Editor’s Note: While ’tis the season of giving for most Nevadans, many local nonprofit groups give back to the Southern Nevada community year-round. The Las Vegas Sun is profiling some of those groups to inform the community how they can help.
HELP of Southern Nevada formed in 1970 to bridge the gap between struggling Las Vegans and the services they needed to become self-sufficient.
Now, HELP of Southern Nevada provides those services directly. The nonprofit removes some of the barriers that prevent locals from becoming independent by providing housing, emergency services, life skills training and preventive services.
Through its programs, HELP of Southern Nevada assisted nearly 100,000 Las Vegans in the past fiscal year.
To highlight a few of these programs, HELP of Southern Nevada operates the Shannon West Homeless Youth Center, which serves several hundred 16- to 24-year-olds, and Work Opportunities Readiness Center, which provides job skills training to several hundred individuals.
Three ways to help the nonprofit are volunteering, donating or advocating on their behalf. To find out how to volunteer, email [email protected]. To donate, visit here.
“In our Homeless Services department and our Shannon West Homeless Youth Center, HELP uses the housing-first harm-reduction model,” said Fuilala Riley, president and CEO of HELP of Southern Nevada. “We address the chronically homeless’ basic needs of shelter, food and clothing and then we assist them in dealing with mental health, substance abuse, life-skills development and, when appropriate, employment training.”