As winter becomes fierce in northern Nevada, and amid an affordable housing crisis, the local population without shelter is growing and struggling. Several groups are trying to help these people in different ways, some of them causing controversy, and others receiving criticism they are perpetuating the problem. Michelle Baker reports in the audio report above.
It’s grey and cold as hundreds of people line up for a recent holiday meal inside tents across from the downtown Reno baseball park. The ROW, which combines several downtown casinos, offered hundreds of plates piled with food.
Casinos Help during the Holidays
“Look at the food! You have a seven course salad … Let alone the entrees. And you’ve got everything you can dream of to drink! Coffee, tea.. ” Bill Fisher, who says he used to be a drug addict, is the main organizer of the casino-organized holiday meal.
“They can take as much time as they want, and when they leave here, they can go get food, but they get the food after they leave here because it would be too crowded with piles of food everywhere,” Fisher said.
The two day event also offered flu shots and food to take home.
Most people in Reno appreciate this kind of help, even if they would like to see it done differently and more consistently. Other groups, however, have created more controversy in their own initiatives to help those in need.
“The chief of police and the mayor and City Council have been very stubborn and very reluctant to try anything that works, beyond acting like the only thing keeping the guys on the street is the lack of affordable housing or something,” Paul White told Our Town Reno earlier this year. White heads a group called Quality of Life Reno, which has organized provocative events to highlight the persistent presence of those without shelter in parks and along the river.
A New Controversial Presence in Reno Weighs In
White became active locally with media and events during the 2018 Reno elections and is now very present once again in the community and on social media. He also is behind the Reno-based Stronghold Institute non-profit, which has as its tag line “Bible-Based Learning and Healing”.
“When you think of the homeless, think of what you hear, ’ I’m hungry’ – no, not with 25 food pantries, you’re not - any one of which gives you more than you can eat. ‘[I’m]looking for work’ no, not with 20 employment agencies,” White said.
White says that due to the abundance of resources and access to these resources the city of Reno offers, the idea of homelessness is, according to him, a “misdiagnosis” and is worsening due to government’s lack of forceful action. “The city’s approach is one that’s being tried everywhere in the United States and is failing everywhere in the United States,” he said.
“We realize that the biggest problem is trying to get them to accept services, or want them,” White said of people chronically on the streets or living along the Truckee River.
Criminalizing as a Way Forward?
White told Our Town Reno he believes that by removing people from public places and putting them through the judicial system, they will eventually, even if reluctantly, seek outside help.
He spoke to us in the days leading up to his planned October citizen’s arrest action at Pickett Park, where local police moved in before the vigilante threat, and forced out those who had been living there.
As a result of the park clean up, some people who were staying at Pickett Park said they lost most of their possessions, which according to police, were taken mostly to the downtown shelter.
“A lot of people, when the cops came and threw their stuff away, they lost all the things they had,” a couple told us. “I had a friend, who lost all the things his father gave him. How do you replace that? We’re humans like everyone else, a lot of people dislike us I guess, but we’re not bad people, we have hearts just like everybody else.”
A counter protest to show support for those without shelter took place at the park several days later, but by then, those previously camping there had scrambled elsewhere and were desperately trying to get their possessions back.
What Happens when you Lose Your Possessions?
In years past, disputes regarding the seizure of property has brought on legal action. Terri Keyser-Cooper, a lawyer advocating for homeless rights, once won a case that set precedent in Washoe County. County officials must now post a notice giving ample time of their intentions when they are cleaning up parks or other property.
“I think a lot of us take advantage of having a place to go … a lot of our friends out there don’t have those luxuries, losing your backpack with your social security card.. all your stuff.. it sets people back,” said Ben Castro, from the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality. The group he heads has lately been trying to counter the effect White has been having, in addition to advocating for a safe campground infrastructure. “I don’t think the community understands or can even comprehend what it’s like to live … without infrastructure.”
RISE is a non-profit which has as its own tag line a goal of providing equal access to shelter, knowledge, and opportunity in Reno. When he was interviewed, Castro was helping organize a regular Saturday night potluck and donation drive.
“Yeah, so what we are doing right now is sorting out donations to hand out , we’ve been doing this for eight years, it started in my apartment and now we operate out of my home, through the years we’ve picked up warriors [along] the way,” he said of the many volunteers who also help out.
Back at the casino organized holiday meal tent, Fisher, who goes by Brother Bill, sees an old friend and gives a wide smile.
“I’ve known these people for 20 years, 30,000 people have been to these events,” he said, which we couldn’t independently confirm.
Whatever the current numbers, on the streets without shelter, along the Truckee River and in parks inside tents, and whatever reasons for our neighbors currently living in precarious conditions, diverging groups agree their numbers are growing, as inequalities in our communities continue to sharpen.
Reporting by Michelle Baker shared with Our Town Reno