Mayor Carolyn Goodman speaks at the WestCare groundbreaking event was held at 5659 Duncan Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Village at the WestCare Nevada Women and Children’s Campus will provide cottages for 87 women and children. Thursday, February 22, 2024.
Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 | 2 a.m.
A new facility is coming to North Las Vegas to assist women battling drug addiction and give them housing throughout the rehabilitation process.
The Village is a 63,623-square-foot, 84-unit facility that will offer housing, case management, educational classes and other support for women in the Las Vegas Valley who may need assistance. The facility will be operated by WestCare Nevada, a branch of a national nonprofit agency that provides mental health and rehabilitation services to those in need.
“There’s not one solution to this problem,” said Leo Magridichian, vice president of WestCare Nevada. “But if we all work together, then we can actually make a dent and potentially solve some of the issues and assist most of our most vulnerable people in this community.”
WestCare has been working for more than 10 years to help turn The Village into a reality, Magridichian said. WestCare already operates its Women & Children’s Campus, which has 30 beds for transitional living and where clients can stay for up to 90 days.
But that campus is at capacity, said Irma Magridichian, the campus program director. The Village, which broke ground Thursday, is being constructed steps away.
“It’s a reflection of our entire Southern Nevada area,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “That we believe in each other, no matter our differences, no matter how we feel, and view life, that each one of us knows where we are is only as strong as all of us together as one family, not separate entities.”
One of the most meaningful benefits of the new facility will be the opportunity for women to receive care for longer periods of time and provide an increased sense of stability, Irma Magridichian said. That stability can provide exponential benefits, like increasing the likelihood of Child Protective Services or Department of Family Services reuniting women with their children.
Over 90% of WestCare’s clients experience homelessness before coming into their care, Leo Magridichian said. He added that housing was an important factor in preventing at-risk women from returning to their previous circumstances.
There were over 6,500 people experiencing homelessness in Southern Nevada in 2023, according to the 2023 Southern Nevada Homelessness Census, 32.5% of which were women.
“The need has actually increased; it’s increased every year since we started having these conversations,” Leo Magridichian said. “So, for us, I can tell you this is very, very monumental.”
There are other “sober living” facilities in Las Vegas, but many require payment or insurance. The Village, which is described as a “transitional living” facility, does not require any payment or insurance, and clients will be able to stay at WestCare for up to two years with their children, officials said.
WestCare’s current transitional facility has already had effects on the local community, including Samantha Ketron, a former client who gave birth while staying at the campus in 2022. Now in long-term recovery and working as a peer support recovery specialist, Ketron said working with WestCare and Empowered has been rewarding.
“I didn’t realize how rewarding it was gonna be when I was at WestCare,” Ketron said. “I didn’t even know what I wanted to do. And now that I’m able to help like the people that I know, and I know what they’ve gone through, I can really sympathize.”
WestCare has operated in the Nevada area for over 50 years and currently serves over 15,000 clients nationwide. Several of the speakers during the groundbreaking emphasized the communal effort it took to create and fund The Village, including an initial $2.5 million grant from the city of Las Vegas, which Leo said kicked off creation of the facility.
“We all need to link and join hand in hand to break down some of the silos that keep us separate, in order to truly benefit the people that need us the most,” Leo Magridichian said.
WestCare is accepting bids for contractors to construct The Village and is hoping to have the facility completed by fall of 2025, according to a news release.
