Las Vegas officials remind nonprofit groups of many grant opportunities

Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000 | 9:55 a.m.

Las Vegas officials toured the renamed ISIGHT Center for the Blind on Tuesday to raise awareness about funding available for such community nonprofits.

The ISIGHT Center, formerly called the Las Vegas Center for the Blind, assists blind and visually impaired people through activities that promote independence, productivity and self-esteem.

ISIGHT volunteers sell ceramic creations and offer chair-caning repair in an effort to raise money so that the center's services can be provided free to those in need.

City Councilman Lawrence Weekly and the Neighborhood Services Department staff led the city tour of the center in hopes of using the event to make similar facilities aware of a grant-application process soon to begin.

Community needs meetings are required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to be held before the city opens the grant application process.

Those meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the following dates: Sept. 11 at the Stupak Community Center; Sept. 14 at the Rafael Rivera Center; Sept. 19 at the Howard Cannon Center; and Sept. 21 at the West Las Vegas Library.

The city administers Community Development Block Grants, HOME grants and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) grants.

Applications for grants will be available Oct. 2 and are due Nov. 3. The city will hold a workshop Oct. 5 at the Charleston Heights Center to help nonprofits with the grant applications.