A Tale of Two Campuses, Two Scooters and Drifters

The Nevada Cares Campus with previous moldy shower areas in photo montage above continues to divide on our social media feeds, with the local “establishment” supporting the process wholeheartedly. On board elected officials, now in the majority, say they had money at their disposal and still have federal COVID money to spend and that what they are doing is the best use for helping the locally unhoused.

But as Washoe County Commissioner Michael Clark repeatedly points out, what about the outcomes for all the millions of dollars spent and many more millions being earmarked? Such amounts if not spent judiciously can lead to mismanagement or corruption with long term rotting effects often worse than not spending the money at all. On a global scale, look at U.S. government programs to help in Iraq and Afghanistan and see how those dollars fared.

Or as advocates often ask what about making people who sleep at the Cares Campus feel valued and listened to rather than warehoused? Many we interview want a fresh slate, smaller buildings, a new team of operators, a new style which doesn’t feel and look like a prison, where community volunteers are welcome safely right outside and can help with their own initiatives, which have healthier food and a more caring disposition than the official channels.

Timothy Henson who sleeps at the Cares Campus and who used to sleep at the Record Street shelter also operated by Volunteers of America wrote on our Facebook:  “I live here every day. Yeah I'm glad it's here but it isn't all that and a bag of chips. There are a lot of things that could be fixed.” Also why is Henson still using a shelter after all these years?

Have any of our elected officials slept at the Cares Campus incognito as they should to really experience the services being provided?

Valerie Tilson, a voice of reason for many local social media discussions, always bridging political lanes, wrote: “Other programs that aren't as big seem to have better results of getting those back into housing. Makes you wonder why?”

Another social media post we had that brought on a torrent of comments was a photo above of two scooters clearly blocking some of the passage for those who might be walking with a cane, pushing a stroller or in a wheelchair and trying to get from point A to point B on that particular public sidewalk.

The post was called silly by some, but why? It is part of our running concern on the disappearance of public spaces.  Our point is that sidewalks are for all to use, not to be partially blocked by products of a money making company.

This disappearance of public space goes along with hostile architecture, how boulders for example are added to where people used to rest and read a book, or public benches are made uncomfortable to sit on.

That is why we also do street photography, to document the last of an endangered breed, because besides on protest days, the person enjoying the public space is becoming increasingly rare, the person whose home is the outdoor public space increasingly criminalized.   

What is wrong with the drifter? If anything that person just walking around, not paying for the scooter, reflecting by the river, does much less damage than others in the rat race of work and over consumption, long distance travel and environmental degradation many of us have signed up for.

Our Reporting Highlights This Week

Our Citizen’s Forum had an ode to late April snow.

Our #keeprenorad was a feature on the Coalition Snow outlet at the Reno Public Market.

Our #placesofreno series looked back on growing up in the Oddie Blvd area.

We put a spotlight on the non profit RAVE with an amazing program to help caregivers for kids in need.

E.M. Starr (right) granted us a q and a about her recent book Rhinestone Confidential, also lamenting the local loss of Harrah’s.