HomeAid reboots charity construction projects in Las Vegas Valley

Before the economic recession forced it to go dormant in 2013, HomeAid Southern Nevada operated in the Las Vegas area for eight years, building nearly 100,000 square feet of living space for charities such as St. Jude’s Ranch for Children and Lutheran Social Services of Nevada.

Now it’s back on its feet and enjoying a special alliance with the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. Its current project is the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth’s William Fry Drop-in Center at 4981 Shirley St., near UNLV, and done in conjunction with Nevada Women’s Philanthropy. The project adds an expansion to the original building, a single-story bungalow, and renovates the kitchen to make it an open concept.

Two weeks ago, “all this was a concrete slab,” said Caitlin Shea, executive director of the local HomeAid as she stood outside the gated construction site. “Now the studs are up, and they just dropped off all this roofing (material) today. I have to tell you, the misconception about the building industry, these men and women are some of the most generous people I’ve met. … this building would never be possible without them.”

Inside the construction project, electrical lines were being run, HVAC people were securing ducts and lathe workers were setting up. One man carrying supplies ducked under another who was climbing a ladder. The workers were from Pardee Homes, KB Home, Warmington Residential, Woodside Homes and Beezer Homes.

“It’s like at the models (homes), everybody’s on top of one another,” said Jerry Willis, phase captain. “…We’ve got to snatch trades (away from other projects) because every builder in town is building.”

The project adds 2,610 square feet to bring the total square footage to 4,630. It’s much needed, as the Drop-in Center assists as many as 500 unduplicated youths — first-time users new to the center — in a given year. With the addition, the center can serve 40 percent more young people. In 2013, the partnership made more than 3,000 contacts with street youths.

“When a youth is out on the streets or couch-surfing, they are in survival mode,” said Arash Ghafoori, executive director of the partnership. “This is when bad things happen to them, such as victimization, or where they make poor choices out of necessity for survival, such as stealing food, selling their bodies, doing drugs … The Drop-in Center is designed to address a youth’s immediate needs, to overcome the survival mentality while connecting to a plethora of supportive services and resources.”

The center includes computers, a laundry room, a shower room, a free clothing dispensary and the food area, where individually packaged crackers and cookies are handed out as well as coupons for fast food, often the only hot meal the teens will have.

HomeAid’s goal is to do one large project, such as the Drop-in Center, a year. It also does smaller projects, such as turning existing operations into green ones with low-flush toilets or extra insulation.

It also does Care Days, when it goes into a charity and spruces up its facilities. Its first one was for Family Promise, called a Cinderella Clean up, where it deep cleaned the facility, gave it fresh paint and added new appliances. Some donors could not be on site, so they donated useful items such as toilet paper and everyday supplies.

As much as 83 percent of the project for the Drop-in Center was donated. For fundraising, it recently finished its fifth Project Playhouse Pet edition, which raised about $25,000.

“The money we raise stays local,” Shea said. “The projects we do stay local.”

For more information about HomeAid Southern Nevada, visit homeaidsn.org.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.