The Built for Zero program Washoe County is pursuing aims to end homelessness locally.

Every person still unhoused deserves to be heard which is one of our goals with this reporting initiative, to have the community listen to their perspectives and experiences.

It breaks our heart to see the elderly and disabled spilling in and out of the Cares Campus, morning, day and evening.

Phil who suffers from scoliosis is one of them.

He says he received help obtaining his wheelchair from the Saint Mary’s hospital.

He doesn’t say how long he’s been in Reno. “Too long,” he says. He is currently trying to get his ID back. He says his wallet was stolen at one point in the middle of the night, that he’s scared and doesn’t feel safe.

People don’t really change, he said. “We’re paying for a nasty nature, a sinful nature” was one of his direct quotes.

Photos and interview notes by Dani DeRosa shared with Our Town Reno.