Investigating SafeNest: Domestic violence nonprofits question inequitable distribution of federal funds

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — SafeNest's planned One Safe Place complex will aim to consolidate services to support domestic violence survivors in one location.

A good idea, but getting the green light for One Safe Place and the funds required to make it a reality came with a cost.

When SafeNest convinced the governor's office to give them 100% of the American Rescue Plan money that was available for domestic violence organizations in Nevada, it left many other providers in the lurch. It's a problem because the Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence says it's essential that survivors have as many options as possible.

Lauren's story paints a stark picture of the trail of trauma that domestic abusers leave behind.

"Broken ribs, boiling hot water poured on me, black eyes," Lauren told me. "I don't have anything to my name anymore. All I've done is try to get away from this man who was hurting me so bad."

WATCH: Lauren's story

According to the Nevada Coalition To End Domestic And Sexual Violence (NCEDSV), Nevada ranks second in the country for rates of domestic violence, affecting 44% of women and 33% of men in our state.

But yet...

"Nevada is one of only a handful of states in our country that does not have a line item in our state budget for either domestic violence or sexual assault," explained Elizabeth Abdur-Raheem, Executive Director of NCEDSV.

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The only state money these organizations get is from marriage license fees and $50 of each marriage license sold gets distributed among 14 domestic and sexual violence service providers throughout Nevada.

"Last year, the total amount for allocation was $5.8 million," Abdur-Raheem said.

As the largest agency in the state, SafeNest got over $2.4 million — or nearly 42% of that money.

That's why Abdur-Raheem said member agencies were hopeful when they learned about additional available funds: American Rescue Plan money.

ARPA money is federal funding that was sent to states after COVID. It had to be used by the end of September 2025.

"In June, SafeNest was awarded, by the Interim Finance Committee, $9 million, only to them," Abdur-Raheem said. "For one specific project. Nobody had any issues with that. However, two months later, all of our agencies that were allocated to get any of that money got letters saying there is no longer any money remaining."

This August letter to all those nonprofits from Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine reads:

"No funds remain for distribution ... I know this may come as unwelcome news to you and your organization — I genuinely wish we had enough to invest in all of the worthy nonprofits in Nevada."

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"It was so disappointing to our program members to feel like the work they do isn't seen, isn't valued," Abdur-Raheem explained. "We are concerned in a state that has such limited resources, to put so many resources into one specific option, and expect that the majority of victim/survivors would choose that."

I asked her if she's afraid that some organizations will go out of business.

"We're very afraid," she replied. "We are not talking about organizations that have overages. We're talking about organizations that are using their funds appropriately to provide services every single day that may not be able to make payroll in a month."

SafeNest does have an overage, as we reported in October.

WATCH: Domestic violence survivors question SafeNest's cash flow and where donations to the shelter end up

In its most recent IRS filing, for the fiscal year ending in June of 2023, SafeNest's total revenue was $10.7 million. After expenses, it closed the books nearly $2 million in the black.

How are they using that money?

"A lot of the money is going to C-Suite executives. When it comes to services, most departments and directors and VPs were dealing with very little money at all for additional needs," said a former employee, who asked us to protect their identity. They add the problems start at the top. "They accept bonus after bonus, increase in salary after increase in salary. Yet, the individuals who are boots on the ground doing the most amount of work, who are at risk of being in the middle of a violent situation and not having proper training to handle that, are being paid essentially minimum wage."

The IRS records show CEO Liz Ortenburger got a 34% salary bump from 2022 to 2023. Her income of just over $261,000 included a $50,000 bonus.

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We've asked SafeNest several times what the bonus was for, but they have never given us an answer. In an August article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that was headlined "Las Vegas nonprofit execs make big bucks helping the poor", Ortenburger is listed among the top 10 highest-paid nonprofit CEOs in Las Vegas.

In the only interview Ortenburger has provided since our investigation began four months ago, she spoke about the One Safe Place project.

"So, two major things are happening as we work toward the future of this space inside Clark County. One is that we'll be opening a large facility called One Safe Place that will house agencies from all over the valley."

Their goal is to have 10 collaborative partners from a combination of law enforcement, local government, courts and other survivor support organizations and any entity that agrees to relocate to One Safe Place will be paying rent to SafeNest.

In this Nevada Current article from June, Ortenburger said the project will relocate the services currently available at Metro's Family Justice Center. The article says "Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department ... is already on board with the relocation and project, according to Ortenburger."

However, I've learned that Metro had made no such commitment.

When I questioned SafeNest about that, Ortenburger sent this email saying she "mistakenly overstated" SafeNest's relationship with LVMPD. She added "I apologize for any confusion that caused" and "we're excited to continue conversations with [Metro] about One Safe Place."

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We also took a closer look at the documents SafeNest submitted to get the money for One Safe Place and found Ortenburger also told the state that Metro would be moving its Family Justice Center. The award notification dated June 26 from the Governor's Finance Office and signed by Ortenburger says "this project will expand the footprint of the Family Justice Center, relocate the facility to a centralized location ... with SafeNest as the lead agency."

SafeNest was inaccurate in its submission to the Governor's Finance Office requesting, and ultimately receiving, the $9 million in ARPA funding.

I asked SafeNest about that. They stated "... our focus remains on continue conversations and forward work to bring One Safe Place to our community." However, they declined to elaborate further.

I also shared what we uncovered and the coalition's concerns in multiple emails to the governor's office and all state lawmakers on the Interim Finance Committee. None of them have responded, as of Thursday afternoon.

Everyone we've spoken to says SafeNest itself is vital and we, of course, do not disagree. They say executive leadership is the problem. In addition to the $9 million in ARPA funding, SafeNest has also applied to Clark County for $7.8 million more for One Safe Place.

In the next part of my investigation, we'll talk more about One Safe Place and the culture concerns that some former employees and the coalition have as the project is getting underway.