Reno Street Audio

As part of our special series of interviews with those currently running for office in Reno, our reporter Scott King interviews JD Drakulich, who is running for the council seat representing Ward 1, now held by Jenny Brekhus.

Drakulich is a realtor, and he’s also the President of the Board of Directors for the Eddy House, which gives services to youth and young adults without stable shelter in Reno. On this episode he also talks about affordable housing and ways he believes he could get the City Council to help Reno residents.

As part of a new series, we are interviewing some of those running for local office, to discuss their ideas surrounding homelessness, gentrification, the affordable housing crisis and now coronavirus in the Biggest Little City. Our first interview for this series is with Ward 1 incumbent Jenny Brekhus. Due to social isolation, the interview with Scott King was conducted over the phone and wasn't of the best quality, but her answers still provide a very distinct voice in the local political landscape. We will be interviewing others seeking the Ward 1 seat and including those interviews in the weeks ahead.

We went to an encampment earlier this week in downtown Reno to find out if those living without shelter were concerned about coronavirus. Robert likened it to napalm, Elizabeth was worried about her MS, and Emily who is fleeing an abusive relationship was more concerned with the stereotypes people have of their neighbors without stable shelter. The reporters for this episode are Scott King, Lucia Starbuck and Gracie Gordon.

“We need to find someplace these people can set up camp and be safe." Art Gillespie, a recovery success story himself, is now helping those who are being displaced from one encampment spot to another in Reno, Nevada.

This episode also concerns displacements and whether proper written notices are being given before the camp displacements and cleanups take place, and whether there any shelter spots actually available when these happen.

In this episode, we hear directly from those helping like Art, those being displaced and those coordinating the displacement. Our reporters are Scott King and Lucia Starbuck.

“The way the homeless are treated in the state [of Nevada], it’s like, we shouldn't even be alive or we should be lepers on an island somewhere. I don't get it. I've never done anything to be treated the way I've been treated [here].” Bryan, a former business owner, has been homeless in Reno since being evicted and becoming blind. He still works despite all the difficulties but bounces around from the overflow to encampments trying to survive the best he can amid an #affordablehousingcrisis. He also keeps trying to get a guide dog but can't finish process. How can he get helped? Reporting by Scott King and Lucia Starbuck.

Derrick Pillors was waiting for the overflow shelter to open up when we met him in downtown Reno. He has plenty of ideas on how Reno could help those without shelter. Why not have an empty warehouse converted into a gym with showers for those on the streets, he asks? Why not have the casinos organize free monthly barbecues for the community, including the homeless? He says he recently stopped getting his Social Security check so he’s scrambling to find work. He shared his story for this Biggest Little Streets podcast episode with reporter Scott King.

Angela arrived in Reno in 2019, walking all the way from Ridgecrest, California, with her husband. The journey took her twelve days and once in the Biggest Little City, they separated, and her life derailed further. A mother of four, she says, she isn’t allowed to see her kids until they turn 18. She keeps that motivation as her main goal to keep going.

Shortly after arriving, however, the setbacks started coming. During the first month she was staying at the Wonder Lodge motel in Reno, when she says she was robbed. "Someone came in the door and took everything we had," Angela said. "[At the time] I was out looking for a job."

After the robbery, she started staying at the downtown shelter on Record St. At the time she was still able to live off her disability checks, that is until, she says her Social Security card, ID and birth certificate were stolen from her as well.

"It's been difficult because I get money, so I shouldn't be out here," Angela said of living without stable shelter. "But I can't touch it [now]. I can't even get an ID here without a birth certificate."

Our reporters for this episode are Lucia Starbuck and Scott King.

Daniel, who lives in and out of homelessness, has gone through many recent trials and tribulations, including having his ID stolen and getting arrested for sitting in an empty parking lot, where a motel recently got bulldozed down.

Working in construction for the past 14 years, he’s grateful he still has a job that keeps him somewhat afloat. At times, it allows him to not only look out for himself, but for others living on the streets as well.

“Thank goodness I have a trades skill that I learned and I have some college [experience],” Daniel said. “This past weekend, I had some cash and I’m always thinking, ‘Well what am I going to do? So I bought a couple of guys some clothes, I got another couple of guys a room.’”

The reporter for this episode is Scott King as part of Share Your Story at the downtown Reno library.

Muhammad didn’t want his picture taken, but expressed his views on staying at the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission, as part of their services helping those without shelter.

“I'm there right now only because I got caught on crack last month. They took my car and all my property that was in that car. I lost maybe $2,500 in property last month. I'm on SSI and that took a toll on me,” he said.

Homeless shelters come in for a lot of criticism. But for some like Malik Muhammad it keeps them out of the elements for a while and they make do with all the rules.

In this Biggest Little Streets podcast episode, the Oakland, California, native shares his experience of being homeless in Reno and staying overnight at the downtown shelter.

Our reporter is Scott King as part of our Share Your Story time at the downtown Reno library.

“This is really such a blessing,” Michelle Nullius Filius Couyette said of living at the Village on Sage Street, a collection of squeezed in $400 per month dorm units inside containers on land donated by the city of Reno.

“I am happy for this opportunity and I really hope more people can take advantage of this. If you meet the criteria, come down and see what you can do with a little space.”

The Community Foundation of Western Nevada recently announced it was loosening requirements for seniors on fixed incomes to qualify for this housing, which so far has catered more to workers with limited income, amid the region’s growing affordable housing crisis.