LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The bank building on Charleston Boulevard and Gass Avenue has been empty for years, surrounded by fencing and discarded trash.
But soon the site may be home to something Las Vegas desperately needs: justice and hope.
The bank site is the intended home of the Resiliency and Justice Center, the new name for the organization that formed in the wake of the deadly 1 October shooting on the Strip.
Originally intended to serve the survivors of 1 October, the center has since expanded to help all crime victims with everything from legal issues to mental health counseling to guidance on getting compensation from a state crime victims fund. But that expanded mission has the group outgrowing its current offices on West Charleston Boulevard.
"Right now, we're at capacity in our building. We really can't grow," said Tennille Pereira, the director of the Resiliency and Justice Center. "And we are serving quite a few people. And this will allow us to grow and to serve more."
People such as Kristen Palmatier, who suffered a horrific loss two years ago when her family was hit by a drunk driver as they left for a family vacation. Her husband was killed in the crash, and her young son hospitalized with critical injuries. The resiliency center helped her when she needed it the most, she said.
"They are such a godsend," Palmatier said. "It's amazing how, all of a sudden, when you're thrown into everything you're thrown into, just having those people that are behind you and ready for anything that comes up. Whether it was for me or my family, it really gave us that peace of mind as we were working through everything. So they are so important."
Without the center, Palmatier said, "it would have been much more of a sink or swim kind of deal, doggie paddling through it, so to speak. It would have taken probably a lot longer, it would have been more stressful, maybe not getting to know about certain things that would have been helpful, not getting the correct counselors that I needed, so it wouldn't have been as successful two years for me."
In order to serve Palmatier and people like her, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada — which oversees the resiliency center — is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to cover the $30 million cost of a new building. It's raised $24 million so far.
Legal Aid purchased the bank building — which sits just across the parking lot from its headquarters on East Charleston Boulevard — with the intention of building the new resiliency center
"So, it's going to be an incredible campus-like setting to help people who need a helping hand at the worst time in their life," said Barbara Buckley, the former state Assembly speaker who is executive director of the Legal Aid center. "I think our message is, you know, we want to help, we want our justice system to give justice to victims, too."
WATCH: Barbara Buckley previews renderings of planned Resiliency and Justice Center expansion
Services include legal help, such as evictions, protection orders or benefits eligibility; mental health counseling, provided by the state; guidance on accessing crime victims' compensation funds and anything else that victims of crime might need as they recover from their ordeals.
"Especially because victims of everyday crime have the same things happening to them as victims of mass violence," Buckley said. "They have trauma. They have loss. And they have no idea how to navigate the system. So now we're here to support any number of victims, whether it's one or a thousand."
Pereira said the resiliency center has become a vital part of the Las Vegas community in the years since 1 October.
"I think that our work speaks for itself, and if you look at the place we hold in the community, I just can't imagine it not happening," she said. "It is such important work, and the impact we have on the larger community is immense, like you can't measure it. So I have total faith that this building is going to be built."
For Palmatier, the center's work has been personal, and fruitful.
"And I get asked all the time how is it that I can do all of this, you know, look like it hasn't affected me," she said. "It's because of all the people who have surrounded us and who help us. They give us all the support we need to be able to continue to live and move on and do everything."
If you want to contribute to the campaign to build the resiliency center, you can make donations on the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada's website.
If you have a question about politics, elections or government, you can Ask Steve via the link on our website. He will endeavor to answer your questions on air or online.
