It’s 4 p.m. today. A biting November wind starts to whip around downtown Reno. Seth, who gave a different name than his real name for fear of reprisal, with a wagon full of his clothes and his Chihuahua perched on top, is pacing back and forth in the parking lot of the Travelodge on Virginia street near the Walgreens.
“I have no idea what my next move will be,” he says, looking distraught.
He has just gotten a knock and told his time at the Travelodge is up as the latest $200 weekly payment he was making to stay at the evacuated and closed Lakemill Lodge has run out.
Three moms and former Lakemill residents, Lee, Leah and Misty, all wearing friend bracelets they made for each other, text and call each other frantically throughout the day, comparing the evolving plights of the looming homelessness they face.
Owners of the Lakemill, who also run the Travelodge and a local Econo Lodge, said they might be willing to accept old residents back once they are allowed to reopen, but at this point, there’s no telling when that might happen.
Today, residents were going to the Lakemill office to pick up their deposit money.
Residents were all abruptly forced out last Wednesday without any prior notice after syringes and human feces were reportedly found in common areas of the Lakemill. They were given little to no time to pack what they could, “for just a few days,” according to their recollections of what police told them.
A public communications specialist with the City of Reno J. Diego Zarazúa wrote Our Town Reno that “Code Enforcement received a complaint there was rotting food, garbage and people living in the stairwell. Representatives from the Reno Police Department, Code Enforcement and Northern Nevada Public Health conducted a site inspection as a matter of public safety. Tenants were not given notice, as the common areas were inspected based on the complaints received. All four stairwells were deemed a public health and safety hazard and were temporarily condemned causing the unforeseen evacuation of tenants.”
In terms of when the Lakemill might be allowed to reopen, Zarazúa wrote “Northern Nevada Public Health, Building Compliance and Code Enforcement will re-inspect the stairwells and other parts of the building to ensure the health threat has been remediated. An inspection will be coordinated with the different government entities after the property owner supplies Northern Nevada Public Health with the required remediation plans.” No indication of a timeline was included in the response.
The attached grocery store remained open today,
Seth has now been told to go back to the evacuated Lakemill Lodge, and get his deposit back in the form of a $100 check, without any indication of where he might be able to sleep. The walk is at least 20 minutes, so by the time he gets there, it will be too late to walk back to a bank to cash it.
Misty got the knock at her Travelodge temporary room earlier in the day. Lee, the only one in the trio of mom friends with a car, drove her to Heritage Bank to cash the check. Cops then took Misty to Lakemill and gave her ten minutes to clear out her room at the motel which is now taped off.
She then took her own wagon to a Motel 6 by foot, where she’s being charged $50 a night. She used to be homeless and now fears she’ll be homeless again as her money is about to run out.
Lee got several knocks today from Travelodge staff, telling her her time there is up as well. She keeps telling them her $800 monthly payment was still good for several more days. After we left, she said she was called on the motel phone saying tomorrow would be her last day allowed at the Travelodge. After she complained, they gave her until Saturday.
One of the friendship bracelets the trio of mom friends made for each other.
The Lakemill owners are housing people at other lodging locations they own until whatever payments they had for the Lakemill on Mill street run out.
Lee blames them for allowing unsafe conditions at the Lakemill, in the first place, including being permissive of people buying and using drugs in its stairwells, while allowing people who didn’t live there to have loud and late parties in the motel’s parking lots.
She had been staying there since January since it was way cheaper for her dog and her to stay than in her previous spot, a Siegel Suites where rent was $1400 with the pet deposit. In addition to being cheaper, the Lakemill also had a much bigger space and kitchen area for her living arrangements. Her mother recently passed away and she was trying to save up to figure out her next move now that her kids are grown up.
Misty is also a mom, separated from the father of her kids, who wears the friendship bracelets along with a third former resident Leah.
“While we don't have an exact number of Lakemill Lodge tenants displaced, approximately 69 households were provided some service by city staff, city contractors or partner agencies. This includes 24 individuals who were provided transportation by RISE and Karma Box,” Zarazúa wrote.
The three say they’ve received no such help, not even a list of contacts to call to seek help.
The Tavelodge is one of the places where former Lakemill residents were initially allowed to stay until their latest rent payments ran out.
“The City of Reno HAND staff walked door to door with the task force team to assess family size and potential assistance needed,” Zarazúa also wrote, but the three say they did not get that type of check-in. “Some households utilized the City’s rental deposit assistance program and were assisted at alternate locations. Some with children were provided alternate accommodations in coordination with Washoe County agencies. Some were provided accommodations at a few local motels, offered by the property owner to tenants who were current on rent payments.”
The three and Seth initially qualified for that last option, until their latest payments ran out.
In recent days, Leah has been staying at the Econo Lodge, while having to leave behind 10 cats and kittens at the Lakemill Lodge. She has a teenage son, and he’s been doing an internship at school in sowing, but wasn’t even allowed to go back inside to get his needed equipment.
All three say the forced relocation has cost them most of their savings, having to buy new hygiene products and costly food, since at the new motels they just have tiny fridges and microwaves.
Concerning left behind animals, Shyanne Schull the director of Washoe County Regional Animal Services wrote to Our Town Reno: “We handed out some dog sweaters for some of the smaller dogs and provided cat carriers for those that did not have a way to transport their cats safely. Additionally, on Friday, we responded again with additional cat carriers, dog sweaters and leashes and dog food. My team worked with Reno Code Enforcement and the manager of Lakemill Lodge to identify the 5 remaining units that had animals inside. The animals were safely evacuated from the rooms by Lake Mill Management and Code Enforcement, and to our knowledge, there were not any owned animals left behind.”
Another group of former Lakemill residents was put up at a Motel 6 but were all kicked out after reports of vandalism and theft.
“On Monday morning, HAND staff reached out to Motel 6 to confirm that the owner of Lakemill Lodge had arranged for an extension of stay for these residents,” Zarazúa wrote. “However, the Motel 6 manager informed us that they were no longer welcome at the establishment. The manager cited instances of property damage and noted concerns over occupancy limits, as there were reportedly 4-5 individuals per room, often accompanied by multiple animals of different species.”