Lamar Advertising Company has joined Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) in combatting the community’s growing homeless youth problem by donating billboard space to generate awareness about the plight of the estimated 23,790 homeless youth in Nevada – more than 11,000 in Clark County – and where to get help.
“There are way too many children on the streets, and we want to be part of the solution for this issue that affects the entire community,” said Chris Prickett, territory manager of Lamar Advertising Company. “We have the tools to advance the mission and tireless work of Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. We look forward to generating awareness for youth to find the help they need, along with letting the public know about the impact of youth homelessness and how they can help.”
Arash Ghafoori, executive director of NPHY, said that the creative and messaging for the digital and vinyl boards are designed to generate buzz and bring awareness to this critical community issue. “Nevada is not only home to an alarming number of homeless youth, but according to HUD’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, we lead the country in several rankings,” he said. “We are ranked number one in the nation for the rate of unsheltered, unaccompanied homeless children and youth living on our streets, and Las Vegas/Clark County was ranked second for having the largest number of unaccompanied homeless youth of any major metro area, even more than New York and San Francisco.”
The billboards were unveiled during a special ceremony at The Park at 3900, 3900 Paradise Rd., where one of the boards is located.
“We are thankful for Lamar Advertising Company’s partnership and invaluable contribution to spreading awareness about youth homelessness and the plight of this vulnerable population,” said Ghafoori. “Lamar is displaying our digital ads on billboards in high traffic areas helping NPHY bring awareness to this issue plaguing our community, as well as displaying youth-targeted advertising in other locations with high numbers of homeless youth. This will help NPHY in our efforts to advocate on behalf of this vulnerable population while reaching more youth in need to provide them with life-saving services.”
The Lamar contribution includes ads that will be heavily rotated on 29 digital billboards for four weeks, generating up to 55,187 impressions per day and up to 1,545,236 impressions for the four-week run, and two vinyl billboards throughout the year. The donation is valued at almost $150,000.
The digital billboards are designed as advocacy tools to serve as a community call to action by providing key facts about homeless youth, while directing people to learn more about the issue and what they can do by visiting the NPHY website, www.nphy.org. The vinyl billboards are targeted to youth struggling with homelessness with a message about protection from exploitation and directing them to NPHY or its Safe Place Mobile Crisis Intervention program.
The vinyl billboards will be located near Rancho High School and UNLV, where there are large numbers of homeless youth. The NPHY Drop-In Center, one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the country, is located at 4981 Shirley Street near UNLV.
Following the initial four-week run, Lamar will run NPHY messaging for various NPHY initiatives such as its drive to provide hot meals for homeless kids during the holidays.
About The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth
The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) is the most comprehensive service provider for more than 11,000 homeless youth in Southern Nevada, serving hundreds of youth through its core programs and by touching the lives of thousands more through outreach each year. NPHY’s programs stabilize homeless teens’ lives, meeting their immediate needs and providing a safe, supportive environment and a path to self-sufficiency. Programs include: Outreach, Safe Place Mobile Crisis Intervention, Operation Go Home Family Reunification, Drop-In Center, Emergency Shelter, and Independent Living Program. For information and to support NPHY’s critical work to get homeless youth off the streets, visit www.nphy.org or follow NPHY on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/nevadapartnershipforhomelessyouth.
About Lamar Advertising Company
Founded in 1902, Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) is one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America, with more than 325,000 displays across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Lamar offers advertisers a variety of billboard, interstate logo and transit advertising formats, helping both local businesses and national brands reach broad audiences every day. In addition to its more traditional out-of-home inventory, Lamar is proud to offer its customers the largest network of digital billboards in the United States with over 2,400 displays. Please feel free to explore our website www.lamar.com or contact us for additional information.
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