Editorial: Shelter is closing; opportunity knocks

Tuesday, April 2, 2002 | 8:31 a.m.

MASH Village as a permanent and progressive assistance center for homeless people had a lot of promise when it opened eight years ago. Today, with homeless needs even more pressing, the promise is shattered. St. Vincent de Paul Management, which operated the shelter, has announced it will pull out of Las Vegas in six months. But all is not lost.

The MASH Village era provided the Las Vegas Valley with an invaluable lesson -- there needs to be leadership that will survive changes in political administrations. There is an opportunity now to begin again the task of building a comprehensive program. This time, local governments might want to appoint a homeless coordinator. The person in this position would have the challenging task of inspiring cooperation among all homeless shelters and agencies that work in this field. With MASH, other organizations built up resentment because at first this new kid on the block received funding that dwarfed their budgets. Now that MASH is leaving, let's see a real plan emerge, one that recognizes the need for leadership, fund-raising and cooperation.