds motivation from the services the shelter provides.

“They have a program right now that I understand if you bring them two or three paychecks, they'll help you move into a new apartment. That's motivation within itself,” he said.

Muhammad says he also tries to look after young people he finds on the streets, like a 15-year-old he says he once found selling drugs.

"I told him, ‘Hey man, that dope stuff will mess your life up buddy. You'll be on the curb with three or four felonies. You can still be blessed even with felonies, but we all know it’s best not to have them. You can land a better job.’”

“I noticed they have those Ambassadors out here,” Muhammad said. “[They] help people with directions and stuff but they also check on people and I think that's a pretty good thing.”

Grateful for Ambassadors

To Muhammad, the downtown Reno Ambassador program exemplifies the caring nature of Reno. Ultimately, he states, it’s up to the individual to take advantage of the resources provided by Reno to those in need. 

“A lot of cities and places don't have people walking around, trying to see if somebody that is knocked out, dead, or on the side of the road [is okay],” he said.

If you’d like to share your story and your views on Reno or give us tips for story ideas, feel free to drop in on a Monday morning at the downtown library and take part in our community newsroom.

Reporting by Scott King as part of the Our Town Reno Share Your Story Community Newsroom

Leanne Duey, Counted During Today's Point in Time Count

Losing Stable Shelter

“No matter how bad it gets, you don't give up, you don't commit suicide, you don't get in your car and cry,” Duey told us today. “You take stock in it, you call a friend, you have a minute with yourself, you count to 10, you don't have a drink. There's a lot of things that Reno has taught me on this experience. To trust my own instincts and to trust what my mom and dad gave me: that is to love myself very much and put myself first, always. Then I can share that with others,” Duey said.

Today, the yearly Point-in-Time count occurred at the Record Street shelter at 4 am. At 7 am, the shelter was still bustling with people. Leanne Duey, 59, has lived in Reno since 2017 and says this is the fourth time she’s been houseless.

"Technically the campus here now is my home for a time, a short while. The Catholic services here have been so, so, so lovely and fabulous and I just like to give love wherever they're offering to help us," Duey said.

The Point in Time offers statistics on overall homeless populations, but methods employed are criticized by some for not being accurate. Example here: https://www.schoolhouseconnection.org/the-pitfalls-of-huds-point-in-time-count/

Becoming Houseless Again in December after a Terrible Day

On Dec. 8, Duey says she got evicted, lost her job and got in a huge fight with her husband all in one day. Later in that same day, she got in her Hyundai, named Olivia, and got in a car accident. She said she made a left turn and the steering wheel locked, which resulted in someone hitting her head on. She said her car is now in the junk yard. Since the accident, Duey has been houseless but she said it isn’t an unfamiliar feeling.

“I was raised dirt poor on a farm in Tacoma by my parents and they were older. You have to want it, you have to want to get out of here and if you want it, that's cool,” Duey said.

Duey said she loves Reno and hopes to live here a lot longer. She said she’s met a lot of amazing women in the shelter, but that some have extremely horrific stories. 

“It's very dangerous. When you're out on the streets like this, you have to give a presence of confidence and you have to look people in the eye. You have to be kind, but you have to keep your back. You can't show any money here. You can't tell anybody what you have. If you're cool, then they're cool. The ones that aren't cool, you stay far away from them. I just pray a lot when I'm walking around. I believe that the Lord is always helping me since my accident and I believe that I'm here for a reason and I don't think the Lord is going to let anything happen to me. I was dropped into an unkind world and my personality is some kind of a funny light, I guess you would say. So that's what keeps me going and keeps me safe here,” Duey said.

In the past, Duey has done work such as guest service, food and beverage, bartending and banqueting. She says she used to be the banquet captain at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino and she’s also worked at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, Peppermill Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino. She hopes to get back on her feet and return to this kind of work.

“You have to stay away from the bad things like drugs and alcohol and you just got to want it,” Duey said. Duey says she recently passed her one year anniversary of being sober. In the future she hopes to start her own business and meet television talk show host Dr. Phil.

Reporting and Photo by Lucia Starbuck for Our Town Reno

Desiree Fenner, Helping with the Hope Bus and Finding Her Mom

Reconnecting With A Family Member Living on the Streets

The sound of music and smoke from a grill recently floated through the air on E. 4th Street. A social media famous bus was parked with pink letters that read, “Reno Hope Bus.” The inside of the bus was stuffed with coats, flannels and supplies. There were tables propped up to allow folks to share meals together too. The Reno Hope Bus sprung up about two months ago, with the goal of helping those living on the streets.

