Homeless pitch tent city near train tracks

RENO -- A tent city of about 130 homeless people has surfaced along the railroad tracks amid overflow conditions at shelters.

Mayor Bob Cashell said the encampment has been authorized by the city because of its proximity to food services and a men's shelter for the homeless. Officials are working to open two new permanent shelters as soon as possible, Cashell said.

"We're going to try to help (the homeless), and we're doing the best we can," the mayor told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Officials blame a tight economy for an increase in Reno's homeless population.

The Reno Area Alliance for the Homeless estimates 3,000 people around Reno are living in a temporary situation, including in a motel, a shelter or on the street.

Sandy Isham of Catholic Community Services said Saint Vincent's Dining Room usually serves 400 to 500 lunches a day but served 550 on Wednesday.

"The numbers do keep going up," Isham said. "For a non-holiday, that was a record for us. ... We're just in kind of a tougher economic period."

Bud Cardwell, director of the nearby men's shelter, said the camp is inadequate to meet the needs of the homeless. It has two portable toilets and several picnic benches.

"That is such a Band-Aid fix it's unbelievable," Cardwell said. "With the amount of the people we're dealing with, that space is totally inadequate."

Camp resident Jennie Oswalt, 51, said her 28-year-old daughter washes her hair in a bus station bathroom.

"It's hard to get a job when you can't take a shower," Oswalt said.

Her husband, Donvan Oswalt, said he has only landed work 21/2 days in a month.

"It's really competitive out here to earn money," he said. "What jobs that are out here you really have to fight for."

Cashell said those living in the camp are cooperating with authorities.

"It's sad. Some of the people are new homeless people," the mayor said. "You can look at them and their haircuts and tell they are people who have recently lost their jobs or apartments and are living in tents."

Police regularly patrol the area to ensure order, city spokesman Kevin Knutson said.

"We realize that, when the shelters are full, people have nowhere to go," Knutson said. "Police will patrol the area, and that is for their safety."

Rick Redding, executive director of the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission, said the population of the tent city gradually increased after overflow winter centers closed March 31.