Home for Christmas

Jace Radke

Friday, Dec. 25, 1998 | 10:27 a.m.

Instead of waking up Christmas morning to vacant lots, a pawn shop and auto repair yards near Main Street and Owens Avenue, 13-year-old Joe Fleming Jr. woke up next to a golf course in a house complete with a Christmas tree and presents.

Four homeless families have been given the gift of having a week to celebrate the holidays in luxury homes, thanks to efforts of Vacation Homes of Las Vegas and Interfaith Hospitality Network, a coalition of churches that provides shelter to families.

"We just wanted to give what we could give so that these families could have a nice Christmas week," Vacation Homes owner Jason Goldwater said. "To say that these families have had it rough would be an understatement."

Fleming and his father, Joe Fleming Sr., had been living on the streets near the borders of downtown and North Las Vegas when Interfaith stepped in, the father said.

"They basically took us from the curb and gave us a place to live," he said. "If there was someway to show my appreciation besides saying thank you, I would."

Interfaith gives homeless families a chance to get back on their feet by providing them with room and board for 30 days, program director Valerie Finley said. The families are sheltered during the nights at area churches with meals provided by congregation members. During the day, members can stay at the program's day home while parents look for work.

Vacation Homes, a Las Vegas company that rents out homes, condo and townhouses near two valley golf courses to visitors, approached Interfaith about providing a week's stay for the four families that the program is currently caring for.

Each was given a home from Dec. 20-27. Vacation Homes could have rented the homes for the holidays for a profit of between $20,000 and $50,000, Goldwater said.

"Jason (Goldwater) broke through the prejudices and stigmas associated with homeless people to give us one week of something that everyone dreams of having," Fleming Sr. said. "These people are taking time out of their lives to make ours a little more livable."

Victor Osborne is happy to be having Christmas with his wife, Janice, and 11-month-old son, James, in one of the vacation homes, but he was hoping to leave before today.

"I'm starting a new job at Wendy's on Thursday, and our goal is to get into an apartment as soon as we can," Osborne said. "Interfaith allowed us to save money for an apartment, and we're hoping to be in our own place to celebrate James' birthday (today)."

Osborne and his wife moved to Las Vegas from Denver.

"This program gave me a place where I knew my family would be warm and safe, while I was looking for a job," Osborne said.