Valley homeless search for refuge

Greg Harman

Monday, Aug. 21, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

In the sandy washes on the outskirts of southeastern Henderson, in abandoned automobiles and on city buses steering through illuminated corridors, Henderson's hundreds of homeless sleep.

There are no shelters in the fastest-growing city in the United States. Those who want a bed to sleep in go to Las Vegas, which has been bearing the brunt of this regional problem.

But despite the lack of shelters coupled with an ordinance making it illegal to sleep outdoors, most of Henderson's homeless don't want to leave this suburb. Some are scared of the inner-city shelters, others have an emotional connection to Henderson.

"Henderson has said, 'We don't really care. Why don't you go somewhere else?' " said the Rev. Lloyd Rupp, pastor of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church and chairman of Friends in the Desert, a group dedicated to feeding Henderson's homeless. "They say, 'We're Henderson people. We're not going anywhere.' "

An informational campaign launched by the Henderson Police Department in 1998 encouraged business owners, mostly in the less affluent downtown area, to hang signs in their windows urging customers not to give money to panhandlers.

The action followed complaints from business owners and residents, Henderson Police Officer Ed Veatch said.

Police stepped up enforcement of panhandling and loitering laws, which reduced the number of visible homeless in the area, he added.

Five months after a UNLV survey revealed 293 homeless men, women and children in Henderson -- highlighting the need for increased services by both the public and private agencies -- Henderson city officials made it even more difficult to be without a home in Henderson.

An anti-camping ordinance adopted by the Henderson City Council in March made it a misdemeanor to sleep outside on private or public land "with or without bedding, tent, hammock" between 11 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. It further outlawed unpermitted campfires and sleeping in trailers outside designated areas.

The new ordinance was approved March 21 without discussion.

City Manager Phil Speight said the ordinance -- despite its focus on campsites and campfires -- was not focused on the homeless but aimed at keeping people from living in mobile homes on residential streets or from sleeping in parked cars on their way through Henderson.

In fact, he noted, "I know we have not taken a more aggressive approach with the homeless people we have at City Hall right here" -- those who rest during the day in the shade provided by the municipal building.

Police Chief Mike Mayberry said his department requested the ordinance and has enforced it in areas of town.

"It is not intended to drive the homeless out of town or anything like that," Mayberry said. Instead the new law was used to clean up areas of town that were becoming "extremely unsanitary" because of the buildup of human waste.

"These areas have been cleaned up," he added.

Neighboring city officials accuse Henderson of simply exporting the homeless problem out of town, and the October homeless census prepared by UNLV's sociology department supports that contention.

The report recorded far higher numbers of homeless in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas -- 3,932 and 1,154 respectively -- and determined that "Las Vegas is bearing the economic and social burden for the regional issue of homelessness."

"Other local jurisdictions," the report noted, "have enjoyed the benefits of 'exporting' many of these social costs to the city of Las Vegas, where the vast majority of homeless services are provided."

Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly agreed there is a disparity of services.

"Every municipality needs to do their fair share. It takes more than writing a check and giving it lip service," Weekly said. "I know in the city of Las Vegas we are definitely doing our fair share, particularly in Ward 5."

And Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has promised to "elicit the cooperation" of the other municipalities to help take the heat off of Las Vegas' stretched social services at an upcoming meeting of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Commission.

"There's no question that we have become a haven for the (homeless) services we provide," Goodman said.

Though discussions with area charities have not yet turned toward the possibility of building a shelter in Henderson, the city has increased its funding for homeless and homeless prevention programs from about $40,000 in fiscal 2000, which ended June 30, to almost $100,000 this year.

Rupp, whose church feeds about 60 people a day, five days a week, insists the city needs a shelter.

"There are a lot of people who are homeless and want to be, but there are a lot of people who really want and need shelter. Some we try to find space for in Las Vegas, but they, especially those with children, say it's too scary. It's too dangerous down there," Rupp said.

"We expect our government will -- as a sign of its authenticity -- provide for those at the bottom."