HELP of Southern Nevada is an organization dedicated to assisting those needing social services in our area, and helping those experiencing homelessness to overcome the barriers that are keeping them on the streets.
"We go out in teams and we basically bring everything you would see in a Social Services Agency to the clients out in the field," said Louis Lacey, the Director of Crisis Teams for the organization. "Our goal is to meet clients where they’re at to have a genuine and authentic interaction with them, and we want to do that in a trauma-informed and client-centered manner."
I had the chance to ride along with an outreach team to a homeless encampment in east Las Vegas.
In the field, teams provide help for everything from obtaining a birth certificate to providing information on how to get food stamps and Medicaid at the HELP office.
Lacey, who experienced homelessness on the streets of Las Vegas himself, knows just how important it is to make sure that the homeless in our community are provided with the resources they need.
"I know what it’s like to be outside at 3 o’clock in the morning with nowhere to go," Lacey said. "Myself and the team and the agency, what we want to do is end homelessness for folks one person, one youth, one family at a time. That’s what we do each and every day."
Those services are now more urgently needed. A new ordinance that went into effect in Clark County on Feb. 1 made homeless camps in public areas like parks and trails illegal.
The county says that, while the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the lead enforcement agency for the ordinance, the Clark County Office of Public Safety does enforce the ordinance within county-owned facilities and parks.
Their goal is to make contact with those experiencing homelessness, educate them on the ordinance, and connect them with resources and organizations like HELP of Southern Nevada.
Lacey says evictions, cost of living and addiction have all been contributing factors to the increase of homelessness in our Valley.
"We’re seeing a lot of people who are losing their place of residence and ending up homeless," Lacey said. "Just because someone is homeless and struggling doesn’t mean that they’re bad people."
The outreach teams for HELP of Southern Nevada are in the community 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. They also provide social services at their location on Flamingo Road at 1640 E Flamingo Rd., Ste. #100, Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you or someone you know is experiencing homelessness or needs access to social services for help, you can visit their website here.
