Mothers feel like family at homeless shelter barbecue

Nichole Davis

Monday, May 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

It was too hot to hold the second annual MASH Village Mother's Day Barbecue outside.

But the delicious food and friendly service brought smiles to the faces of the nearly 200 participants who ate inside the city-sponsored homeless shelter Sunday.

"This was good today," participant Claudia Dunn said of the hamburgers, corn chips and pecan pie she munched after an afternoon nap on her day off.

It was a nice respite for Dunn, who requested that we use a different name for this story. She can't afford the $84-a-month food plan offered at the shelter, so most of the time she eats while she's out.

"I have people who will feed me," she said. But there wasn't anyone who could take her in last month when, without warning, her roommate tossed her out.

Unfortunately, her story is all too common. Unstable living conditions, addictions, physical abuse and poor financial planning are just a few of the reasons women end up at the Village. Some of them, like Dunn, continue to hold down their jobs. Others seek out financial assistance.

That's why these events are important, officials say. The mothers "feel respected and cared about. It gives them a sense of being recognized, that they're important," division Director Yolanda Morales said. "It lifts their spirits."

It meant even more to event organizer Rosann Sirody, who lived in her car at the edge of the Riviera hotel-casino parking lot when she moved to Las Vegas several years ago.

"When I had my problems, this place wasn't built," she said. "If it had, I wouldn't have had to scrounge around for a place to take a shower."

Despite her own experience, it wasn't until Sirody was mistaken as a homeless person and denied entrance to a North Las Vegas casino on New Year's Day two years ago that she made volunteer work a priority. She had been carrying a bag of groceries from 7-Eleven and curling irons after curling hair at a women's shelter.

"You never know what's going to happen," she said in frustration. "Your house could burn down, anything."

Community support for the barbecue was widespread. Nevada-American Mothers, a public service group, donated the food for the second year in a row. The Clark County School District donated baskets with hygiene supplies for all the mothers with children, and Mirage Resorts donated cosmetic bags for the single women.

North Las Vegas Mayor James Seastrand and his wife stopped by, and the dads in the shelter's Family Living Center cooked the barbecue and served it to the moms.

"We loved it," said volunteer Connie Stroughton of Freedom Ministries, which sent a singing group to the two-hour event. "The best part was seeing the ladies getting up and letting loose."