Last year, 27 indigent people, identified by service groups as homeless, died in Washoe County. That’s a statistic that is personal for Aria Overli, an organizer with the community group ACTIONN.
A few years ago, her sister moved into her apartment after being evicted from her own place. Rising medical bills left her unable to afford rent.
Last March, she took her own life.
“For me, that’s a housing issue,” Overli said, her voice cracking as she stood in front of one of the dilapidated weekly motels. “People are literally dying because there’s not adequate housing.”
Civic groups such as ACTIONN, local elected representatives and interfaith clergy toured several of the motor lodges over the summer, hoping to create a strategy to address Reno’s housing problem.
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