After experiencing roughly 13 years of living on Reno’s streets, Linda, 70, says she wants to leave the Biggest Little City. She recently survived a stroke, but says she will not stay in local shelters anymore. “They're not nice. Everybody fights to their teeth. I'm staying out on the streets where I’m safe,” she said.
Although Linda is among the demographic most susceptible to Covid-19, she remains unafraid of the virus. “I'm 100% safe. I have taken the test eight times and negative eight. Now I can leave Nevada safely.”
The unsheltered have been tested more than others in our community.
She says she’s survived fights, thieves, and mistreatment by others, so she is fearless in a way. But she says she does suffer from “loneliness.”
She says people like her gather along railroad tracks, but when the group gets too big, it attracts unwanted attention.
She says she feels she’s one of the “mentally ill,” but has given up on seeking out resources as well. It’s too much of a hassle, she says. She says she burned her hair. Her sentences become incoherent
Where will she go? She doesn’t want to say, but her rolling suitcase seems neatly packed and she’s by the downtown bus station.