FEATURE
STORY
| Eradicating Homelessness,
One Person at a Time |
|
 Giving
back to the community is a hallmark of Real Estate professionals
in Southern Nevada and across the nation. The Real Estate
community, which earns its living by helping people to find
homes, is especially well-invested in programs that help the
homeless. The most comprehensive such event in Las Vegas is
called Project Homeless Connect, which connects homeless people
with more than 80 service providers. The goal is lofty: to
eliminate homelessness in the next 10 years.
Project Homeless Connect is
a daylong event that helps thousands among Southern Nevada’s
homeless population. One of the event’s organizers,
Gina Jackson of the Nevada Homeless Alliance, says that eliminating
homelessness is the only viable goal because “everyone
deserves a roof over their head.” On April 10, 2008,
and again on October 8, hundreds of volunteers gather at the
Cashman Center to assess the needs of each homeless attendee
and to connect every guest with the appropriate services.
Project Homeless Connect
offers the city’s homeless “a hand up, not a handout.”
When a homeless attendee enters the Cashman Center, he or
she is immediately greeted by a volunteer and taken to the
intake table, where another volunteer assess the attendee’s
situation. Once the intake volunteer has determined which
services will be most beneficial to getting the attendee off
the streets, a third volunteer escorts the attendee to the
appropriate booths.
The attendee can receive
housing assistance, employment placement, food stamps, help
in the court system, immunizations, dental care, government
IDs, haircuts, and a host of other services. All of the services
are designed to help the attendee toward reclaiming a position
in the working community. Once the attendee has been connected
with the necessary services, volunteers serve a hot lunch
and provide a take-away bag with clothing, toiletries, and
enough food to constitute three meals.
 During
the November 2007 event, 2,692 attendees received help. Of
the nearly 300 people who received housing, more than 80 percent
have stayed off the streets. In addition, more than 70 attendees
were connected with jobs, 2,500 were immunized, and 1,500
received government identification cards—a necessity
for gaining stable employment.
Project Homeless Connect has
brought together the donations and resources of dozens of
community and corporate partners. In addition, hundreds of
individuals have volunteered their time to greet the attendees
in line, help with intake, guide the attendees among the service
providers, serve food, and to help in other ways. In fact,
one local high school is sending its entire football team
to set up the booth curtains on the day before the event.
More volunteers are needed.
Volunteer spokesperson Kim Amato says that giving your time
to a worthy cause is a source of immense personal satisfaction.
“We need the community to come forward to donate funds
and volunteers,” she says. “This is the best thing
we do as a community.”
Fighting homelessness is not
only a moral issue, but an economic one as well. Las Vegas
deputy city manager Orlando Sanchez, chair of the Southern
Nevada Regional Planning Coalition’s Committee on Homelessness,
says that homelessness costs the taxpayers in terms of emergency
room visits, extended hospital stays, ambulance services,
incarcerations, and court cases. For instance, Orlando points
out that keeping someone in jail costs $100 per day. In addition,
the retail economy is affected by lost business due to panhandling.
“Homelessness is a serious issue that affects us all,”
says Orlando.
 Kim
says that it takes between three and four months for an unemployed
person to become homeless. However, once a person has slid
into homelessness, it can take three times that long to reorient
into the working community. A recent census recorded more
than 11,000 homeless people in Southern Nevada. That figure
includes more than 3,700 chronically homeless children. In
fact, the number of homeless children enrolled in the Clark
County School District shot up 55 percent in a single year.
Increasingly, homelessness is spreading into the family arena.
Project Homeless Connect has
undergone a long and consistent growth. Begun in the 1990s
as Stand Down for the Homeless, the event was originally held
once per year. Its services were limited to basic medical
services and haircuts. But in 2006 the event grew in scope,
bringing together dozens of businesses and community organizations.
In 2007 the event was renamed Project Homeless Connect in
cooperation with an organization in San Francisco of the same
name. In 2008 the event became biannual, and the goal is that
by 2012 the event will be held quarterly.
 As
Project Homeless Connect continues to work toward the goal
of eliminating homelessness, the biggest challenge is to include
the greater community. According to Gina, people in the community
are naturally compassionate but need to get involved with
grassroots projects like Project Homeless Connect in order
to become visually and emotionally connected to homelessness.
“All it takes is compassion,” says Gina, “and
the belief that everyone deserves a home and a hot shower.”
Real Estate professionals
are on the front lines of finding homes for clients looking
to buy or rent homes. The Real Estate community also has a
long history of volunteering for and sponsoring organizations
that fight homelessness. To learn more about Project Homeless
Connect, visit www.helphopehome.org
or call (702) 455-2699.
Project
Homeless Connect Services
Project Homeless Connect
provides free services to homeless attendees, including:
- medical services (flu shots, immunizations,
dental van, HIV tests, mammography van)
- housing assistance
- employment opportunities
- VA services
- behavior and addiction assistance
- legal help
- identification (birth certificates,
DMV identifications)
- haircuts
- food (hot lunch, take-away meals, food
stamps)
- a take-away package (socks, shirts,
blankets, caps, toiletries)
Project
Homeless Connect Sponsors & Partners
In addition to the 80-plus
service providers, many businesses and community organizations
have offered time, funds, and in-kind donations. Such organizations
include:
- Assistance League
- B&P Advertising Media Public Relations
- Catholic Charities
- City of Henderson
- City of Las Vegas
- Clark County Social Services
- Clark County School District
- Cox Communications
- Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
- E RealEstateExec
- Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- MGM Mirage
- Nevada Homeless Alliance
- Nevada Legal Services
- Social Security Administration
- Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition
- The Salvation Army
- Three Square
- Univision Radio
- US Airways
- Veterans Administration
- Wells Fargo
- Whole Foods
- and many, many others.
Photography: Britt
Pierson
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