Reno native Desiree Fenner helped make the Reno Hope Bus become a reality with her partner, Tim Doss. Fenner called the bus a dream finally coming true.

“I learned that Reno is an amazing community. Unfortunately, people put so much negative out there. So, to finally see that there are so many good people here, it's amazing,” Fenner said.

While there were many laughs and smiles at the scene, Fenner was tearing up after she saw her mom who is houseless herself.

“I've been looking for my mom for probably, I don't know how long to be honest, it's been a while. My mom is mentally ill and unfortunately there's not enough help here in Reno for people like my mom. We need more help. We need to let them know that we care… They don't have to live in these tents and there's stuff out there for them,” Fenner said.

Fenner says she felt joy when she found her mom after worrying about her for a long time. “I hate to say it, but sometimes I don't know if my mom's alive or not. So just glad to see her alive,” Fenner said.

“People are so quick to judge that [houseless] people do it to themselves, they're alcoholics or drug addicts or whatever the case may be. But everybody has a story. I think that we need to learn everybody's story. We need to know what their story is to know how we can help them. We know that we have the people that do drink or that do do drugs, but then we do have people like my mom who are mentally ill, you know. So, I think we really need to start trying better at learning what we can do to help each person,” Fenner said. The Reno Hope Bus and other organizations hope to organize block parties every Saturday from 9 am to noon in the same spot, on 903 E 4th street.

Photos and Reporting by Lucia Starbuck

Derrick Pillors, Smiling Through Increasingly Uncertain Times

Hoping to Renew His Social Security, Waiting for the Overflow

Like many on the streets, for Derrick Pillors, who used to work steady jobs before his life got derailed, preoccupations are both macro — how will I get income again? — and micro — where will I sleep tonight?

Pillors says he also recently stopped getting his Social Security check. He says a stop payment was put on his check recently because government agencies didn’t have an address for him anymore. Now, he’s in a waiting period trying to get those payments back.

“Right now my goal is just to get my check and my other goal right now is to wait until 9:00 p.m. for the overflow [shelter to open] and get a good night’s sleep.” 

When we met him, Pillors had just recently started staying at a shelter again, something he’s been reluctant to do after his past experiences there. 

“I have gotten bronchitis twice and pneumonia once [there],” Pillors said. “So that’s why I’m a little bit weary of the shelter. I almost died when I went in there with all those germs man, it’s crazy.”

Pillors says he’s still trying to find work where he can. In the past, he says he’s worked for Street Vibrations and he remembers they had paid him pretty well. This past summer, he says he was looking for the same former employer and finally found him during Reno’s Garlic Festival.

“I walked from tent to tent [every day] and I didn’t see him until the last night when they were cleaning up,” Pillors said, shaking his head. “He was nice enough to help me out with ten bucks or something, you know, but that could have easily been a $200 plus week for me.” 

For those who say the homeless should just get a job, Pillors says it’s not always that easy, even if unemployment is low right now.

“It’s hard to work and not have a place to stay,” he said. “It’s tough. But maybe I can try and kick it in gear and work out a little schedule as work coincides with me [staying] at the overflow.”

Pillors says he believes hotels and casinos in Reno could do a little more to give back to the homeless population, given their role in the community.

Ideas for Reno, Including a Big Building and Regular Barbecue

In the meantime, Pillors says he would like to see projects big and small put in place for the homeless population in Reno. One project he affectionately refers to as his “Club Men’s Shelter.” This new shelter would be fully furnished with a gymnasium, swimming pool, and weights.

“I don’t understand why [the city] don’t just make a really big building with enough room for everybody to come in off the street,” Pillors said. “I would make the shelter livable, but at the same time people would realize they’re not here to live. They’re passing through to get their situation better and move on to make room for the next guy coming by.”

“I’d also like to see a big barbecue for the homeless people [considering] all the money and revenue that is lost in gambling,” Pillors said of something casinos and downtown hotels could do to give back. “I know these hotels, instead of just once at Christmas and Thanksgiving, maybe every two months or something just have a big barbecue for the little guys that made your establishment what they are today.”
Pillors says he doesn’t blame others for his plight, and that he turns to religion to keep his confidence.

“It’s tough [being on the street] man, it’s a tough grind,” Pillors said. “But I respect law enforcement and I respect the law. I respect Reno, as a city. I think it’s a great city with a lot of opportunity, actually, I just have to take more advantage of things.” 

