Where I Stand — Garth Winckler: High-growth giving

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

Editor's note: In August Where I Stand is written by guest columnists. Today's guest, Garth Winckler, is president of the United Way of Southern Nevada.

I'm proud to call Southern Nevada my home. Ours is an exciting community, filled with hope and promise and a can-do attitude. We are home to a volcano, Monte Carlo, the Eiffel Tower and the world's largest Coke bottle. It's fun to take out-of-town visitors on a ride down the Strip.

Our community's developmental stage can be likened to the teenage years -- wanting to grow up, but still forming our values, searching for identity and experiencing such rapid growth that we're left a little uncoordinated as we adjust to our new size. As we grow, it's easy to see the physical changes our community is going through. New schools, roads, housing developments and businesses are popping up everywhere. But when it comes to the "human service" infrastructure -- which includes programs and services to meet the needs of the people who now live here -- we don't measure up to more "mature" cities.

Most people moving to Southern Nevada and fueling our economy tend to be young adults seeking jobs and starting their families or retirees seeking to enjoy the positive lifestyle our valley has to offer. Both of these groups are potentially the highest consumers of health and human services.

Because most newcomers have left their traditional support systems behind, they turn to the community for help when things go wrong. The promise of Las Vegas often does not match the reality. Financial hardship, family stress or an illness can all trigger a need for help.

Unfortunately, charitable giving and voluntarism lag behind growth, and demand for assistance often exceeds our capacity to respond. Rapid change makes finding the help that is available harder to access.

The result of all of this is that Southern Nevada ranks in the bottom quartile of almost every human service measure. For example, Nevada ranks 45th in the nation in the percent of children lacking health care. In the city of Las Vegas, 21.4 percent of teen births are to women who are already mothers, and in 1999 there were approximately 50,000 children living below the federal poverty level ($13,884 a year for a working parent with two children). Last year 5,000 kids dropped out of school.

At the same time, we are home to some of the most creative, caring and effective human service programs in the country. These programs are successfully keeping kids in school, providing youngsters with safe places to go after school, helping families maintain self-sufficiency, and helping older adults remain vital and independent. Our challenge, as a community, is to bring these successful programs to scale so that all in need may benefit.

And that's where local charities come in. We want to be partners in building a better, more caring community. Over the past three years United Way of Southern Nevada -- through the efforts of hundreds of committed volunteers and more than 80,000 donors -- has made significant progress in raising more money (from $7 million to over $11 million). These contributions are being invested in more than 140 local programs, which are producing measurable results for people needing help and for our community.

Things are getting better. Still, our United Way is well below the national giving average for all local United Ways. The same can be said for charitable giving to the arts, the Jewish Federation, or most other local charities.

For all of you who are not native Nevadans, it's time to call Southern Nevada home! It's time for big citizenship -- get to know your neighbors, vote, volunteer, give of yourself and get involved! We're all from somewhere, but we're all here now, so let's take this growth machine we call Las Vegas and turn it into a true community -- one that provides hope, caring and a helping hand when needed to all of our fellow Southern Nevadans. It will help us grow up.