The long way home

By Timothy Pratt

Monday, Jan. 9, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

Michael Valentine started writing in a book last fall about all the things he wanted his five children to remember about him.

The 38-year-old man had been diagnosed with lung cancer, soon developed pneumonia and had been told to "start making arrangements."

But he recovered, and last week, he and his children were getting used to a new apartment -- their ticket out of homelessness.

Though Valentine's draw toward death was dramatic, it was only the last of many steps down a three-year road that included losing his job, his wife, and eventually, his children. Along the way, he lost a place to live.

Daniele Dreitzer, executive director of Henderson Allied Community Associates, a nonprofit organization that helped Valentine, said his story was a sign of the times. She said she has seen high numbers of large families on the skids in recent months, suggesting a new population has grown vulnerable to the vagaries of rising costs and a lack of affordable housing.

"It's an issue that's rising to the top," she said.

Of the 1,058 families that have sought help at her office since July 1 of last year, 197, or 19 percent, had five or more members. Ninety-eight of them had six or more members.

Those families are at Dreitzer's agency seeking everything from money to pay an electricity bill to a place to live. It's the latter group -- homeless, large families -- that are the hardest to help.

Affordable three-bedroom apartments are few and far between, she said, citing the oft-reported conversion of rental apartments to condominiums as one factor.

"Older, run-down and in many cases smaller apartments are what's left," she said. Most larger ones are too expensive for the Henderson agency's various programs.

The average rent for a three-bedroom apartment in the valley stood at $1,019 as of the third quarter of last year, said Spencer Ballif, senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis. Ballif said rents have gone up since then.

Valentine searched for weeks before finding an apartment for $1,331 a month. The Housing and Urban Development Department will pay as much as 70 percent of the rent for an apartment, provided it does not exceed $1,195 a month. Aware of the discrepancy, Drietzer worked out an arrangement with the property manager.

Before his problems began, Valentine was a fairly typical Las Vegas worker. He parylayed a San Francisco culinary school degree into eight years of work in casino kitchens, followed by three years of work driving limousines.

He chose the latter because it was less stressful and paid better -- up to $65,000 a year, he said. But as with many jobs dependant on tourism, a lull arrived, and Valentine lost his job.

Shortly before the 2001 lay-off, Valentine bought a house for his family. Around the same time, his wife's methamphetamine abuse became more serious.

Valentine sold the house. "We started to go downhill," he said.

He received unemployment benefits for awhile. He got a job cleaning houses. He was diagnosed with depression and began receiving Social Security disability benefits. He also struggled with drinking.

He was separated from his children for 13 months while he enrolled in a Salvation Army program for his depression and addiction.

After that, during a two-year period, he rose from tenant of a motel in Henderson to manager.

But then his wife's appearances and disappearances began disrupting his job, he said, and the whole family had to leave the motel late last year.

In October, Valentine was diagnosed with cancer. The tumor was removed, but pneumonia invaded both lungs.

"I almost died ... they said, 'You should start making plans for your family.'

"Then one day, I just woke up feeling better."

On leaving the hospital, he stayed in a motel with the help of Henderson Allied Community Associates. He had to navigate several bureaucracies at once -- the foster care system, where his five children had been placed, Social Security, since his monthly payments had been suspended, and state welfare, since those payments had also been suspended.

He also had to find a permanent place for them to live.

But each bureaucracy required that the other complete its task before moving. Clark County required Valentine to have a place to live before returning the children to his care, for instance.

Finally, a week before Christmas, he got his children back, and on the 27th, they moved into the new apartment.

Dreitzer's agency can subsidize most of the apartment's rent for two years.

During that time, Valentine hopes to regain his strength, spend time with his children and save up what he can from his $1,400 monthly benefits. He wants to buy a house again. He'd also like to work again, but is not sure at what.

On a visit during the first week of the new year, he was trying to find a way to give birthday presents to daughter Vannessa, who turned 6 on Thursday.

Daughter Christianni, who turned 8 on Saturday, helped by donating one of her Christmas presents -- still unopened.

Valentine recalled waking up on a recent morning, his children still asleep.

"I looked at their faces, with no worries. That's when I realized it was going to be OK."

Timothy Pratt can be reached at 259-8828 or at timothy@lasvegassun.com.