One-stop center for needy delayed

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

A one-stop center meant to help the homeless and other poor people will not open until March 1, which would be five months behind schedule, said Dan Goulet, president of United Way of Southern Nevada, the nonprofit organization behind the project.

Goulet announced in a memo Tuesday that the Fertitta Community Assistance Center, located on the downtown campus of Catholic Charities, is in "the final stages of construction." The memo was addressed to "friends" of the center.

The one-stop locale was originally slated to open Sept. 30 with three public and two private agencies as tenants. But the project has relied on donated labor and materials and some companies have withdrawn their support, citing other commitments. It has been delayed at least twice since the June announcement launching the project.

Tuesday's memo said that Korte Construction, the company that originally developed the Catholic Charities campus on Las Vegas Boulevard, had "been hired to complete the project." Jill R. Jackson, spokeswoman for United Way of Southern Nevada, said it is still unclear how much Korte Construction would charge for its work.

The United Way also sent out a separate press release Thursday announcing that the Las Vegas City Council had approved $40,000 in support of the project during Thursday's meeting. The release mentions that Clark County had also offered $60,000 and North Las Vegas $10,000. United Way officials said those funds have already been earmarked by the county and North Las Vegas.

Jackson said the project's estimated cost to date, between donated labor and materials and outright spending, has been $287,000. She said total costs would not exceed $300,000 by the project's end.

The idea for the center was originally developed in 2003 in order to fill a gap left when the MASH Village Crisis Intervention Center closed. That center had more than 40 public and private agencies at its peak.

The new center's opening across the street was announced in June and since then at least one agency has pulled out, citing the uncertainty of such a project.

Five agencies remain: welfare and Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health, two state agencies, Clark County Social Service, Courtney Children's Foundation and Women's Development Center.

"Although this very important project had developed slower than anticipated, the final product will be worth the delay ... for our community's vulnerable population," Goulet wrote in his memo.