photos and text by Jose Olivares
Loren, an Alaska native, wants to leave Reno, but is surviving right now with day labor jobs. photo by Jose Olivares
Loren lives under the bridge by Rock Park in Sparks, next to the Truckee River. He is originally from Alaska and hopes to return as soon as he gets his birth certificate and identification.
On most days he works as a day laborer. He stands on Galletti Way and waits for employers to pick him up and hire him for odd jobs. According to Loren, he is always honest and open to his employers regarding his homelessness. He has a contagious smile and light-hearted attitude, but is not afraid to speak his mind.
He used to live in Reno, but claims that the police in The Biggest Little City are a lot rougher.
"Sparks is a lot more lenient than Reno. Reno is 'homeless haters'--at least the cops," says Loren. "I know they got a job, they got a family, but they shouldn't take it out on innocent people. They just take their anger and aggression out on the homeless because they think that the homeless don't have a voice or civil rights."
Loren does not like how Reno's police handles the homeless. Photo by Jose Olivares.
He hopes those misconceptions can change. "There really is some really good people. We're not just all crazy, stupid, alcoholic drug addicts going crazy," he says. "There's a lot of people in this town, but there's a lot of good people, too."