More beds sought for area’s growing homeless population

Denise Cardinal

Monday, May 11, 1998 | 9:50 a.m.

There are about 17,000 homeless people in the Las Vegas Valley, according to an analysis conducted last year by the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition, but only about 1,218 beds available for them.

Other disturbing statistics about the state of homelessness in Southern Nevada were shared by the coalition with state and local officials at a "Focus on the Future" meeting hosted by the coalition on Thursday.

"They need to listen to us," said Brian Brooks, chairman of the committee and special projects coordinator fo the Community Health Centers of Southern Nevada. "We're the ones who work with the homeless every day. We know them."

The number of homeless in Las Vegas is comparable to the proportions in other cities, coalitions members said.

More than 7,000 interviews conducted by the coalition in the past four years revealed the following about the homeless in Las Vegas:

One especially disturbing statistic -- 38 homeless people died in Las Vegas last year, most unidentified -- came the day after the naked body of a homeless woman was found near Blue Diamond.

"She had just received her homeless ID card on April 24," Brooks said.

Almost all of the homeless found dead in the city are either victims of crime or weather exposure. Almost 20 of the 38 that died last year were not identified.

Solutions to the city's need for more beds were addressed by the coalition, which is looking at purchasing a couple of pre-fabricated building systems to house the additional number of homeless.

The system is a mobile homeless shelter that can sleep up to 250 people each. The estimated cost of each building would be $512,000.

"It's an excellent alternative to a permanent building because it can be moved," he said. "They provide shelter from both the heat and the cold and we can add portable sinks and washbasins and toilets to the outside."

Finding appropriate buildings to house the city's homeless is the second largest problem the coalition has next to funding. Brooks said that if cities, county and the state enforced their laws regarding homeless shelters, all of the involved organizations would be in violation.

"We have a problem meeting those minimum standards they set forth," he said. "Especially in the area of providing bunks, potable water and toilets. It's a funding problem -- not an attitude of the shelters -- we just have limited funds."

Officials at the meeting pledged their support of the project, and the coalition is moving forward in soliciting funds for the buildings.