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 i…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5675d221cbced60a236e28b8/1580233801783-5720C7KNDJPO2WHHCIQC/IMG_0441.jpg)
“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.