A Lesson in Giving

A group of young volunteers stands, distributing pamphlets and toiletries, while several homeless teens look on or wait in line to receive the handouts.

An hour later, the student volunteers head home. Those who received the aid have no place to call home, but this drop-off center at Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue may help change that.

The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, which runs the drop-off center, also provides long-term shelter for children and teens, as well as short-term care for all ages through its Street Outreach program and its partner agency, WestCare of Las Vegas.

"We are a nonprofit organization that helps homeless teenagers by providing whatever it is they need," said Kathleen Boutin, the founder and executive director of the partnership.

Boutin got the idea for the organization while she was working on a teen pregnancy program for the Southern Nevada Health District. The partnership gained its nonprofit status in October 2001 and has been praised by groups such as the National Alliance to End Homelessness because of participants' efforts to address the problems of homeless youths.

"We have a lot of community support," Boutin said.

For instance, the partnership has community volunteers who are nicknamed "houseparents." These volunteers spend quite a bit of time with the teenagers who find themselves in the group's shelters, and in some cases, they even live on the same street.

Jose Diaz, a computer teacher at Faith Lutheran High School, is one of these volunteers. He lives about a block away from the drop-off center.

"We pass out toiletries, hand out pamphlets with demographics," he said. "We also tutor kids. We do different things."

The "we" Diaz referred to includes himself and his student volunteers. Every Thursday for two years now, Diaz has gathered interested students to assist with the Street Outreach program and to persuade homeless teens to speak to social workers at the drop-off center.

Diaz said his group promotes academics to teens on the streets, but since his students volunteer just once a week, they find it difficult to gauge the interest of the homeless teens.

The interest may seem limited, but it exists, insists one former resident of the partnership's housing program.

"I dropped out of school for a little bit. I never went to high school, so now it is a little bit weird, but it's great," said Callyce Carroll, a 20-year-old freshman at the College of Southern Nevada.

Carroll's family lost their home in 2003, and soon he, his parents and his brother were separated. He remained homeless for a while and mostly unaware of how common his situation was.

"I thought I was the only homeless kid in Las Vegas until I met other kids just like me," Carroll said.

According to a 2006 survey, which the partnership helped sponsor, Las Vegas has more than 1,700 homeless youths, and 66 percent of them still have parents living in the valley. About 75 percent of these teens are 15 to 17 years old.

"We serve kids from about 12 to 18, but 14 to 16 years old is the average," Boutin said.

With such drastic statistics, Diaz said, he views the tutoring and educating that his students do as one of their most vital tasks.

"Education is not a priority of the kids in that demographic and that climate," he said.

Boutin agreed.

"Education is the key that unlocks the door to self-sufficiency," she said.

Carroll believes the partnership also needs to help teens gain an understanding of their situation.

"The programs aren't big enough," he said. "They can only serve so many kids. There needs to be more communication. The people who have the information don't really run into the people who need it."

Boutin said she is grateful for her ability to assist young adults like Carroll.

"They're so great," she said. "From one spectrum to another, to have the ability to marry the haves with the have-nots is truly a blessing."

Meanwhile, Carroll believes his blessing was to find the partnership.

"It gives you a second chance at living life," he said.