Homeless issue getting attention

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

Reid Skinner was the odd man out among about three dozen officials from public and private agencies meeting to discuss homelessness in Henderson at a church near U.S. 95 and Russell Road Thursday.

Having lived in the desert for a year and a half, the 57-year-old man was the only one there who had been homeless.

Now the manager of Poverello House, a place for the homeless to take a shower, grab a meal or do laundry, Skinner, and the meeting he was attending, represented a trend in this suburban enclave. Henderson is recognizing it has a problem with homelessness, and is starting to do something about it.

"There's always been people out on the streets of Henderson and people in the agencies are recognizing it more," said Skinner, who found a home and a job at Poverello House when it opened last August.

The informal network of agencies that work with the homeless in Henderson had been meeting since last year, but Thursday's meeting was the biggest yet, said Danielle Turner, grants coordinator at Henderson's Neighborhood Services Department.

Several groups were there for the first time, including Skinner's.

Though the meeting was scheduled months ago, Turner said that more people showed up than had in the past because of a recent controversy over Henderson's decision not to help fund a Las Vegas center for helping the homeless.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said that homelessness is a regional problem and that all municipalities should contribute to its solution.

But Henderson officials have said they already provides services for the homeless within their own borders.

"(The controversy) made us make sure all parties were invited (to the meeting) ... We want to defend ourselves and show what services we have," Turner said.

"The city is telling us to get a handle on it and see where the gaps are," she said.

Turner said Henderson will be preparing a guide to services for the homeless in the coming months. The network will meet again in about two months, she said.

Daniele Dreitzer, executive director for the Henderson Allied Community Advocates, a center that provides different services to the homeless and the poor, saw interest in the homeless shown at the meeting as an outcome of the increased need for social services in general in Henderson.

"It's not just the homeless," Dreitzer said.

"All of our needs are growing, as Henderson grows and the overall economy creates these needs," she said.

She also said practical outcomes from the meeting included coordination between those present to increase simple services, such as providing bus tokens and identification for the homeless.

"That's the real benefit of this," she said.