Good Cops, Bad Cops

Reno cops did a good thing and a bad thing yesterday. They gave 2 little boys brand-new cool bikes and helmets. The bad thing is that these boys and their 4 siblings and mom and dad are without a home and living in what would be understated to say cramped quarters in a little motel.

So these boys have cool bikes and no place to ride them, or no place to put them. Dad is going to put the bikes in storage, so these 2 boys may someday get to ride their bikes, but this, I'm afraid, won't happen soon enough.

The family fears having to live in this motel room for long--and after visiting with them yesterday I'd fear that too because you'd go crazy trying to cope with 6 kids...

• keeping kids under control to not disturb other motel guests,
• ensuring their kids are safe while around the motel area,
• working (yes, both parents work),
• knowing that chances of finding another place are slim-to-none,
• guiding their kids in coping with this dysfunctional situation,
• assembling enough money to get another place to live,
• feeding the kids,
• making sure homework gets done, and
• making sure they get to school.

And that's just the top of the list. The family was evicted because the house was condemned. The landlord allegedly didn't make needed repairs to make the house habitable. He also allegedly bought a brand new luxury car for $65k.

And sad things in Reno for families--they have no shelter for families. They have a men's shelter to address the government's chronic homelessness push--taking highly visible homeless adults and dealing with their homelessness.

But the invisible homeless families? Too bad for them....

You can't have your bike and ride it too.

DDN