October 2019 Newsletter
2019 Southern Nevada Help Hope Home Partnership Awards
The October 10, 2019 meeting of the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care Board meeting at United Way of Southern Nevada was dedicated to the 2nd Annual Help Hope Home Awards! The awards are an opportunity to recognize the efforts of agencies and their team members in their efforts towards ending homelessness and supporting the activities of the continuum of care. Nominations and voting are open to members of the SNHCoC. The following is a list of winners:
  • HELP Award: a member of the CoC that is a homeless advocate that is empathetic, linkages and is person-centered. - Andrea Raney, WestCare
  • HOPE Award: an agency that is Housing first, optimizes community resources, is purpose driven, and is empowering to all. - Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
  • HOME Award: a person that exemplifies Heroism, is open-hearted, motivational and ethical. - Arash Ghafoori, Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth
CHAMP Award : an agency that values collaboration, oriented to both harm-reduction and action-oriented, motivated and passionate.  - Brazen Architecture
HERO Award : an agency that is dedicated to finding homeless solutions, is effective, results-oriented and open in their quest to find those solutions. - HopeLink of Southern Nevada

SUPERSTAR AWARDS : These are presented to members of the working groups and their sub groups that have gone above and beyond to contribute to the group to advance our progress toward ending homelessness in Southern Nevada.
  • Community Engagement: Kelly Swan, RENEW Therapeutic
  • Coordinated Entry System: Michele Fuller-Hallauer, Clark County
  • Coordinated Entry Task Force: Linda Godoy, Clark County
  • Coordinated Outreach: Louis Lacey, HELP of Southern Nevada
  • Diversion: Tara Ulmer, Clark County
  • Moving On: Jason Schwartz, UNLV Medicine/Mojave Counseling
  • Data & Systems Improvement: Michele Fuller-Hallauer, Clark County
  • Homeless Management Information System: Julee King, Bitfocus
  • Evaluation: Catherine Huang Hara, Clark County
  • Monitoring Working Group: Karen Schneider, Clark County
  • Planning Working Group: Kathi Thomas-Gibson, City of Las Vegas
  • Built for Zero: Michelle Fuller-Hallauer, Clark County
  • Joint Housing: Amy Licht, Olive Crest
  • Steering Committee: Stacy DiNicola, City of Henderson
  • Youth: Melissa Jacobowitz, Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth
  • Young Adults in Charge: Taisacan Hall
Congratulations to all the award recipients! More photos can be found at RENEW's Facebook Page !
Rapid Rehousing Learning Collaborative and 100-Day Challenge
On October 2, 2019, a team of nine community service providers attended the Southern Nevada Rapid Re-Housing Learning Collaborative organized by The National Alliance to End Homelessness (The Alliance). The Alliance is the leading national voice on the issue of homelessness. The Alliance works collaboratively with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build state and local capacity leading to stronger programs and policies that help communities achieve their goal of ending homelessness.

The Learning Collaborative is an effort to strengthen the provision of Rapid Re-Housing services and improve housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. Rapid Re-housing is an intervention that is designed to help people obtain permanent housing and end their homelessness quickly. It’s offered without preconditions (such as employment, income, absence of criminal record, or sobriety) and the resources and services provided are tailored to the needs of the person. The service providers who attended the Learning Collaborative include: Catholic Charities, Clark County Social Service, HELP of Southern NV, HopeLink of Nevada, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, Safe Nest, The Salvation Army, St. Jude's Ranch for Children, and US Vets-Las Vegas.

All the service providers have committed to shifting their organizational culture, operations, and practices to improve their Rapid Re-Housing programs and push toward ending homelessness by accepting a challenge to house a total of 500 households within the next 100 days. The 100 Day Challenge kicks off on October 21, 2019. The Learning Collaborative served as one more step on the road to ending homelessness in Southern Nevada. 
In the first 10 days, 41 households went to new homes!
Diversion Pilot for Families
Diversion Training
Diversion is an emerging practice in communities across the country used to divert families who are experiencing homelessness from emergency shelter when safe and appropriate, by providing individualized support before families enter the shelter system. Diversion provides an opportunity to assist those who are requesting homeless housing resources find possible housing options outside of the traditional homeless system, ensuring that immediate and alternative arrangements are fully explored and supported while reserving shelter beds for those families that are the most vulnerable and have no other options.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness held two two-day training sessions for community service providers in Southern Nevada to lead the community's Diversion Pilot. The assessment sites include Family Promise, HopeLink of Nevada, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, HELP of Southern Nevada, City of Las Vegas Courtyard, MORE, US VETS, and Salvation Army.

