March 21, 2024
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Vegas Stronger, a downtown-Las Vegas based nonprofit with a mission of ending homelessness, has announced funding exceeding $2 million to help move unhoused individuals off the street corners, encampments and out of shelters to connect them with resources that will help them down the pathway of lasting recovery and social stability.

The Clark County Commission approved a grant exceeding $1.7 million to help divert individuals with a diagnosable behavioral health condition who also frequently encounter law enforcement away from the criminal justice system. The grant includes direct hand offs as prospective clients exit the Clark County Detention Center to trained staff at Vegas Stronger. “These individuals will benefit from our 13 core elements, at the heart of which is evidence-based clinical care together with access to primary and psychiatric care,” said Dave Marlon, CEO of Vegas Stronger.

The County also approved an Emergency Services Grant to Vegas Stronger to help with urgent housing needs and case management work and do Outreach in outlying areas of Clark County, with a focus on Indian Springs and Blue Diamond. These dollars will be deployed to help recruit individuals off of the streets and connect them with the supportive services and therapy needed to help facilitate their transition into housing, sobriety and employment.

Separately, Vegas Stronger was awarded a contract by the City of Las Vegas to staff the Multi-Agency Outreach Resource Engagement (MORE) Team, which helps connected unhoused individuals with the services needed to help resolve their homelessness, including housing assessments and transportations to the City of Las Vegas’ Courtyard Homeless Resource Center.

“Compassionate, assertive interventions redirecting individuals off of the streets and into the care that can help them resolve root conditions is the key to solving the epidemic of homelessness in our community,” said Deb Leavitt, President of Vegas Stronger. “We are committed to ending homelessness by giving people a hand up.”

“We are enthusiastic about partnering with the county and city to help unhoused folks get the help they need and work together with them break the cycle of addiction and repeated encounters with the criminal justice system. This will have a secondary impact of saving taxpayers’ money as we resolve root causes and move people back into social stability,” Marlon concluded.