Reno Street Audio

This is an archive episode of people of living on the streets in Reno, Nevada, with serious health challenges and how they cope as best they can. Marcus is nearly blind and has other complications due to albinism. Tex has been given a timeline to die from cancer. Ian suffers from mental health challenges.

While the yearly point in time count in late January establishes data for the locally unhoused, many avoid the process, preferring to live in the shadows, along the river or in their car and just try to survive, rather than going to a shelter or being counted as an unhoused person. That’s why at Our Town Reno we find official numbers released by officials and repeated by media as unreliable. We wi...

Clayton Posey interviews members of four promising up and coming Reno bands, Worm Shot, Aftrprty, Wyatt Ziegler and Frank Futility.

“Opening a door for someone and smiling could literally save their life,” local chaplain and single dad Chaz Blackburn, 34, says.   Blackburn knows what he’s talking about, as in addition to being the Spiritual Care and Director of Volunteer Services at the Circle of Life Hospice, he helps with many other worthy organizations in town including in the teen suicide realm, with organizations such as...

Reno is home to some extremely creative individuals and among those is the precocious Jack Barrington. A 20-year-old audio engineer and music producer who has been learning about sound for the last seven years. Host Lauren Juillerat interviews him more on how he acquired the skills he has today and how he utilizes them to elevate music in the Biggest Little City.

Reporter Heather Saxe interviews the founder of the Love and Mine Foundation Sarah Peterson. The Love and Mine Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide easier access to resources for victim-survivors of power based violence in the college aged demographic in the Reno community. 

After another night of sleeping on the street, Susan strolls into the downtown public library in Reno. She has only a few bags, and one of them is full of colorful crochets she’s been working on. Susan has pretty hair— she dyed it red recently. Despite missing her teeth, she has a bright smile. Andrew Zuker and Ray Grosser find out more about her life in this Share Your Story episode from the Down...

Reporter Mia Wood sits down with Melissa Ung, the dedicated event coordinator for the Great Reno Balloon Race, to delve into the inner workings of this nonprofit organization and gain insights into the year-round planning efforts that make this spectacular event take flight every year in early September.

Reno is home to some of the most creative and inspiring musical individuals. From singers to musicians to audio engineers, all three components come together to form unique bands. Local venues showcase many talented acts ranging from all girl bands, to all boy bands, to a mix of both. Reporter Lauren Juillerat goes behind the scenes as she interviews a few up and coming Reno bands on their experie...

Gaia Osborne looks back on her tenure with Our Town Reno, which included lots of reporting on non profits, and other documentary projects, such as delving into northern Nevada's ghost towns, as she finishes up a master's degree at the Reynolds School of Journalism, at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Our ace bilingual multicultural reporter Nancy Vazquez looks back on favorite stories for Our Town Reno while analyzing change in the Biggest Little City through a journalistic and social media lens.

Drugs, alcoholism and gambling are all addictions which run rampant across society. For the unhoused populations, these addictions can be especially crippling and difficult to surmount. In this archive episode we will hear from an unhoused neighbor who goes by the Greek who says he wants more out of life than being a drunk. We will also hear from Malik Muhammad who recently got caught with drugs a...

This is an archive episode listening to people surviving on our streets. We’ll hear from Angela who came by foot from California and then was repeatedly robbed in Reno. Daniel says he was arrested for sitting. Bryan was evicted and he’s becoming blind.

"Unfortunately, I had a fallout with a significant other who chose to go elsewhere, and she gave her heart to someone else. I wasn't doing well with the breakup. And, I started looking at the bottom of a bottle and turned around and she abandoned an apartment that we were both sharing for 13 years..." Listen to Alex share his story with Aimee Arellano of how he ended up on the streets of Reno.

“Miss” Mary, 69, says she was kicked out of the Cares Campus shelter in Reno, and that she currently has no ID or birth certificate. She sleeps by railroad tracks and she struggles with alcohol but says she’s quit other drugs. She is trying to find a roommate, as she gets Social Security money, but not enough to cover housing expenses herself. The reporter for this episode is Aimee Arellano.

When COVID hit, many of us did a reset of our goals and priorities. Tyler Aguilar, 22, a Reed High School graduate, set his sights on becoming a traveling drone photographer and videographer. Several years later, he’s put the building blocks in place, getting his FAA certification, starting to get paid for his photos and videos, getting to become an expert at drone photography and setting his sigh...

The Reno Housing Authority is about to celebrate 80 years of existence, trying as best it can to provide affordable, safe and accessible housing to members of our community. Our Town Reno recently went to RHA offices to interview new executive director Hilary Lopez about this new historical anniversary amid contemporary challenges.

“We basically fix their credit and if you have any collections, late payments or inquiries on your credit, we can help. There's a lot of identity theft going on right now in Reno,” says Angie Salcido, who offers services in both English and Spanish to customers who can get a free introductory visit at her offices on Kietzke Lane in south Reno. “The more you look at credit, the more you get differe...

This episode was recorded inside Darcy Patterson’s home where she keeps photos, souvenirs and mementoes related to her daughter Kirsten, who died of a drug overdose alone in her car in Idlewild Park in 2017 while she was in high school in Reno. This death spurred Patterson to be an advocate for opioid awareness. She now leads Wake up Nevada which has been distributing Narcan and Fentanyl test stri...

Ben Iness, a local community coordinator with the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance which works for tenants recaps Nevada's recent frustrating legislative session and speaks to fights ahead, including why housing should be a universal right.

Conor McQuivey discusses the reasons and methodology behind his interview podcast focusing on Reno's movers and shakers, as well as his other activities in the Biggest Little City as a DJ Trivia host and toastmaster.

The Eddy House recently indicated it provided 1,390 bed nights in June 2023, which was 50% higher than bed nights provided in June last year. As the need grows in the community, with more local youth experiencing homelessness, the Eddy House has been expanding its services to help them. Jillian Keller, the Chief Operating Officer, recently gave us a tour of the front section of their location on W...

Since quitting his nine to five job, Nick Josten has been thriving in the local Reno film and theater scene in addition to his voicing work. He even found time to write a novel. In this episode, he discusses being a working artist living in a pricier Reno, and how the local film and theater scenes are evolving.

Neil Cavanagh is the co owner with his wife of Reno Roots Kava and Tea Bar ,a cozy place across from UNR with surf on the big screen and games on the tables. Only problem is the Washoe County Health district so far is not letting them sell what they were set up for, and that’s kava as a tea. As a compromise they have kava supplements and lots more to offer but not kava as a tea. Health district of...

Celeste Talbott-Rivera, the owner of the new Ethaerial Studio on Virginia Street at the top of Midtown, a new local spot for pole fitness and exercise, discusses what it’s like to be a young business owner, Reno and Midtown change and the value of pole dancing.