‘Cannot get along without it’: Catholic Charities remains a lifeline for many

People in line smoothly advanced into Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada’s spacious dining hall where warm meals were swiftly dispensed one by one. In a separate kitchen area, staffers scooped frozen vegetables into meal prep containers that are delivered seniors as part of a meals on wheels program.

At the nonprofit’s community pantry, which most resembles a small market, people who qualify for aid collected free food and other essentials.

Asked what he would do without the groceries he picked up one recent September morning, Oleary Ankton’s response was quick and stern: “Starve to death.”

The 76-year-old Vietnam War draftee, who used a cane to move around, said he also would be homeless if not for a veteran-related nonprofit which recently helped him secure an apartment.

“Some people — including me at times — cannot get along without it,” Ankton said about Catholic Charities. “We need to eat every day, so, it’s a good place.”

The mammoth nonprofit last year served an average of nearly 300 warm meals a day at its hall in downtown Las Vegas, and distributed just over 2 million pounds of food to nearly 30,000 people who visited the pantry, according to Catholic Charities.

Roughly 5,000 seniors who were enrolled in its “Meals on Wheels & Senior Nutrition” program received 856,495 meals.

Catholic Charities also operates an emergency shelter, a WIC nutrition program for mothers and babies and offers social services to migrants and refugees.

About one-third of its nearly $26 million budget in 2022 went to food services.

‘It shouldn’t be that way’

Deacon Tom Roberts, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, is a former veteran gaming executive.

“It’s unacceptable to me that anybody in this city, of all cities in the world, should go hungry,” he said.

“People tell me, ‘Deacon, I don’t care about food for me, just feed my kids,’” he added later.

“It shouldn’t be that way,” he said, palming a table. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

Southern Nevada continues to reel from the one-two punch of a global pandemic, followed by an economic crisis that threatened the livelihood of unsheltered people and those living on the edge of homelessness.

Pandemic-era increases to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have ended as food prices have increased, Roberts noted.

“We’ve seen more families coming in that are frightened, concerned. They’re confused,” he said.

“An increase in gas prices of 50 cents to a dollar is an aggravation for most of us, (or) increased costs of milk and food,” Roberts added. “For the people that we serve, that makes a big difference on how they’re going to make ends meet.”

He said the program that feeds seniors at home serves 2,400 people a day, with about 1,000 others on a wait list.

“That’s unbelievable to me,” Roberts said. “There’s no reason for a meal that’s under 10 bucks a meal that we should have to put people on a waiting list.”

‘Dignity and compassion’

Evictions have also exploded, while local governments struggle to catch up to an affordable housing shortage last estimated by Clark County to be around 85,000 homes.

Meanwhile, Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care’s daylong “homeless census” this year tallied 6,566 unhoused locals, a 16 percent year-to-year increase, and the highest figure since 2015.

Roberts stressed the nonprofit’s secular model of serving with “dignity and compassion.”

“It’s complicated and messy, just like our lives are complicated and messy,” he said. “And we’re all wounded, and so are our clients.”

He noted that a government shutdown, which was briefly halted this week, would’ve produced a new crisis for the most vulnerable who depend on federal funding to survive.

Ankton, the veteran who’s been helped by the nonprofit on and off for more than a decade, said it’s an essential organization.

“They serve a need; you can tell by the crowd,” he said. “The problem is there’s so many people that need help like me.”

Among the crowd were a man experiencing homelessness and a newly-arrived migrant.

After a prison stint, Richard Poggi, 59, said he was tired of drugs and living in motels.

“I just gave up and came here,” said the former teacher and trained machinist. “I’m stuck in a situation that is a challenge to navigate.”

He had recently secured $17.52 to get an ID and was hoping to get a job to get off the streets.

On a recent morning, Poggi was in line to catch a meal at Catholic Charities’ dining hall.

Vladimir Nunez, a Cuban national, was newly arrived to Las Vegas and qualified for groceries at the nonprofit’s pantry.

The 33-year-old chose to move here because of friends, but said he was eager to gain his footing to be self-sustainable.

“Thanks to them, lots of people who are starting from zero can obtain benefits,” he said in Spanish.

“It’s a good thing,” he added, “a program like this.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on X.