Nonprofit marks 10 years of helping homeless youth in Las Vegas

Joseph remembers the last night he had stable housing as a child.

He was in his early teens, lying with his head on his backpack on the floor of an empty Las Vegas apartment. His mother had just moved out, leaving him to fend for himself.

Now a security guard, Joseph shared his story Friday at the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth’s 10th annual summit. The daylong event drew more than 100 students, business leaders and advocates to discuss how to help the estimated 33,000 unaccompanied young people who experience homelessness in Nevada each year, according to the nonprofit’s CEO, Arash Ghafoori.

“As I lay there that night, I was scared,” Joseph said. “I didn’t know where I was going to go or how my future was going to look. I was facing the reality that I might not have a place to stay.”

Students who spoke at the event were identified only by their first names to respect their privacy, a spokeswoman said.

After that night, Joseph crashed at friends’ houses and sometimes slept in abandoned buildings. He said he would often stay out all night because he had nowhere to go.

Then Joseph found the nonprofit, and everything changed, he said.

With the help of mentors he met through the organization, he secured housing and regained a vision for his future. He now wants to build a clothing brand that uplifts children.

“That’s my dream: to better my community in any way possible,” Joseph said. “Because the kindness you show someone today could be the very thing that helps them believe in their dreams tomorrow.”

Kristin Koca, vice president of corporate communications at Las Vegas Sands Corp., a summit sponsor, had opened the event. She urged business leaders to invest in organizations that support homeless youth and called for more private sector funding.

“The biggest highlight of our summits is hearing from the young leaders who have experienced homelessness,” Koca said. “They are the inspiration for all the work we do, and they have the insights and ideas that will ensure the solutions we put in place best serve the specific hurdles young people face.”

Throughout the day, other young people, from teens to young adults, took the podium at the Historic Fifth Street School auditorium to share their stories under the summit’s theme, “10 years of dreaming big.”

Pearl recalled the elementary and middle school teachers who believed in her, and how their investment inspired her to pursue a career as a cultural psychologist. Alexis became emotional recalling her little brother asking where their next meal would come from, a memory that shaped her goal of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner providing comfort for other children.

Hannah shared her dream of becoming a professional chef.

“Even during rough times, cooking brought me hope,” she said. “There were plenty of times I didn’t have a kitchen or times I used campfires. But good food doesn’t have to be expensive or come from a fancy restaurant. It can be something simple that is made with care.”

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley also attended the event. She said she was proud to be the mayor of a community commited to giving homeless youth a future.

“It’s more than having sympathy,” Berkley said. “It’s addressing the need that we know exists, and preparing the next generation of people for a better, stronger and healthier life.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the Adelson family, including Dr. Miriam Adelson, majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Patrick Dumont.

Contact Akiya Leggio at [email protected].