Catholic Charities helps find jobs for homeless

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999 | 9:43 a.m.

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada says by Friday it will have placed workers in 21,000 day-labor jobs this year.

The agency is considered one of the -- if not the -- largest day-labor employer in the state.

More importantly, the agency says, it has made strides in putting the homeless to work in full-time positions, which has moved a number of them off the streets and into their own homes or transitional housing.

"We have placed more than 400 men in full-time employment," Catholic Charities spokeswoman Sharon Mann said. "In addition, we place more than 60 men every day in labor jobs throughout the year.

"We would like people to know how homeless men are being helped off the street and rehabilitated to become contributing citizens of our community."

She said the program provides more than a paycheck for the down-and-out.

"The employment program helps men rebuild self-confidence and readjust to the discipline of working," Mann said.

"Many homeless men are willing and able to work. However, they may lack the resources to look for a job. They have no address, no transportation and sometimes no proper identification."

Each person in the program is provided with a shelter bed, three meals a day including a sack lunch for work, free clothing, a low-cost haircut and transportation or bus tokens to get to job sites, telephone services, a mailing address, access to a personal locker, job counseling and leads and referrals, Mann said.