My Series Down and Out in Reno Nevada

Sometimes you get a little distracted or busy but I started a documentary called Down and Out in Reno Nevada.

This documentary was all about the homeless issues in and around the Reno Nevada area.

I filmed 5 episodes on you tube and posted some photos albums on Facebook.

The last episode I filmed was pretty short under 2 minutes
I was attempting to keep the series around 15 minutes per episode.

I recently ran into a situation here in Reno and wanted to express that some States Like Oregon attempted to make Pan Handling against the law. However this was over turned in courts as most of the higher courts and laws find that Pan Handling is protected under the First Amendment as a form of Freedom of Speech.

However what I saw and recorded was a pure and simple SCAM to gain money from people.

So I was on South Virginia Street near Neil Road in a pretty busy shopping area near Whole Food Market. I drove into the parking lot and saw a man in a wheelchair with 2 small dogs holding a sign and I decided to hand him a few dollars through the window and go along my day.

I started to think in my mind I had not done anything with my series in a while so I decided to go back and see if this person would do a video or talk with me about his situation and why he was homeless and how he managed in a wheelchair.

However in my return I followed the man back to a camp that was made behind the back of the building in the dock area where not many people would have noticed the camp. The camp had been built up with pallets and card board into a nice little tiny box house complete with all the blankets and some type of lighting or heating device.

When the man stood up out of the wheelchair and started walking around the camp I felt really disappointed and felt I had been scammed. Not only that but he took off an a bike that was in the back as well. In the short video I posted you will see 3 bikes the wheelchair and the man walking around in the camp that was in the wheelchair.

Also there had been about 4 or 5 people in the camp as well. I did not find that unsettling because in other episodes I had found many homeless camps that had been shared by other homeless people.

I started my series as a way to see what could be done and why people had become homeless. In my discovery I wrote several blogs on the subject and researched poverty in the Reno area. While Reno and surrounding areas continue to grow the cost of living and housing expenses continue to rise as well.

Back to my story however I find it really disappointing that people lie and take advantage of people with the heart to stop and help in a small way.
You begin to think how many people out there are really scamming?

I caught on this day evidence of this scamming.

I was hoping to continue my series so look for some more videos and blogs and photos coming soon!