When asked what his motivation is moving forward through his recent hardships, his answer was quite simple: “Honestly, I have to say my Heavenly Father. That’s my one and only answer to that,” Pillors said. “[With] the opportunity that each day presents, good things can happen in His name everyday.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Daniel, Getting His ID Stolen, and Jailed for Sitting, Among Many Tribulations

Burying Important Items

Since Daniel has been living on the streets, he says he’s learned to keep one eye open so that nothing gets stolen. He’s learned to take extra precautions, going as far as even burying important items while he sleeps. But getting his ID back now, he says, is the first step to finding proper housing to live in.

Working in construction for the past 14 years, he’s grateful he still has a job that keeps him somewhat afloat. At times, it allows him to not only look out for himself, but for others living on the streets as well.

“Thank goodness I have a trades skill that I learned and I have some college [experience],” Daniel said. “This past weekend, I had some cash and I’m always thinking, ‘Well what am I going to do? So I bought a couple of guys some clothes, I got another couple of guys a room.’”  

According to Daniel, looking out for other homeless people like that is part of the camaraderie among those on the streets. As a further example, with the help of a friend Daniel was recently able to arrange a hotel room. Around that time, he met a homeless woman who didn’t have any money, food, or a place to stay. Consequently, after sharing a meal she helped him go shopping, something he doesn’t typically like to do, and he bought a few things for her as well. Later on, he let her stay at the hotel so that they could both relax and get proper sleep.

 “As soon as she was comfortable, she just slept,” Daniel said. “And it’s because you know that you're actually safe, with your Gatorade, beer, or whatever your little comfort is and actually let your guard down [that you can sleep]. So I just kind of let her sleep and watched the TV real low.” 

Even though they were complete strangers, it’s the respect that comes with looking out for each other that Daniel appreciates.

“Even though you’re a stranger and I don't even know you, I love you anyways,” Daniel said. “I still have that protective bond. So if I ever see her again, it's going to pick up just like that and she was the same way with me. [There’s] that level of respect because when my eyes were closed, she was up. And that's, that's just kinda how it goes unspoken though, you know?”

Daniel says sometimes the help he provides bites him back, but he says he forgives others who are in need.

Burned by Generosity but Given New Chances Himself

That’s not to say that the people you help won’t take advantage of your generosity, however, he says. As while his guard was down, he says, she took a few things of his.

“You know, the devil brings a bone to your door, the devil brings one away,” Daniel said. “You have to learn how to survive one way or another. I knew she took from me and stuff like that when my guard was down. But I wasn't going to call her out on it because I know you’re just doing it because you don't know that I would've gave it to you anyways.”

Despite the times his generosity is taken advantage of, Daniel still finds room to understand and forgive. 

“If you're gonna use the word love, you got to understand the meaning of it,” Daniel said. “They say when you become precious to God, you become important to the devil. I might not condone what you do, support what you're doing, or encourage you to do some of the things you do, but I'm going to love you regardless of what you do.”

For Daniel, spreading generosity is just one way he can pay forward what he’s received from his boss at his construction job.

“He was just like you're a good worker and I believe in second chances,” Daniel said. “So I just show up on time and do my job.”

Daniel’s second chance comes after spending five months in jail for trespassing on casino property. He had been walking all day and just needed a place to sit.

“I’m 34 years old and have never been in trouble, but I got put in jail for sitting in a dirt parking lot,” Daniel said. “It wasn't even the casinos, it was their overflow lot and there weren’t any signs or nothing.”

When he refused to move from the dirt lot, he was put in jail. Before he could post bond, however, his attorney had him undergo a competency hearing. But during the hearing, he says he got in an argument over an improper schizophrenia diagnosis, which landed him in a maximum security mental ward for the next five weeks.

“They look at me [when I got there], and they're like, ‘Oh, you're not going to be here a long time,’” Daniel said. “It felt so good to hear that because it's about as bad as you can imagine it [inside]. Thank goodness I wasn't on pills or nothing like that.”

Learning from the Mental Ward and Previous Homelessness

During his brief stint at the mental ward, Daniel was able to track down a doctor who recognized he didn’t belong there. Yet, the process for him to get out still took five weeks.  

“[Five weeks] may not seem like a long time, but it is in a maximum security mental ward for the criminally insane,” Daniel said, referencing an inmate he met that was in for a double murder. “I mean, I'm not saying everybody in there is bad, but I’m just saying that there's two different kinds of crazy. I just have a mouth on me.”

Now that Daniel is back on his feet with his job, he hopes to find some housing in Reno. It’s not the first time he’s been homeless, however, having learned from a brief homeless stint in LA. At the time he was a part-time student while also working in construction part-time. 

