College student’s nonprofit helps homeless in Las Vegas

Sydney Grover pulled a blouse from a trash bag and laid it atop a growing pile of clothes in her Las Vegas garage. She described how a blog she started out of her college dorm room in Phoenix blossomed into a nonprofit that helps homeless people in her native Las Vegas.

Grover, 20, had one goal when she began interviewing people for her blog Can You Spare a Story in 2016: humanizing the homeless.

“I just want my readers and my volunteers to not avoid eye contact when they drive by a homeless person on the street,” Grover said. “I’ve met so many incredible individuals who just needed the opportunity to talk to someone who cares.”

Grover, a Grand Canyon University student and 2016 Palo Verde High School graduate, said the idea was born out of passion and boredom. She wasn’t allowed to get a job because her mom wanted her to focus on schoolwork. Instead, she left her camera and a notebook in her car and began stopping to talk to homeless people holding cardboard signs.

Of the roughly 60 people Grover approached for her blog, 45 agreed to be interviewed and photographed.

She met the subject of her second interview, Rocky, in Tempe, Arizona, on Halloween in 2016. Rocky, a Navy veteran in a wheelchair who lived under a bridge, was well-known in the Tempe area for being friendly and saying hello to everyone.

“I just saw so much of my grandfather in him,” Grover said. “I just really appreciated his time and the fact that he was so willing to sit down with me.”

When she started the blog, Grover thought her mom and friends would be her only readers. But she gained views with each post, and by the time she decided she could do more to help the homeless as a nonprofit, she had thousands of readers.

The blog became a nonprofit organization in July 2017, and Grover’s mission shifted from changing readers’ perception of the homeless to helping the homeless view themselves differently.

“We aim to provide the basic necessities that make people feel confident enough to get back on their feet,” Grover said. “We want to provide more than just clothing. We want to provide the opportunity to get a job, to get a home.”

She plans to open her Priceless Pop-Up Shop from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Care Complex, 200 Foremaster Lane, to give the homeless a chance to shop for clothes.

Some of Can You Spare a Story’s 40 volunteers will be on hand to help homeless clients find the pieces and sizes they want. A donated mobile shower truck will be on-site, and four volunteer stylists from local salons will offer free haircuts.

Each patron will get 10 tickets to shop for 10 clothing items. Grover, in partnership with Home Aid of Southern Nevada, plans to give out about 350 kits with toiletries such as deodorant, razors and soap.

She hopes patrons feel like they are at a department store.

“We want it to be a personal shopping experience without the fear of cost,” said Grover, who has collected jewelry and perfume to help women. “I know those are two things that make me feel beautiful, and I want to make these individuals feel beautiful as well. It’s so important for individuals to feel like individuals, no matter where they call home.”

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com. Follow @lauxkimber on Twitter.