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TexasTowelie

(111,279 posts)
Wed May 9, 2018, 11:06 PM May 2018

Las Vegas sees new victories, new setbacks in quest to help its thousands of homeless residents

Las Vegas sees new victories, new setbacks in quest to help its thousands of homeless residents rebound


One of Kenny Wilson’s biggest pet peeves: When people say the homeless don’t want help.

As CEO of Haven for Hope — an organization in San Antonio that serves about 1,700 homeless individuals each day through its 22-acre campus — he said people tell him every day how the group’s services have saved their lives. He asserts that all of the residents have mental health issues, including some set on simply by the stress of becoming homeless, and the vast majority have experienced major trauma in their lives.

“Don’t just think about homelessness as ‘we’ve got to get these people off our streets,’” he told an audience Thursday at a panel discussion hosted by the Downtown Vegas Alliance, a group of businesses and organizations based in the city’s core. “These people need your help.”

Haven for Hope says it’s been able to reduce the homeless population by 80 percent in downtown San Antonio since opening in 2010, and it has welcomed some 250 visits from delegations seeking to replicate its model elsewhere in the country. Comprised of 17 buildings in a layout reminiscent of a college campus, Haven for Hope has housing units, a playground and basketball courts, a kennel for residents’ pets and representatives from 148 organizations that work with its residents.

Las Vegas is among the cities that sent a delegation to Haven for Hope and is trying to copy that success. The city recently created a homeless resources courtyard on Foremaster Lane, a downtown area with a high concentration of homeless residents and charities them known as the “Corridor of Hope.”

Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/las-vegas-sees-new-victories-new-setbacks-in-quest-to-help-its-thousands-of-homeless-residents-rebound
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