HELP of Southern Nevada was established in 1970 to provide information and referrals to human and health services available in Southern Nevada. As the Las Vegas Valley has grown, HELP of Southern Nevada has expanded to provide direct services as needed. Its direct services programs now include: Emergency Resource Services, Displaced Homemaker, Community Alternative Sentencing, Homeless Services, Weatherization and Nevada 2-1-1.
Emergency Resource Services provides rental/utility assistance, food, clothing, bus tokens and case management to more than 12,700 clients each year, plus information and referral to other services available in the community.
The Displaced Homemaker program offers job-readiness workshops that include résumé development, interviewing techniques, self-esteem enhancement, and credit and budget counseling. These workshops are open to anyone who has recently lost his or her primary source of income due to job lay-off, divorce, death, disability or underemployment. This program is able to identify job opportunities for over 750 clients.
Court-ordered community service is performed through HELP’s Community Alternative Sentencing (CAS) program, in which workers are interviewed and assigned to non-profit and governmental agencies to perform the hours required by the court. CAS can apply to sentenced offenders, non-sentenced offenders, juveniles and adults in lieu of court fines, fees or restitution, jail or probation. It can also be a condition of probation. This program oversees court-ordered community service hours and reports back to the courts, state parole and probation offices. More than 100,000 community service hours are performed through the CAS Program each year.
Homeless Services addresses the needs of the homeless and chronically homeless. Case managers offer intensive case management and treatment, and provide ongoing monitoring, support and follow-up to address medical, mental-health and substance-abuse issues. Within the intensive case management, clients receive housing, utility assistance, food and clothing. When they are ready, they are referred to HELP’s other services, such as the job readiness workshop. The program has served more than 200 clients thus far.
The Weatherization program modifies homes for seniors, persons with disabilities or households with young children to make these homes energy-efficient and reduce utility bills. HELP’s trained weatherization staff conducts an assessment of the property to determine needs. Services offered to qualifying individuals include weather- stripping, installation of solar screens, repairing broken windows and testing of gas appliances. HELP weatherizes between 500 and 700 units a year.
Nevada 2-1-1 was launched in February 2006. This three-digit, easy-to-remember phone number provides information and referrals to health and human services, and is available to all citizens in the state of Nevada. HELP is now averaging 3,000 calls a month; however, as Nevada residents become more familiar with this service, HELP expects to see an increase in average monthly calls.
HELP’s Holiday programs provide Thanksgiving food baskets and turkeys to more than 1,100 households and toys to almost 12,000 needy children each year. HELP offers an Adopt-A-Family program which allows people in the community to “adopt a family” and buy toys and other items for each member of the family.
HELP is holding its seventh annual Tea, Trends & Tranquility event on Sept. 21 to raise funds for its programs. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel, it will honor Nevada first ladies Dema Guinn, Bonnie Bryan, Sandy Miller and Kathryn List. Festivities will include a tea and fashion show. For more information, call the phone number listed below.
HELP of Southern Nevada
1640 E. Flamingo Rd., Ste. 100
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702-369-4357
www.helpsonv.org