Home»Local non-profit opens safe place for homeless teens

Local non-profit opens safe place for homeless teens

Page Last Updated: Friday April 30, 2010 7:20am PDT

Collette Wieland reporting

More than 13,000 people are homeless in Clark County, and most of them are teens. And most of these teens are struggling to stay in school while living on the streets.

Of the cases of which they are aware, Clark County School District officials estimate there are around 4,000 to 5,000 students considered homeless.

But now, there’s a place where these young people can get help.

"People's families are different, people's parents are different. And when it comes down to it, people just react. We're human beings; we do what we need to do to stay alive sometimes."

And for the now-17-year-old Jose Alcarez, staying alive meant fending for himself at the age of 15.

"I felt sorry for myself the first couple of hours. And then I was like, you know what? I can't sit here and keep feeling sorry for myself. I need to do something."

Jose was just days away from completing his freshman year at Chaparral High School in Las Vegas when his mom told him their family was moving to Colorado.

"I didn't want to leave; I wanted to stay in school because she was going to take me out of school. We had the last testing days… if I didn't go through the testing days, I wouldn't have passed to go on to become a sophomore."

So Jose left home, thinking he would return as soon as his tests were finished. But his family left without him, leaving Jose homeless at just 15 years old.

“I ended up sleeping on the bleachers at my school and I stayed there for the whole summer of 2008."

But with help from the local non-profit Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, Jose was given a place to live. He’s now working to finish his junior year of high school and dreams of receiving a track scholarship to attend college.

“There are so many opportunities there that can change a person's life."

And the opportunity to help other Clark County teens is growing as well: The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth raised $250,000 to open its new drop-in center, a place for homeless teens to get food, clothing, counseling, and shelter.

“This is a ‘safe zone’ so to speak, a safe place,” says James Campos, Board Member of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. “It is a place they can come in, feel safe, get the things that they need."

Nevada is currently one of twelve states that allow teens to obtain such resources without parental permission if the minor has been abused or neglected.

"It's hard enough being a teenager living in a secure environment,” Campos continues. “But then when you go to an unsecured environment and you're a teenager, then you're dealing with all the issues that they face on top of not having a place to live."

The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth hopes to help 300 to 500 teens per month. The new William Fry Drop-In Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.

View News Archive »