“I got denied housing, food stamps, and all that because I was a part time student,” Daniel said. “But if I kept my job and dropped the student, then I would get food stamps.” 

So Daniel dropped out of his studies, which was the reason he went down to LA to begin with. It’s through experiences like this that he learned it’s the people that understand the loopholes of the system that benefit the most. Oftentimes, it even comes down to certain strategies on how one fills out certain application forms, he says, something Daniel doesn’t have time to do while he’s working construction. 

“We're up at six o'clock and work until two or three on the days we get picked,” Daniel said. “I need the help a lot more than some, but I don't always know what they want [on the forms]. I have never taken the time to be like, ‘So what am I supposed to say to these ones?’”

Meanwhile, it’s the people he works with as well as those in the city of Reno that keeps him going everyday.

“That's one thing about Reno, too,” Daniel said. “I always say it's just a bunch of small town people in a city and [my] company is definitely like it. It takes a village to raise a kid and they're always eager to show you something if you want to learn and they're just great like that.”

Daniel likens the city of Reno to a black hole, for despite however established you might be elsewhere, there’s something about Reno that seems to draw you back in, he said. There’s a sense of joy that comes from the little victories he sees in people each day, too. 

“That's why I don't mind buying clothes for [other homeless], even though I probably could have got a room for a couple more nights,” Daniel said. “It's the right thing to do anyways. And there's nothing like fresh socks, you know what I mean? So we get some socks and underwear, a shirt that fits and it may only cost $28, but that's a big deal.”

To Daniel, it’s bringing joy to himself and to others that is ultimately what will matter at the end of it all.

“The Egyptians, right?” Daniel said. “In order to get into their heaven, you only had to answer truthfully to two questions: One was did you find joy in your life? The second one, was how did your life bring joy to others? Consider that in your day to day life. Would you be able to answer those two honestly?”

Daniel’s answer to that question was quite simple: “Absolutely, yeah.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Rudy Leon, the Renter's Candidate Pushing for "Attainable Housing" and Compassion

Rudy Leon, a scholarly book editor, two time burner and Midtown resident, who currently lives on about $30,000 per year, recently launched her campaign website RudyForReno. She says she is the one candidate who understands what it’s like to have most of her income go to her housing. She first moved to Reno in 2012, and moved back after taking a job elsewhere, and realizing the Biggest Little City was home. Leon will greet potential voters following the Women’s March Saturday, January 18th, at the downtown Events Center. In February she will be going to a smart growth conference in Arizona, to get new ideas for her campaign. She sat down this week with Our Town Reno for a one on one interview as she prepares to officially register in March and compete in the June primary, with victory as her objective in November. Note: Part of the interview was trimmed for conciseness and clarity.

Q: What would you like to see Reno’s city council pushing for in terms of making housing more accessible to our city’s residents?

There are two things that come to the top of my mind immediately. The first is … having some tenant protections. I have lived in a number of places and I've never lived someplace that had as few. I'm not sure we have any tenant protections…. So that's one thing they can do is start working on instituting some tenant protections and rent protective issues. The other thing is prioritizing the building of attainable housing. Most people think of it as affordable housing, but in government speak affordable housing is government funded, income capped housing like Section 8… We, the city can help facilitate the supply and demand imbalance so that housing can kind of normalize at the attainable level. 

The city also has a lot of vacant land that they own that has nothing built on it.  Something that I would like to see happen is a listing of what the city owns and what it intends for it and therefore what land it owns that it has no intention for and how that land can be used. Can those be safe parking places? Can those be places where we can put up tiny homes?

Q: Are there any particularities to Ward 3? Here in your neighborhood, we’ve seen gentrification affecting the Latino community. Any ideas of who your opponents will be and if they include the incumbent Oscar Delgado?

I mean, generally I feel like the housing crisis hits Ward 3 harder than anywhere else. It is the most diverse ward in the city and it is the least affluent ward in the city. If you can't afford to rent or buy in Ward 3, it's very challenging to rent or buy in, let's say Ward 5.

As far as I know, nobody has officially entered. The incumbent has not had an official launch party or an announcement about his running. There has been a lot of gossip back and forth, but I figure I'll find out on March 13th with everybody else, if council member Delgado is in the race or not. 

Q: How do you see Council member Delgado’s record generally with what you call attainable housing?