The Diversion Pilot is a three month pilot held from October to December 2019. The goals for the pilot are to divert 15% of family households seeking shelter from entering the homelessness system and to have 80% of those that were diverted have no further instances of homelessness for 45 days. The Pilot is structured to provide light-touch services to help families explore other possible options for securing housing outside of the traditional homeless housing resources such as shelters.
 These services include:
  • Initial meeting with the family to brainstorm/explore possible non-traditional options
  • Mediation and/or dispute resolution with previous landlords, family or friends
  • Referrals to mainstream services or other community resources.

A successful diversion program will improve the ability of a homeless assistance system to target shelter resources effectively, and help families safely avoid a traumatic and stressful homeless episode.
Training Opportunities
SOAR (SSI, SSDI, Outreach, Access and Recovery) Training
Tracking SOAR Outcomes with HMIS and OAT
  • This training will review the outcome reporting process, which will include a walk-through of the SOAR HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) data entry process, as well as OAT (Online Application Tracking) and the OAT Data Form. 
  • Nov 12th - 10:30 am-12:00 pm or 1:00-2:30 pm

SOAR Adult Fundamentals
  • This training is intended for those who have completed the SOAR Online Course and will be using the SOAR model to assist SSI/SSDI applicants. We will be reviewing key components of the SOAR Online Course and SOAR-assisted SSI/SSDI application process; introduce SOAR Local Leads and discuss the Nevada specific SOAR process.
  • Nov 14th -9:00 am-4:00 pm Click to register
For questions, please contact the NV SOAR Coordinator Tiffany Evans via email or phone (702) 455-3646

Mainstream Programs Basic Training (MPBT)
MPBT offers a live, in-service training geared toward case-managers, social workers and front-line workers from various agencies who work directly with the homeless and/or low-income individuals and families. These sessions have been designed to educate workers on resources which are available for their clients, thus allowing them to be a valuable tool in accessing services for the client.
Thank you for your support of the 2019 MPBT schedule. 2020 MPBT will resume in February.
Get Involved
Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit: The Movement at Work
On November 7th , the third Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit will be taking place at at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The event is structured around four distinct tracks designed to execute on the Southern Nevada Plan to End Youth Homelessness. Participants will spend the morning learning from experts in their selected track and apply learning and insight in action-based afternoon implementation sessions. Summit 19 tracks include:
  • Launching Host Home Programs: Re-Imagining Existing Community Resources to Fight Youth Homelessness
  • Creating a Wider Lens: Using Data to Develop a More Comprehensive Look at Youth Homelessness in Southern Nevada
  • The Multitude of Faces in Different Places: Destigmatizing Youth Homelessness
  • Youth Homelessness and Higher Education: Developing a System-Wide Approach
Summit 19 will also feature a luncheon keynote address, an update on The Movement to End Youth Homelessness and networking opportunities to interact with community leaders. Registration is at Summit 19
2019 Project Homeless Connect
This year's event will be on November 26th at the Champion Center, 3900 E Bonanza Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89110. It is an all-day event where those experiencing homelessness may get community services and support in one location.
Booth applications for partners interested in participating are now open until November 8th. The next planning meetings will be at 9:30 am at The Champion Center, Room 112.
Find more information at Project Homeless Connect
Open for Comment: SNHCoC Working Group Governance
As of November 1s t, the main working groups of the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care Board are opening for public comment the governance documents for the following groups: Community Engagement, Coordinated Entry System , Data & Systems Improvement, Evaluation, Monitoring Working Group, Planning Working Group, Youth, Each document outlines the purpose, membership, and activities of the respective group. To provide comment, please email the respective champion listed with subject line: "Comments on Governance for (fill in the group name)"
Each of the documents and the champion contact information can be found at Working Groups
Upcoming Meetings
All meetings are monthly at Clark County Social Service, 1600 Pinto Lane, Las Vegas , unless otherwise listed.

  • Joint Housing Working Group: November 6th & 20th (every other Wednesday), 1:30-3:00 pm @Las Vegas City Hall 5th Floor, 495 S. Main St, Las Vegas
  • Evaluation Working Group Meeting: November 12th (2nd Mondays), 8:30-11:30 am
  • Monitoring Working Group: November 13th (2nd Wednesdays), 1:30-3:00 pm
  • Data & Systems Improvement Working Group: November 18th (3rd Mondays), 8:30-11:00 am
  • Coordinated Entry System Working Group: November 19th (3rd Tuesdays) 1:00-5:00 pm
  • HMIS Working Group: November 20th (3rd Wednesdays), 1:30-3:00 pm via Webex, password: Dmd4fdRG or phone 1-415-655-0003, Access code: 808 327 532 
  • Community Engagement Working Group: December 9th (2nd Mondays), at 1:30-3:00 pm by phone, +1 669 900 6833, Meeting ID: 661827626
  • Youth Working Group: December 16th  (4th Mondays), 9:00 am - 11:00 am
  • Planning Working Group: TBD @Las Vegas City Hall 5th Floor, 495 S. Main St, Las Vegas

Find these working group meetings and more on our community calendar