Kenny calls for help for valley’s homeless

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 11:13 a.m.

After a daylong tour of homeless camps and shelters, Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny reiterated Tuesday a need to address homelessness and denounced fellow elected officials for rejecting her funding challenge.

Kenny followed the advice of a former homeless man, who last month told commissioners to learn about homeless lifestyles first-hand rather than meet in offices and form subcommittees in an attempt to resolve the problem.

In a tour last month Kenny dined with homeless shelter guests and walked the Las Vegas Wash to visit makeshift homes made of boxes, weeds and lumber.

"One thing I felt we didn't have a grasp on was the depth of the problem in the community," Kenny said. "The system has beaten these people down. They have no self-esteem; no desire to get back into the system."

Kenny spearheaded an effort to assist the homeless last month when she issued a challenge to the Las Vegas Valley's four cities to match funding offered by the county. Her hope was the $563,000 raised would allow the MASH Village homeless shelter to reopen its emergency tent for an additional nine months.

According to the plan, in which contributions reflect the number of homeless in that jurisdiction, Clark County offered to pitch in $230,809. It asked Las Vegas to contribute $191,403; Henderson, $78,813; North Las Vegas, $50,666; Boulder City, $11,309; and Mesquite, $5,629.

Boulder City was the only jurisdiction to respond, she said.

Commissioners balked at Henderson officials' claims that the city has no homeless problem and shouldn't be asked to contribute.

"It's sad to hear one of our jurisdictions say we don't have a problem, so we don't have do to anything," Commissioner Myrna Williams said. "We're a community; it affects all of us."

Kenny also said she was disappointed in Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's contention that the funding challenge was simply a "Band-Aid fix." She said the risk to the homeless population will only worsen during the winter.

"I'm sure he was not thinking about the immediate need," Kenny said.