Down and Out in Reno Nevada ( Jason's Story ) Updated December 2017
This year I wrote a few blogs about being down and out in Reno Nevada. I even took photos and videos of homeless camps and panhandlers in my quest to cover the issues of homeless in the Washoe County area. Here is a mna my wife Anne meet and I wanted to tell his story to finish the year on the homeless and panhandling issues around Reno area. On a note one of the main people who operated the kitchen at Saint Vincent's Shelter passed away his name was Ray Trevino.
Jason was standing with a sign near an auto store in Sparks Nevada that read ( Please help I am not just hungry I am starving.) We were in line at Mcdonald's drive through and we saw the sign so we asked him Are you really hungry or you holding a sign and faking it?
He answered me back "no I am not faking it".
So we asked him to get in my vehicle. This is not something we would recommend doing normally but we felt safe. As we sat in line he explained he had been attempting to help people with car repairs in the parking lot for money and than unloaded his entire life story on us and we wanted to share it.
JASON'S STORY:
Jason was a GeoEngineer for a company in Nevada (he never really made that clear who he worked for in the conversation.) According to Jason his company had done some downsizing his position was no longer needed by the company. The company decided eliminated his position and they did not offer him any other position as the company had outsourced all the positions according to Jason.
Jason attempted to find work ( He never expressed if he got unemployment or not in the conversation.) but was unable to find work Several years passed and Jason was still not employed.
Jason explained he got depressed and in the process lost his apartment. He then started living in his car. Things got worse as he could not afford things like a cell phone, or car insurance. He finally got caught by the police in his car who had the car towed only allowing him to remove a few clothes and a sleeping bag. Currently he was sleeping anywhere he could find only in his sleeping bag.
He expressed he was at the lowest point of his life to us. Jason explained how he relied on friends and family for a while but wanted to make his own way back to recovery. Jason seemed to be a person with an education and decent manner and it made us ask can this happen anyone?
In my prior Down and Out in Reno blogs I discussed how hard it really is once you're homeless. Like Jason many people become depressed, they rely on family and friends till the welcome mat is no longer out. Also running into issues with the police with living in cars or in parks. Though there are shelters and programs available there is limited space and funding in these programs. While we admit we have no idea how much of this story told to us was true or not it seemed the fact was this man named Jason was homeless. This story only reflects some of the other stories we have been told doing research for Down and Out in Reno series.
It is estimated by several agencies that people that are considered homeless in Washoe County runs near 1000 people. People want to believe that because Reno and surrounding areas are booming with jobs, and a strong economy that the homeless and poverty should be less of an issue. This just simply is false because higher prices on homes, rentals, and food, gas and other things many people still are in need. Recently in the news food banks had been stressed in Reno area with the amount of people needing help with food.
The simple fact is there is more need and the signs of people panhandling is very apparent in the Reno area. The food banks, food kitchens and programs are constantly packed. There is an issue here and more people need to pay attention to it.
Jason was standing with a sign near an auto store in Sparks Nevada that read ( Please help I am not just hungry I am starving.) We were in line at Mcdonald's drive through and we saw the sign so we asked him Are you really hungry or you holding a sign and faking it?
He answered me back "no I am not faking it".
So we asked him to get in my vehicle. This is not something we would recommend doing normally but we felt safe. As we sat in line he explained he had been attempting to help people with car repairs in the parking lot for money and than unloaded his entire life story on us and we wanted to share it.
JASON'S STORY:
Jason was a GeoEngineer for a company in Nevada (he never really made that clear who he worked for in the conversation.) According to Jason his company had done some downsizing his position was no longer needed by the company. The company decided eliminated his position and they did not offer him any other position as the company had outsourced all the positions according to Jason.
Jason attempted to find work ( He never expressed if he got unemployment or not in the conversation.) but was unable to find work Several years passed and Jason was still not employed.
Jason explained he got depressed and in the process lost his apartment. He then started living in his car. Things got worse as he could not afford things like a cell phone, or car insurance. He finally got caught by the police in his car who had the car towed only allowing him to remove a few clothes and a sleeping bag. Currently he was sleeping anywhere he could find only in his sleeping bag.
He expressed he was at the lowest point of his life to us. Jason explained how he relied on friends and family for a while but wanted to make his own way back to recovery. Jason seemed to be a person with an education and decent manner and it made us ask can this happen anyone?
In my prior Down and Out in Reno blogs I discussed how hard it really is once you're homeless. Like Jason many people become depressed, they rely on family and friends till the welcome mat is no longer out. Also running into issues with the police with living in cars or in parks. Though there are shelters and programs available there is limited space and funding in these programs. While we admit we have no idea how much of this story told to us was true or not it seemed the fact was this man named Jason was homeless. This story only reflects some of the other stories we have been told doing research for Down and Out in Reno series.
It is estimated by several agencies that people that are considered homeless in Washoe County runs near 1000 people. People want to believe that because Reno and surrounding areas are booming with jobs, and a strong economy that the homeless and poverty should be less of an issue. This just simply is false because higher prices on homes, rentals, and food, gas and other things many people still are in need. Recently in the news food banks had been stressed in Reno area with the amount of people needing help with food.
The simple fact is there is more need and the signs of people panhandling is very apparent in the Reno area. The food banks, food kitchens and programs are constantly packed. There is an issue here and more people need to pay attention to it.
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