Well, he has a long history. I mean that's part of it and I think it actually makes me a little nervous. He came in very much to the left of where he is now. And I hope that I don't end up moving right. Lately in the three or four years that I've been paying close attention to the council, I have not been excited by the decisions that council member Delgado has made…

Ultimately though, the reason that I'm running isn't specifically because of any votes that any particular council member has made. I am not seeing the kinds of approaches to the problems that we need to take to solve them. We, everyone in Nevada, has a limited amount of money. We can't raise taxes. We can't do anything to increase what we have. So we have to come up with very innovative solutions that are fiscally responsible. And I am not seeing people approaching questions with that kind of creative thinking.

“The city can't spend our way to a solution,” Leon said of the overall homelessness and housing affordability crisis our community faces. “We simply cannot. We need to come up with policy solutions that prevent homelessness, that intervene before people lose their housing, on drug addiction, on mental health, on better jobs. I mean we need to start bringing in more jobs, better jobs. And I want to, I intend to work on that as part of what I will do.” She said recent and ongoing initiatives such as the 1,000 homes in 120 days, the Village on Sage Street or tiny homes projects are good initiatives, but that they should be made to move faster, for more people and at more price ranges.

Q: In terms of residents without any stable shelter, some activists are pushing for safe parking areas and safe campgrounds. What is your view on those possibilities?

The only problem I see with that is that our police force is the same size as it was in 2008 after the crash. So if we are really going to say that we're building safe spaces or that we're designating safe spaces, we have to commit to that safety and that means additional police presence. And I don't know, I just simply don't know if we have the presence to make that happen. Again, the money problem is a big problem.

But I was just reading an article where some neighbors in Oakland actually invited women to bring in their tents and build sort of a permanent tent community in the vacant lot around them and they're able to grow their own food and the neighbors take care of trash. They share their trash bins with the folks who are living in the tents and share some electricity and have bought solar lights and have done things that allow that community to be safe and also acknowledged...

I mean people have dignity and we have to respect that dignity and every solution we go for has got to come from the heart. I feel like we often lack compassion, that that is not our first priority, that we need to treat people that way in actuality, not just intention, like they matter. 

Q: There is also a big plan to move women and children away from the main downtown shelter to the Galletti Way area in Sparks. Meanwhile, we are seeing tent encampments forcibly removed from the river and parks. Is all this movement a good idea?

It's on my list of things I have to look into. But folks live where they live for reasons that they choose. Whether those are tents or shelters. And when you start sending women to Sparks and families to Sparks, how are they getting there? How are they getting back to their partners who are in the men's shelter? How are they negotiating that spatial differential? That just seems to be a problem that we don't look at.

Folks choose to camp where they are for reasons. And if we want to, if we as a city want to exert control over where those places are, we have to identify why people are choosing to camp where they camp and make sure that those services are available where we think is more appropriate for people to be. Because if we don't do that, there's no way, I mean not even seeing how the rightness or wrongness of relocating people, but if we want to affect anything, any control over that, we have to know what is leading people to sleep where they sleep.

And the new Sparks shelter, it's a worry to me that that may not succeed because of not being aware of those reasons. And we need that to succeed. We're putting a lot of resources into it. 

Leon has adorned her rental with political signs on many windows. She says she was spurred to get into politics herself after the last big election cycle of 2016. “I tend to be a fixer, not in the Paul Manafort sense, but in the sense of I want to fix things. I can't give up on something until I've tried to fix it. And I was very upset about the election, so I got involved with the Democratic Party to try and fix it. And so it was directly because of the political environment changing that I started watching what was happening with city council and I've lobbied the legislature and this is a town where you can make a difference, where anybody can make a difference. And that empowered me to think that, you know, I have a lot of things to offer. I've managed massive budgets, I've managed people, I've managed new programs and services as a career, as a librarian. I meet with a group of people, figure out what their needs are and then with the limited resources we have available, try and meet them. That's kind of how I see city council.”

Q: You are also a burner, having gone twice. Are you a tapping into Burning Man ideas or the local Burning Man community as part of this campaign? 

I don’t how you can run in Reno and not tap into the Burning Man community. I think that so much of Reno, especially when you're talking about creative approaches, so much of that is the Burning Man community.

I have plenty of friends who go to Burning Man… You know, whether or not they choose to support me is entirely up to them as is anybody else's decision to support me or not.

The things that draw me to Burning Man are a lot of the same things that draw me to Reno and trying to fix things. The principles of Burning Man … how do you bring that home, how do you bring that week home?  I'm not good with the heat, so I really prefer the bring it home part. The party in the desert is fine, but I can't really take it for long. So that creativity, that energy, those approaches to solving things, together, I think a lot of that just informs who I am and how I approach things.

Q: Are there other big issues dear to your heart and important to address as you prepare to go in full campaign mode?

