City finds itself at center of homeless services battle

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Monday, June 16, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

Henderson, a city that had dubbed itself "A Place to Call Home," has found itself in the center of a debate over services for the Las Vegas Valley's homeless.

Earlier this month, after the Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously to pull funding for a one-stop shop for homeless services in downtown Las Vegas, Mayor Oscar Goodman pointed a finger at his suburban neighbor for failing to respond to his call for area municipalities to share the center's cost.

North Las Vegas, after some hesitation, had committed $40,000 to the nine-year-old Crisis Intervention Center if other municipalities would carry their share.

"Had Henderson bought in ... we'd still have a (center)," Goodman said last week.

Henderson officials have defended their stance, saying the suburb supports nonprofit agencies that provide similar services in its city limits, and the homeless in Henderson don't use the Las Vegas center. Local taxpayers, they said, would not want to pay twice for the same services.

Besides, officials have argued, the network of services works so well in Henderson that the suburb has a small homeless population.

A look at Henderson's services, interviews with some of those who provide them and interviews with some of the city's homeless bear out parts of that picture, but not others.

At the Henderson Allied Community Advocates, known as HACA, in downtown Henderson, no homeless people stopped by in search of services during a visit of at least two hours on a recent weekday.

The center is held up as the centerpiece of the city's network aimed at preventing homelessness and is the first agency mentioned in a May 5 letter Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson wrote to Goodman explaining why his city would not fund the Crisis Intervention Center.

"Several years ago Henderson determined efforts were needed to assist low-income citizens to become, or remain, self-sufficient. To address this crucial social concern ... HACA was created," the letter says.

The center's services for the homeless include food, clothing, a telephone and counseling.

Marjory Barrett, program director for HACA, said that the numbers of homeless people who visit the center have gone up in recent months, from an average of one daily in February to two daily in April.

In his letter Gibson said that HACA and other agencies "(made) it possible for Henderson to keep actual homeless numbers very low."

The city referred to a 1999 University of Las Vegas, Nevada study that said Henderson had a homeless population of 293 people.

But Daniele Dreitzer, executive director of HACA, said she has "regularly heard 2,000 homeless" was a more accurate number.

The Rev. Lloyd Rupp, pastor of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, agreed. Chairman of the board of trustees for a nonprofit called Friends of the Desert, which feeds an average of 80 homeless people six days a week at the church, Rupp estimated there are "a couple of thousand homeless people in Henderson."

And Christine Davis, family services director at the Salvation Army on Lake Mead Parkway a few miles away, said her center offers food and showers to anywhere from 50 to 100 homeless people each week, leading her to believe the homeless "population may be around 4,000 or 5,000."

Henderson officials also stated the city's funding for homeless services within city limits could be jeopardized by funding the Crisis Intervention Center in Las Vegas.

A position paper put out by the city June 4 says, "allocation of tax monies to other jurisdictions may impair the city's ability to fund city programs and the homeless services provided through the Henderson Allied Community Advocates and others."

But a look at HACA's fiscal year 2002-2003 budget shows about $71,000 of a total budget of about $400,000 came from the city, only 17 percent. The rest of HACA's budget comes from private sources, Barrett said.

The funds, which the city gets from the federal and state governments, were earmarked for emergency rental and utility assistance, bus tokens and clothing, Danielle Turner, Henderson's grants coordinator said.

"The actual dollars are not local dollars," Turner said.

Similarly, services provided by the Salvation Army in the current fiscal year were funded by sources other than the city. And Friends of the Desert relies on private sources, including supermarkets, restaurants, churches and thousands of volunteers, to provide about 6,000 meals a year.

Henderson officials argue that the amount of property taxes their residents pay to Clark County for services in the region -- including social services -- far exceeds what they pay for municipal services.

As for where the homeless in Henderson seek services, an informal survey shows that it depends on the services.

A recent visit to St. Timothy's showed that many homeless people in Henderson prefer not to go to downtown Las Vegas for services because they don't feel safe or can't afford the transportation.

About 80 people ate fried fish and vegetables, blocks from downtown Henderson's casinos.

Mike Dabbs, who has been living in the desert for about a year, said he didn't know much about the services available in Las Vegas.

"I'm afraid I'll get stuck down there with no way to get back," he said.

A man who goes by the name of Papa Joe Fargo said he has gone to Las Vegas to try to dry out from his drinking problem, but had problems finding a bed. Otherwise, he said, past trips to the so-called homeless corridor downtown where the Crisis Intervention Center is located have always brought him bad luck.

The problem isn't the services -- which he said are more numerous than those available in Henderson -- but rather the drugs and violence.

"I try to stay away from downtown because every time I go there I get robbed or beat up," he said.

Fargo said he sleeps on a couch in the desert and depends on St. Timothy's for food when his food stamps run out.

"Out here (in Henderson), nobody bothers me that much," he said.

Several of the homeless eating dinner at the Henderson church said that the main service lacking in that city is a shelter.

A woman who didn't want her name used and a man named John Byr said they went to Las Vegas when they needed medical care.

All of those interviewed said they didn't rely on HACA, which they said was for preventing families from becoming homeless and not for single men who were already homeless.

"HACA won't do much for single men," said Kelly Kelsey, who has been a volunteer at St. Timothy's.

Several said they didn't think city officials wanted to admit that increasing numbers of homeless live in the drainpipes and washes of Henderson.

"All you have to do is fly over the desert and and you can see them camped out everywhere," said Jan Flagor, coordinator for Friends of the Desert.

"We exist, but we're not supposed to exist here," Brad Gibson said.