Transition to a new life

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 2:53 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: May 25, 2002

Lewis Blaylock and Kenneth Allen never thought they would find themselves here.

Both Vietnam veterans, Blaylock, 54, and Allen, 55, led productive lives after their Army years ended -- Blaylock as a welder and Allen as a motion picture set designer.

Divorces took a toll on them, and both found themselves homeless, crashing in relatives' houses.

They are two of the reasons that Bonanza View Apartments, 640 McKnight St. near Bonanza Road and Eastern Avenue, were built. The pair are among more than 50 tenants of the transitional housing units, which opened in January.

The apartments offer a step toward self-sufficiency, providing decent housing for low rent but requiring tenants to meet goals such as saving money in a bank, staying in self-help programs and staying off alcohol or drugs.

"In this job, you see a number of success stories and feel good about the work you do," said Beverly Johnson, executive director of the 75-unit complex that is a subsidiary of the 16-year-old HELP USA, the nation's largest builder of transitional housing with more than 2,300 units.

"You restore dignity in people by giving them responsibilities -- that includes everything from paying their rent on time to not losing their keys."

Tenants who lose their keys more than one time are charged $5 -- a lesson that will benefit them down the road in the private sector, Johnson said.

To help men like Blaylock and Allen achieve their goals of self sufficiency, Bonanza View offers employment training and counseling and helps them find permanent housing when the time is right for that big final step.

"I was determined never to be on the streets, but I also knew that living with my sister was going to be short term," said Blaylock, who was recommended to Bonanza View by a MASH Village program.

"I have only been here two months, so I really can't say for sure that I am going to make it," Blaylock said. "I want to work, but I don't know whether I will be well enough to get a job. My goal at this time is just to be useful."

Allen lived with relatives before admitting himself into the state mental hospital on West Charleston Boulevard last year to treat chronic depression. Once on medication, Allen sought help through the Salvation Army and was referred to the Bonanza View program.

"I had been depressed since I returned home from Vietnam, but I didn't realize it because I had a wife, a family, a good job, a $100,000 home -- everything," Allen said. "I will never again have in life what I had then, but I believe I can be happy again and be successful, just in a different way."

In addition to providing furnished studio apartments, Bonanza View offers amenities including a community room that serves as a meeting place for such programs as Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous, an on-site laundry facility and outdoor basketball and shuffleboard courts.

Those who qualify for residency pay 30 percent of their gross income -- which averages out to about $250 per month -- for an apartment that also includes starter items like pots, pans, utensils, linens and cleaning supplies.

As part of its contract with HELP USA, at least 75 percent of Bonanza View's occupants must be military veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that one-third of the nation's homeless are ex-military and that there are 275,000 homeless veterans in the United States -- 3,000 of them in Southern Nevada.

Johnson, who in the last eight years also has worked as housing administrator for the Economic Opportunity Board and in a similar post at Catholic Charities, says her goal is to return at least 66 percent of Bonanza View residents to permanent private residences.

That's an ambitious goal, say others in the transitional housing business.

"We have been providing transitional housing for eight years and have had no better than a 27 percent success rate any year," said Terry Ryder, president of the Key Foundation, which operates 42 units in five neighborhood homes.

"That's considered good by our industry's standards, although I'd like to get to 35 percent. But achieving a 66 percent success rate is way too ambitious. There are a lot of pitfalls like alcohol, drugs and gambling. Too many people fall back into old habits and there is only so much we can do to help them."

Bonanza View Apartments officials are increasing the chances by getting most of the tenants through referrals from agencies that believe they are good candidates to succeed at transitional housing.

Blaylock and Allen hope they find themselves among the success stories, but for now, they say, they count themselves among the fortunate, especially when they go for a walk on city streets and pass homeless encampments.

"I have empathy for them -- they make me realize I am blessed," Allen said. "No question there are hard-core homeless people who don't want to change. But many others want to improve their lives. If there were more of these type of apartments it definitely would help those who want to be helped."