I am Bailey Shepard, a journalism student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Recently, I visited an unhoused encampment for a story for the Our Town Reno podcast. The encampment is right across the street from the University, right beside some train tracks in a residential neighborhood.
It is a very drastic change to go from the millions of dollars that have been poured into the university, and all of the wealth and hope that you see walking around there, to then walk across a street and see people sleeping in shelters partially dug out of the earth, in tents, and having to constantly battle the elements. But there is a different sense of hope and strength that we see in the unhoused population in Reno, and that is their tenacity for life. It was the coldest day in Reno so far this winter, perhaps around 30 degrees Fahrenheit with the cold wind blowing.
I first spoke with a gentleman who did not want to give an interview but allowed me to chat with him a bit about his background and to greet his dog. He was originally from Texas but sounded like he had lived all over the west. I asked which places he liked the most and he said he liked being near the mountains, to which I wholeheartedly agreed. Not long into our chat a group of middle aged gentlemen sauntered into the encampment. It was in the backyard of an abandoned house, right next to an old abandoned nursing facility. The dog, which had not barked at our presence there, suddenly let out a loud series of barking at their arrival.
They walked up and immediately informed the people of the encampment that this area would be cleared the following day to make way for the construction of more student housing apartments.
I was both shocked and somehow not surprised. This was a story I had heard a lot about via my colleagues in the journalism school who report for Our Town Reno, that unhoused people were constantly being moved, and that little cheap motels were constantly being destroyed to make way for bigger more expensive housing units or dirt lots. Units that do go up are too expensive for many current Reno residents.
Here it was, happening right in front of me, the process yet again of corporate housing pushing the unhoused out of the spot they had for the time being.
After this encounter I sauntered down the railroad tracks with fellow Our Town reporter Richie Bednarski. We saw more shelters set up along the railroad tracks when we saw a couple people gathering around a fire on this cold November day. Richie mentioned that he thought he had interviewed the couple before and that it would be good to go catch up with them.
The names of the man and woman we talked with were Matt and Mel. These two had been interviewed by Our Town Reno in February when they were being forcefully swept from a Sparks location. We were glad that they were alive and well, and they shared the good news that in a few weeks they would be going into the ReStart program that helps with mental health services among the unhoused and also aids people to get into housing.
I saw a different kind of hope that day. I saw people living, despite the difficult circumstances. I saw people creating a community with their other unhoused neighbors. There were fires for warmth, and an open flame being used to cook food. People gathered around the flame and chatted, and laughed. The scene is very common around the world. Even though here the fire is illegal. Some neighbors will call the police when they see fires lit, seeing it as a threat to their own properties.
But aren’t these just people living outside, in nature, as humanity started, and surviving despite the current odds. It seems that in America we ostracize the unhoused, we often harass them and keep moving them here and there. Instead of letting them integrate into the community, we try to keep them on the move and out of sight. Progress and change keeps them down as well.
The cheap motels they used for housing are being destroyed for high rise expensive condos and apartments or other future promised developments.
The encampments that naturally arise around the city are constantly being raided. If there is danger in some of these encampments it is understandable to want to break them up. But why then does the city not set aside some land for the houseless population to set up camps? Perhaps in smaller parcels if big encampments cause problems? And of course, more cheap housing needs to be built. With housing prices and rent skyrocketing across the country, it is not hard to imagine that it will only increase the homeless population of the U.S. and Reno in particular.
I felt happy hearing that Matt and Mel had hope for the Restart Program that will hopefully get them back into an apartment. I could sense that they also were looking forward to this occasion.
In the meantime, Matt seemed perfectly content to have a place to settle down. A place to put up his shelter, a fire to keep him warm and to cook with, and a community of people around him to keep him company. The city of Reno, and all of us who live here, should look to be a community more to our unhoused population, prioritize stopping the harassment, and voice our desires for more affordable housing to be built in the city.