I mean, a big part of why I'm running are all of the issues around housing and homelessness.

But I have over the past year become gravely concerned about law enforcement’s understanding of sexual violence. We need to work to make sure that training is done. We need to figure out why so few rape cases, rape reports, make it to court and where the roadblocks are along the way and get those out of the way.

The other piece that is really important to me is that we need to bring in more jobs and better jobs. I mean, the legislature has worked for several years to bring in really fantastic $15 an hour jobs, which now we're saying that $15 an hour should be the minimum wage. So we need to now be working on that next stage.

How do we bring in a more professional jobs when folks bring in their warehousing and logistics and data center jobs? They're keeping their management elsewhere and we need to work to make sure that we are bringing those jobs here as well.

The Our Town Reno Interview with Rudy Leon was conducted on January 13, 2020. A podcast version of this interview will soon be available on the Biggest Little Streets podcast.

Michelle, An Opportunity to "Exhale" at the Village on Sage Street

Facing a Job Loss, Medical Problems and Racist Reno Landlords

Michelle, a 60-year-old from Las Vegas, came into hard times in 2007, having been diagnosed with a previously undetected neurological birth defect, after having worked as a family law paralegal for four decades.

It also coincided with her arrival in Reno, where her daughter was settling down. “My daughter came here to go to college. The market economy died. I was on the verge of losing my house. I had lost my job. I was experiencing medical issues, and my daughter said ‘why don’t you come here?’”

Michelle had brain surgery, but was no longer able to work and instead started to receive disability payments. But with rising rents, that money, about $1,200 a month, started to stretch thinner.

“My daughter has been in the same place for 11 years and I’ve been in five different places. I also ran into a very racist land management company who took over the apartment that I was living in… They refused to renew my lease even though there was no reason. This is a thing in Nevada … no cause eviction. It’s so unfair. I bounced around a bit more and my daughter finally said, ‘you can’t sleep on my couch anymore’, and she’s 35, she has a life. I got to the point where I was frantic, like on the verge of suicide for having nowhere to live and heard about this place and thought, this is doable.”

Michelle says she was one of the first to move in in August. She says there are problems, such as the not so safe neighborhood, a train that continuously goes by her window and messes up her TV reception, tiny showers, doors from which you can only exit but not enter, a lack of healthy food access and available cooking options, sometimes difficult communications with on site management, high surveillance and frequent police visits, but that overall she is satisfied with her decision to come live here.

Barely Making the Requirement

The Village on Sage Street uses structures typically used by FEMA, mining and construction projects, which in this case were transported from a work camp in Wyoming, according to the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada, the non-profit coordinating the initiative.

At its inception, people had to earn a gross monthly income between $1,320 and $2,735 to qualify to live at the Village.  Michelle barely made the minimum requirement, as she gets child support in arrears, in addition to her disability check.

It took a while, she says, to get adjusted to living so close to other people, in such a small room, which she describes as barely bigger than a “jail cell.”  

“My first month here, I was crazy,” she remembers. “I felt like a fish out of water, you know, having lived in a $250,000 condo and living in really nice apartments and things like that. I was really depressed, you know, withdrawn. But the people here, all of us are sort of in the same boat, so we kind of pulled one another through those first couple of months. I made it my point to meet everyone to say, ‘welcome here.’”

Michelle has had to come up with new life hacks, such as preparing her toiletry bag with all necessities before going to shared restrooms. Sometimes, she says, items which are supposed to be there aren’t, and she has had discussions with Volunteers of America staff who are the managers here. “There's so many of us, that they can't know in advance how much soap, how much hand towels, how much toilet paper, are needed …. these kinds of things. I think that the feedback that we give them on that is so important because it's not a complaint, it's an observation. We're telling you what we need and what we think would make living here better.”

Seeking Improvements

Since everyone has to pass a background check before being allowed to live here, Michelle says she doesn’t understand why there are so many surveillance cameras and police visits.

“There are cameras everywhere .… Everywhere. So there's a sense of you know, the lack of privacy and I understand that it's a safety issue, I assume. I'm guessing. But we all have our own locks on our doors. We all have our own individual keys. I don't really understand the need for such high surveillance. I don't call it monitoring. It's surveillance. The other thing is that the police are here a lot. Having the police here so much, it’s unsettling. I appreciate when they come through, say hi, you know, we get to know who they are. But … I can't find the need to have so much security. You know, management, they sit at their desk, they have monitors, they sit at their desk and watch us all day. That's all unnerving to a certain degree.”

