Welcome to this special educational forum by Nevada Women’s Philanthropy, which was recorded live at Greenspun Hall on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Our panelists got into an issue that vexes every city in the world: homelessness.
Homelessness isn’t a modern problem. It goes back at least 2,000 years. The Bible and Quran talk about it, with both stressing the importance of charity for the homeless.
In 2023, though, people wonder if charity is enough. In modern times, states fund job training, hoping that putting people to work will overcome economic need, which often leads to homelessness.
More and more, cities are focusing on mental health services for the chronically homeless; there are one-stop shops that provide wrap-around services for the homeless. Nonprofits and governments provide overnight shelters. Some states gave homes to the homeless along with services.
A lot has been tried. But homelessness remains a major and growing issue.
In 2022, a count of the homeless in Clark County found 5,645 people staying in shelters or on the streets. And those numbers, the counters say, are very likely lower than reality.
Last year also marked the highest number of unhoused in Southern Nevada since 2018. And the same census estimated there would be nearly 14,000 Las Vegans who would experience homelessness at some point during 2022 .
And what’s to come might even be more daunting. They call it the “silver tsunami.” That is, waves of older people on fixed incomes, unable to afford skyrocketing rent, who are forced into the streets. In Las Vegas, it’s already happening to some extent.
None of us are blind to it. You might turn away from those holding cardboard signs at stoplights; or walk by someone sleeping on the sidewalk, or try to ignore the person with obvious mental illness screaming at no one — but we all see it. And most of us would like to find some solution.
With us was Ellen Whittemore, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Wynn Resorts. She is known as an expert in gaming law and sits on the executive committee of the American Gaming Association. She’s also chair of the Nevada Resort Association. And at Wynn Resorts, she oversees legal affairs and the company’s philanthropic, community and government affairs functions.
Jess Molasky is principal and project manager at Ovation Development, the region’s leading developer of market rate and affordable multi-family housing projects. Ovation has 13 affordable housing projects with more than 1,900 units and more are under development. His grandfather, Irwin Molasky, was one of the foremost developers in Las Vegas and chairman of The Molasky Group of Companies.
Arash Ghafoori is the CEO of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, Southern Nevada’s most comprehensive service provider for homeless youth. He’s on the board of directors of the National Network for Youth, the Advisory Board of National Safe Place and the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care board.
Nicholas Barr is a UNLV professor of social work. His background includes a BA in comparative religion from Columbia University. He has a masters in adult mental health from UCLA and earned his doctorate in social work at USC. His research focuses on understanding risk and protective factors in people with a higher likelihood of trauma, such as homeless youth and those in the military.
