Reno Street Audio

Our resident street poet Donald Griffin returns with more poetry, as he rebounds from past devastation and addiction, into a sober, productive life, which includes writing and contributing to Our Town Reno.

There have been vigilante actions recently in Reno targeting those without shelter. But what about those who find community at their local park? What about those who find friends to take care of their belongings when they have no other options? What about those who want to live with their pets? Annette has been living on the streets on and off for about three years.  She talks with Our Town Reno R...

University of Nevada, Reno, graduate Nathaniel Benjamin is a co-founder of Reno's community printing press called Laika Press. As a nonprofit co-operative printmaking space in Reno, it provides accessibility to printmaking equipment for members of the Reno community. Having been a member of Reno's art community for a number of years now, Benjamin also thinks about how the relationship between art...

What’’s the local movement like for climate change here in Reno? Jaren Hutchings is a climate activist who was one of the organizers of the recent National Youth Climate Strike. He’s a senior at the Davidson Academy in Reno, and is passionate about finding ways to slow the effects of climate change, and also get the attention of politicians to put forth policies to do so. He talked with Our Town R...

After vigilantes threatened to kick out homeless from a park in Reno, they were forced out by police, some of them losing their possessions. Angered advocates then held a donation drive to show their support for those without shelter. Reporters Scott King and Lucia Starbuck were on the scene.

What’s it like to lose a child to addiction? A local chapter of a group called The Addict’s Mom recently held a Lights of Hope candlelight event at the Rail City garden in Sparks, Nevada. Speakers shared stories of how drug addiction affects their lives as well as the lives of their loved ones. Our Town Reno podcast reporter Scott King met with the organizer of the event, Darcy Patterson, herself...

Our resident street poet Donald Griffin is back with Police Brutality, He Who Opens a School, Closes a Prison and Faces. Recordings and editing at the Reynolds Media Lab studios by Lucia Starbuck.

In this Our Town Reno episode we visit with Meghan Simons a substance use disorder counselor at the Life Change Center in Sparks. A sign on her door says she meets people where they are. People come to the LCC as it’s known for a variety of reasons. Some are encouraged by family members, a friend, an employer. Some find the courage to go themselves. Our reporter for this Our Town Reno podcast epis...

This week’s episode of the Our Town Reno podcast is about painting a large community mural under an overpass. What’s the value of that? How do you find a theme? How do you get a community’s buy in? Our reporter for this episode is Scott King, interviewing Asa Kennedy and Kyle Isacksen.

Morgan Green from the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies at UNR took part in a recent event marking International Overdose Awareness Day. She passed out naloxone kits, which are used to counter effects of an opioid overdose. “I think we're breaking a lot of barriers in terms of people who are overcoming addiction, but there's still a long way to go,” she said. “A lot of tim...

Joyce charts her path from being addicted and homeless, to recovery, to being housed in a motel, but displaced a few times as these were demolished. She then went to social media to make new connections and was able to secure public housing while on disability payments.

Josella Starbuck is a long time motel owner in Reno, a town which increasingly looks down on motel residents and the motels themselves. Politicians claim they are filled with prostitutes and drug dealers, while developers try to buy them out and bulldoze them away. But the motels have had a long and rich history, and now cater to a population with rapidly dwindling affordable housing options. Some...

Alan, 59, gets disability checks but says he can’t afford any housing in Reno. He blames Tesla and other new companies in the area for pushing prices up and causing motels to be demolished. For him, the motel room was his last resort before homelessness. Our reporters for this episode are Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins.

“People come to the park, and offer jobs so I'm getting ready to be picked up right now,” Josh, 33, said when we met him at a spot for day laborers. “It's picking up slowly, but it's picking up, you know. It's gonna be busy later but now it's slow and we are just here hanging out. Payment depends on a person. Sometimes I make a hundred, maybe under 100... it depends on the person and the job itsel...

J.D. says he’s from a broken family and that he’s never recovered from facing his father’s death without the support of his relatives. “That's the reason why a lot of people are homeless because there's broken families, they're fighting each other, brothers and sisters are fighting each other,” he said. “Wives and husbands are fighting with each other. That's what's going on right now in life. Tha...

Steve says he avoid shelters because he says he gets sick there. The California native says he lost his mom and then lost his way. He does temp work and sells his blood, from time to time, but he says he’s bad at saving money. He’s sober now after being an alcoholic, but he still doesn’t have a place to call home, so he sleeps in different hiding spots in downtown Reno. Our reporters for this Our...

Kyle, who had been homeless for about a decade when we met him, says he first went to live in the forest with pot growers after breaking up with a girlfriend. He avoids homeless shelters, and prefers camping outside despite the many challenges such as the lack of security. "I even got stabbed in the face, one night, while walking down the streets in an alley," he said. "I was trying to save a girl...

“I'm Jamie and I come from Oakland, California. I found myself here at the river bank after troubles at home,” the mother of six told us. “I lived in Winnemucca, Nevada, and we just had troubles there, you know, with family and always fighting and not getting along. And I figured it would be better if I just left. I came to Reno about two years ago. I've been staying at the river bank for about tw...

“It's eye opening and changes your world. It humbles you,” the entrepreneur said of going “undercover homeless” in Reno. Tim Doss operates the JunkUber.com removal service, but unlike others in his business field, he donates back to the homeless and those without many means moving into new residences. He also took part in an outreach initiative for the homeless several years ago, going undercover...

The Greek says he wants more out of life than being a bartender and a drunk. Now without a job, he's on the streets of Reno, trying to get sober, and dreaming of other lives, such as living on the water and working with boats. He almost died of cold during the most recent winter, but still clings to hope his life will take a turn for the better before it's too late.

When we caught up with her, Jody, whose father was a rich developer, but who fell on hard times herself, and her teenage daughter had been living without housing for three weeks. “I tried to do the weekly thing. I had a job, but I was two days late on rent. They wouldn't let me stay for two days and here I am … Shelters are currently full. Domestic violence shelters are full and have a waiting lis...

This episode features more poetry by our resident street poet Donald Griffin. Here's some of what Drew Willis wrote analyzing his writing ... "Donald Griffin speaks like he writes. He weaves through images and ideas, the last word of every phrase seeming to trigger a parallel line of thought. He can theorize about unseen dimensions and institutional corruption in the same sentence... In his work,...

Our resident street poet Donald Griffin returns with new street poetry, based on his life from losing the mother of his children and himself to addiction, and then charting his miracle recovery through writing.

“I was in Midtown, and they raised my rent 70% there all at once and there was no way I was going to pay for that with no improvements on their part. And I left Midtown and came to Wells Avenue." For some local business owners, like Reno native Lisa Adele Rojas from Mandala Massage Supply & Apothecary, they face the double whammy of rent for their own living space going up as well as for their bus...

As a second part looking into the opioid epidemic on the Our Town Reno podcast, reporters Prince Nesta and Jordan Blevins interview Dr. Karla Wagner, an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Robert Harding, another local Reno expert in harm reduction and community outreach to discuss best practices to help the addicted and those in recovery.