Seeking shelter

Thursday, July 29, 1999 | 11:42 a.m.

Tuy Seiler lives in a studio apartment the size of a two-car garage, but the 67-year-old native of Vietnam couldn't be happier if her temporary residence at the new St. Vincent-HELP apartments were a 20-room mansion.

"Thank God for this place," she said. "I didn't have any place else to go."

Before coming here she spent eight months at a group home for women in Henderson. The time limit for staying at the home was nine months, so Seiler was facing homelessness.

Residents of St. Vincent may live there two years, during which time staff counselors help them find permanent homes and jobs if they don't have one.

Seiler is grateful to have been one of the first chosen to move into one of the 120 new apartments in the complex at 1501 Las Vegas Blvd. North, which opened May 4 and already has 90 occupants.

Seiler is so proud of her accommodations she spends much of her time cleaning the small space -- a spartan 200-square-foot bedroom that has a kitchenette on one side and a bed on the other. The only other room in the apartment is the bathroom.

To qualify for an apartment here, residents must be single and either homeless, on the verge of becoming homeless or already be living in emergency shelters or transitional housing.

Residents also must have an income of not more than $10,900.

They pay 30 percent of their income for rent, to a maximum of $272 per month.

Seiler, who came to the United States in 1966 and has lived in Las Vegas since 1984, squeezes by on about $400 per month from Social Security. Two years ago the former blackjack dealer injured her hip while on a city bus and is now in too much pain to return to her former career, though she says she is determined to find some kind of job.

"I didn't want to quit work but it became so painful I had to," she said. "I don't know what I will do. Right now, I am just trying to take care of my medical problems."

When Seiler isn't cleaning her apartment she might be found taking pills -- last year, she estimates, she was prescribed 200 different medications.

Pills for her heart. Pills for her blood pressure. Pills for pain. Pills to calm her down. Pills to make her sleep.

Beverly Johnson, administrator of the transitional living facility managed by Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, says Seiler is like many people who now reside at the apartment complex.

"Their lives are in turmoil when they arrive here. Our job is to calm things down. We help them make a transition," Johnson said. "We're here to help them get back on their feet."

About 5 percent of St. Vincent's residents are women. Twenty apartments are set aside for senior citizens, 20 for the disabled.

During the two years a person may live here, counselors help them find work and provide job readiness training, health care services and permanent housing placement.

For the senior citizens, the goal is to find permanent housing, such as a long-term care center if appropriate or other affordable situations. For the disabled, it is to find permanent housing and work, if appropriate.

Many potential employers send representatives to the facility to take applications.

Johnson said 40 percent of the current residents are employed. Most of them have jobs obtained through the efforts of counselors at the apartment complex.

In addition to job development counseling, residents are taught about hygiene, they are required to set up a savings account so they will have money in the bank when they leave for a permanent residence and they are encouraged to start a checking account.

Three meals a day are available in a community kitchen, though each apartment has its own kitchen space.

There is a community room where residents may watch a big-screen television that was donated to the facility.

A shuffleboard court is being built on the grounds, but life is far from fun and games here.

All residents are responsible for their living spaces and they must follow a strict set of rules.

Alcohol and drugs are not permitted on the premises.

"After 11 p.m., you must show your ID to get in because there is a good chance those coming in late may be intoxicated," Johnson said.

A breath test may be given to residents suspected of drinking. If they are drunk they are sent next door to Catholic Charities for the night.

"All new residents are given a three-hour orientation and then they are required to sign a lease contract. They know what their responsibilities are," Johnson said. "We've got a lot of rules, but we have to have to keep things running as they should be."

The project was a joint effort by Catholic Charities and HELP USA, a national organization that provides housing for the homeless. The facility was built at a cost of $7.4 million and has an annual operating budget of $900,000.

Major contributors to the project included Enterprise Social Investment Corp., an affiliate of the Enterprise Foundation, which donated $5.2 million; HUD, $2.7 million; the Clark County HOME Program $600,000; the Las Vegas HOME Program, $465,000 and Norwest Bank of Nevada, $420,000.