She says she understands people are doing their job, but she says they shouldn’t forget this is her home. “We need to have that ability to communicate to a degree that we're being heard. And if there's a reason, then you can say, ‘Hey, you know what, this is a safety issue.’ Tell us, give us a reason. We're all adults here. Let us understand that.”

Michelle says sometimes management doesn’t take hygiene issues seriously enough, such as one time when she says another resident dirtied the hallway, and it wasn’t cleaned up for over 24 hours. We couldn’t independently verify this incident, but she showed us pictures of the dirty hallway. She likes the art on the way to her own private room, though, saying that’s a nice, colorful touch.

Welcoming Seniors

Michelle greeted with approval a recent loosening of the requirements to accept more seniors on fixed income. In an email sent out on January 8th, Nick Tscheekar wrote: “The Community Foundation and Volunteers of America have created an income waiver to help seniors who are struggling to find affordable housing. Now, seniors (age 50 or older) who earn at least $771 gross monthly income and can verify that they are on a waitlist for income-restricted housing will qualify to live at the Village.”

In a follow up email, Tscheekar, a Community Engagement Officer at the Foundation, said that as of January 7, there were 128 people living at the Village. “We would consider the Village to be “full” when we reach 90% occupancy, which would be 195 lodgers,” he wrote. “At 90%, lodgers’ rents will cover the operational costs and we would likely need a waitlist at that point for pending move-ins and departures. I predict the senior income waiver will lead to a substantial occupancy increase.”

Some activists have complained that due to stringent requirements, the much touted Village isn’t as filled up as it could be, given the needs of the community. Michelle says it’s “phenomenal” they are opening up this opportunity to older residents. She says she has gone from suicidal to now being “able to exhale,” and that more seniors will be able to benefit from the Village.

Michelle doesn’t have room for many decorations, but she does have a beautiful photo of her mother, who was from Detroit, and who passed away when she was 16. She is very close to her own daughter, whom she shares a car with as well as a “grandkitten.”

A New Lifeline for a new Community

Having a $400 rent has given Michelle an ability to take care of herself more than before.  

“I get to see a doctor more often. I need dental work. I have hearing aids that don't work. So these are things that I'm building toward. If I was paying 900, $1,000 a month rent, or like the last place I lived in $1450 a month, I was losing every dime I had plus some to housing. You know, if you have past bills that you're trying to clean up so you can get a clean credit rating to move into a better place or a nicer place or what have you… this will give you that opportunity if you're frugal. I have a storage unit at $200 a month. I have my cell phone, I try to help my daughter out a little here and there. So there's no fun money as we call it.”

She says some of her neighbors became homeless after their rent doubled overnight. Others are making $9 or $10 an hour and can’t afford anything else.

“We have people who are security guards, people who work in the retail industry. We have people who work in hospitality. One of the guys here just got a job with Catholic Services. We have a few people who work at Walmart. Nobody here is a brain surgeon, but for those who can work, we're all actively seeking employment or actively working at the jobs that we are able to do,” she said.

Michelle tries to keep fresh food in her room, but is somewhat frustrated by the lack of options and how difficult it is to eat healthy while living at the Village. Microwaves aren’t allowed in the rooms, while there is no gas or oven cooking on the premises for residents. Healthy supermarkets and restaurants are few and far in between in the Sage street area.

Food Issues

Michelle says she needs hot food to stay healthy and so she spends more than she would like in going to restaurants, since it’s not possible to do anything besides microwaving at the Village. “I just told my daughter recently I need to eat out a little more because I need a hot meal periodically,” she said.

She says visits by volunteer groups would be more than welcome. “A hot meal can change your life … a hot meal can make you warm all over,” she said. “We would appreciate that so much, especially close to the end of the month when you know, your funds are starting to get a little thin.”

She has helped herself. “Not that long ago I went to my daughter’s place and I made a huge pot of chicken noodle soup and a huge pot of red beans and rice. And I just shared it with all my neighbors, because we haven't had hot home cooked food in so long. I had a line at my door and it was, you know, it was really special because it was cold, it was wet and this was a hot meal that someone cooked and it was great.”

Many of the residents have bikes, while others rely on nearby bus stops to go shopping and get to work. A few have cars. Michelle says the car gate works, as it’s supposed to, and stays locked when it’s dark, but she’s not too sure about the walk-in gate, which she thought was supposed to be locked at all times.

A Day in Michelle’s Life at the Village

Now that she is housed, and not constantly worrying about her every day finances, Michelle has settled into a routine. She’s an early bird, who tries to eat a healthy breakfast. She keeps tabs on local news and friends with her phone. She helps her daughter by taking care of her cat. She takes walks, watches television, reads and naps. She goes outside to smoke and talk to her neighbors.

