Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Center has a crisis of its own

The last remaining building in what was one of the Las Vegas Valley's largest facilities for the homeless will close June 30 if North Las Vegas and Henderson don't help fund it, Mayor Oscar Goodman said in a letter obtained by the Sun.

"The city of Las Vegas and Clark County will not proceed with funding the Crisis Intervention Center without the cooperation and contributions from other entities," Goodman wrote in the April 15 letter addressed to Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey.

Goodman and others from the city and county have argued that the center -- a one-stop shop providing services from different public and private agencies -- helps homeless people from all over the valley.

"We support your efforts ... to foster a truly regional response to this critical community issue," wrote Kincaid-Chauncey in response to Goodman.

But North Las Vegas and Henderson officials have historically countered that their money is better spent on other services and several said Wednesday that any requests for help will have to be weighed against competing needs.

"It's traditionally been North Las Vegas' position to fund other avenues to prevent homelessness, instead of short-term services to help the homeless," said Jacque Risner, director for the North Las Vegas department of community development.

She said North Las Vegas addresses the problem of homelessness through programs such as low-income housing.

"It's not that we don't think the center is valuable ... we've just had to prioritize," Risner said.

Steven Kirk, councilman for Henderson and a member of the Southern Nevada Homelessness Task Force, said he would have to look at how his city is spending money to treat the problem before making any decision on the center.

"They want us to help them keep it open and that's noble, but we want to make sure we're not duplicating services in Henderson," Kirk said.

The nonprofit Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada will meet with Risner May 6 to argue on behalf of keeping the center open. The group is looking to meet with Henderson officials as well.

"Closing the center would cost local municipalities more than keeping it open because it would mean more homeless people in emergency rooms and jails," said Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director for the nonprofit.

A patchwork of funds kept the center open from Oct. 1 to the end of February, after its former administrator, MASH Village, pulled out last fall. From Feb. 28 to the end of June, the city and county each gave the center $80,000.

MASH Village included a shelter for homeless families, a tent to provide winter shelter for men and a clinic, as well as the center. The center was built to house more than 30 agencies offering services ranging from counseling to food stamps.

But when MASH Village left due to a lack of money, Catholic Charities took over and ran the center until June 30.

Since Catholic Charities has been at the helm, the center has helped from 2,500 to 3,000 clients a month, said Frank Richo, director of residential services for the nonprofit.

"It's no secret that this is a valuable service," he said. "Once that argument's been made, there's nothing to be said."

Keeping the center open would cost about $480,000 a year, Richo said.

One of the nine agencies that has continued hanging its shingle at the center in recent months has been Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, a state agency.

Maurice Silva, a social worker for the agency, sees from 25 to 50 clients a week. In the three years he has been at the center, he has seen it threatened with closure three or four times, he said.

"It's real unfortunate...since studies have shown that the mentally ill and veterans are two of the most underserved populations, and the center helps them both," he said.

"They come to me talk about stuff that might be insignificant to you or me, but it's important to them," he said of his clients.

Silva also finds his clients in the streets and washes throughout the valley.

"The homeless population is definitely pretty spread out and I always have to refer them back here, to downtown Las Vegas," the social worker said.

Elaine Sanchez, Goodman's spokeswoman, said the letter speaks for itself and that the city and county should no longer have to bear the burden of keeping the center open.

"He has pleaded with these entities before," she said. "How much pleading does he have to do?"

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