Nevada is one of several states hardest hit by the recent mortgage crisis. It has also been my home for the past decade and I know firsthand the seriousness of the problem in the state.
Folks who've worked their entire lives, lived law-abiding, honest and decent existences, have suddenly found themselves homeless and penniless, as well. It's a damned expensive state to live in, too and it's not real "homeless friendly" either. Days can be blistering hot and nights can be bonechilling cold; it is the high desert, after all.
The rainy season is about over, as memory serves me, and folks in the state won't see showers of any significance until winter of next year. Makes it pretty hard to cool off, since there's no real place to swim unless you're fortunate enough to be living near one of the few "swimmable" lakes in the state. Many water sources are highly alkaline and most folk don't go into them unless they have to. Of course, you could head into the Sierra mountains on the western edge, but you'd have to be far more prepared to do that than most people who are homeless can get.
Cops don't fart around there, either; Nevada has only one "infraction" on its books - the rest of the codes are all misdemeanors, so technically they can toss ya into jail on damned near anything they want, and they do, too. It's the oddest place; you can buy a prostitute who's been certified disease free by a state agency, then gamble away your life savings at a craps table and drink yourself into a crying jag, but smoke some pot there and get caught and lordy, you'd think the world was coming to an end from your "deviant" behavior....
There's plenty of low-paying jobs, casinos, mostly, with some convenience stores and a few manufacturing positions available. Used to be a lot of construction during the building boom but I suspect thats slowed considerably.
Trust me, its a great place to vacation but it's a real shitty place to be homeless.....
Helping the homeless get back on their feet
April 3, 2008 05:15 PM
Thousands of southern Nevadans are suddenly finding themselves in an unimaginable situation. The homeless, or nearly homeless, population is growing. But one up-coming event is aimed at turning that trend around.
News 3's Katherine Whaley introduces us to a local man who knows what life on the streets is really like, and looks at how you can help others like him.
Samuel Watkins struggles to find words to describe his former life on the streets. "It was always the same thing day by day, no matter where I searched, I could never get anywhere. I'd wake up and I didn't even realize I was asleep."
But his life took a dramatic turn last fall when he attended Nevada Project Homeless Connect. It was there where he met the people who would help him stand on his own two feet.
"It's responsibility," Watkins explains. "I never knew what responsibility was until I started to realize that you've got to clean your house, you've got to make your bed, and do all of these things, and you've still got to meet appointment."
Watkins is the face of an exploding population of homeless, or nearly homeless, southern Nevadans. Many have fallen victim to a struggling economy.
And that's where project homeless connect steps in.The event helps those in need get medical help, food, housing, and find job opportunities. And for the first time ever, it will happen twice this year to meet the growing demand.
Watkins is one Project Homeless Connect success story. Now, he spends his time interviewing for jobs, caring for his new home, and looking to do what others have done for him.
Nevada Project Homeless Connect is next Thursday, April 10 at Cashman Field.