“It's a communal experience, when you have all these people that you've been around for so long, you know their kids now, you know what they do for a living. You know what they don't like to eat, that kind of thing. So you get to know your neighbors. Evening time, I isolate, I come in my room, I have a cup of tea, I relax. My hearing impairment kind of helps me because I don't hear a lot of the extemporaneous noise. You know, there's a lot of the floors that are rather hollow here, so you hear the stomping, that kind of thing. But these are all things that you can live with…”

Her daughter calls and she needs their shared car, so she’s on her way out, but before that, she greets a neighbor who is out for a cigarette. By the looks of it, they both seem on a better, safer “boat” than they used to be on, or at least the waters are calmer now. The horizon they see seems a bit brighter as well, even as a light snow descends around them in the Sierras.

Reporting by Our Town Reno in January 2020

Miles Vinson, Displaced by Fire and the Affordable Housing Crisis

Part of California Transplants

Vinson recognizes that he’s a part of a pattern of people moving from the expensive cost of living in California to its neighboring states.

“It was just getting so expensive to live there that [after the fires] so many people couldn't afford just to get another apartment in California,” Vinson said. “So they started spreading out into Oregon and here in Nevada. That housing crisis has started to spill over here in Reno, too.”

Vinson says he hasn’t been in touch with many people from his community in Santa Rosa since the 2018 fires. He admits he was lucky that he had time to gather his essentials and evacuate, but understands that there were many in his community that didn’t have that chance. So the memory of witnessing what those people went through because of the fire has remained with him.

“I remember a lot of people had to leave immediately because they could literally see the winds carrying that fire to their houses and livelihoods so quickly,” Vinson said. “I saw so many good people displaced [because of the fire]. It was definitely very tragic because I saw a lot of kids, that had to leave their homes, their schools and the rest of their families because they just couldn't afford to live there anymore.” 

Santa Rosa has been repeatedly ravaged by fires in recent years.

Climate Catastrophes?

It wasn’t just the cost of living, however, that lead Vinson to seek a living elsewhere. According to Vinson, Mother Nature just seems to have it out for the state of California, citing all the devastating natural elements his hometown experienced in the past year. 

“California, and especially my hometown, has been hit with all four elements of nature,” Vinson said. “They were hit by drought, fires, flooding, and then fires again.”

Despite the frequent battles with Mother Nature, Vinson sees a resiliency in the community that rebuilds itself every time a disaster like last year’s fires occurs, particularly as they prepare for more fires the following year.

“[The community] is growing some new legs now that it's starting to rebuild,” Vinson said.

Vinson acknowledges that a disparity exists between his previous home in California and his current apartment in Reno. “[Reno’s] treated me very well,” Vinson said. “I've had a lot more opportunity here than I ever did in California. It's funny because the place I have now for $750 a month would easily go for over $1000 in my hometown. It's crazy.”

Looking to Become an Entrepreneur

In just the past year Vinson has been living in Reno, he’s witnessed himself the influx of businesses coming into the area. As each new business comes in, Vinson sees an opportunity to not only grow his personal career, but develop and reach new personal goals as well.

“I want to become financially independent and own my own business here in Reno,” Vinson said. “There is a lot of opportunity here in Reno and I'm so glad that, and it’s that funny I'm even saying this, but I'm so glad my house burned down so I would be more or less forced to come here.”

Right now, Vinson is doing a lot of reading to expand his own portfolio and help him pursue his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. He says he is well on his way, too, after partnering with a local company about four months ago. 

The objectives of this partnership are focused on leadership, entrepreneurship, and teaching people how to be self-sufficient in managing and growing their business. Personally for Vinson, the specific objectives of his future business doesn’t matter as long as he gets his time back. 

“My main goal is just to just get out of the workforce,” Vinson said. “[Get to the point] so I don't have to work a nine to five job for the rest of my life. But as for the business model, I don't really care as long as it gives me back my time because that's the most important commodity that we as human beings have. It's the one thing we can't get back.”

In order to get to that point, Vinson is spending much of his time reading and learning from other entrepreneurs. 

“I'm trying to get around more [entrepreneurs] who are succeeding in life and putting myself out there a little bit more because I'm definitely a more withdrawn personality,” Vinson said. “So just getting out there and conquering your fears, that's how the ball gets rolling. It’s definitely been quite a journey [so far].”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno during Share Your Story at the Downtown Library