Homeless outreach plan readied for Wilson Ave.

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 8:59 a.m.

Government and nonprofit groups are coming together to launch a 60-day homeless outreach effort beginning April 20, aimed at moving the scores of homeless camped out on Wilson Avenue behind the Las Vegas Rescue Mission before the area is cleared and cleaned in two months.

Starting April 20, two trailers staffed with volunteers and representatives from the groups involved with the 60-day effort will be parked in the middle of Wilson between D and F streets, near West Bonanza Road and Interstate 15.

That block will be closed to traffic while the trailers are staffed Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The outreach effort will end June 17, at which time the area will be cleared and cleaned.

Clark County is providing the trailers, office equipment, and some staff, which is expected to cost $37,580, plus any overtime for staff, county spokeswoman Gina Olivares said.

Paula Haynes-Green, the regional homeless services coordinator, and the Rev. Charles Bowker, chairman of the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition, headed a meeting Tuesday morning at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission during which about 35 government agencies, and nonprofit groups, including church groups, signed up to help with the 60-day effort.

During the meeting, attendees stressed the need for mental health professionals to be on hand, case managers to work closely with the homeless, and finding a way to get official identification for the homeless who have lost theirs. Housing assistance is also expected to be a key component of the assistance offered, and Haynes-Green said they had 150 beds available as of Tuesday.

A similar outreach effort in that immediate area held in January resulted in about 45 people receiving temporary housing. The city headed that five-day effort, which was followed by a cleanup of the F Street freeway underpass near Wilson, which pushed about 125 people to other homeless camps.

James Dannon, 38, was hopeful that he and 90 percent of the others living on the Wilson Avenue sidewalk will receive some help during the next two months -- the others, he said, don't want help.

"If I just had a bus pass I'd have a job," said Dannon, who lives in a tent with his 19-year-old son Chris.

But fellow Wilson resident David Reinhackel wasn't as optimistic about the coming program.

"They're trying to help, I know. But I've been there, done that," Reinhackel, 43, said about staying in shelters or transitional living apartments.

"It will help to see the information about places to go and people to see, but this is my decision to be here."

The volunteers and workers will attend a two-day training and orientation on Monday and Tuesday before opening the trailers to the homeless on Wednesday, Haynes-Green said.

She said the experience with the January effort showed the need for this preparation time, which will hopefully allow them to clear up any problems. For example, in January computer problems hampered efforts one day.

They also learned that they could probably be more successful by reaching out to the private sector for help, she said.

"This isn't magic. I think it's the beginning of a regional process," Haynes-Green said.

Terry Lindemann, network director with the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Las Vegas, offered to volunteer at the trailers and expected to have as many as six beds available in Interfaith's family shelters within the next week or so.

Lindemann said it is good the public and private sector are working together now, but said she thinks more cooperation should happen between all the groups involved.

For example, she said several churches all try to find temporary housing for homeless at times, but said they are all working alone, and could probably help more people if they pooled their resources.

"We can do a much better job than we're doing," Lindemann said.