Las Vegas center provides kids a chance to learn

Inside a housing project in one of Las Vegas' roughest neighborhoods, children are looking at irises.

These flowers — shown on a print of a painting done 126 years ago, an ocean away — are something beautiful that came from an inauspicious place. These are Vincent Van Gogh's irises, painted while he was in an asylum.

"Do you guys remember what I told you about Vincent Van Gogh when he painted that picture? He was in a hospital and he was very sad, and that's when he painted that," Gloria Flores said. "He was kind of sad. Sometimes that can inspire you to do things. Sometimes you can paint something when you're happy, sometimes when you're sad."

It is a Tuesday evening at the Sherman Gardens Annex, a public housing complex in west Las Vegas. Twice a week children gather there for an hour and a half to do homework, share lessons and stories, do yoga and have a snack.

Flores said she wants the children to know other people feel sad sometimes, like they do.

In 2010, the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority approached a 23-year-old University of Nevada, Las Vegas student — Gloria Flores' son — with an idea. The housing authority would free up one of the complex's apartments as a space for kids. Michael Flores was studying social work and had made a name for himself as a community organizer.

Flores said he would give it a try. Five years later, he's still trying.

Gloria Flores was scared for her son's safety at first, but soon she fell in love with what the center was able to do: Provide calm and consistency for children desperately in need of it.

Michael Flores said he thinks there should be places like the center in other impoverished neighborhoods, but he isn't interested in trying to replicate what they do elsewhere. What works about the center is that it isn't a "cookie cutter" approach, he said.

It's a center that just sort of happened and kept happening. Flores got his friends to volunteer, his high school — Bishop Gorman — poured in donations. A police officer heard about it and now regularly volunteers, giving the children a chance to learn more about law enforcement. Flores is active politically— he used to work for former U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford — so the children have a chance to hear from politicians, too.

Flores said people ask him what outreach he does to get the children to come. His answer: none.

"They just show up. It's crazy!" Flores said with a laugh. He said he was worried when he started, but the kids somehow heard about him and just kept coming.

According to the center's statistics, 3,269 children have come to the center.

There are usually 10 to 25 children, ranging in age from kindergarten to high school, who stop by.

"Meeting Mike was scary. I was like, 'Who is this guy and why is he here?'" said Shania Washington, 13, who has been a regular since the center opened. Now, she loves it, raving most about Gloria Flores.

"She's a lovely person. When I was 7, I thought lovely people didn't exist," Shania said.

The center's focus is always on learning. Posters line the wall with phrases that encourage critical thinking and a passion for knowledge — "Wisdom begins with wonder — Socrates" and "Education is the key to success!"

The first 15 minutes always begin with homework. A few children on Tuesday said they didn't have homework and were quickly met with skepticism from Michael Flores, who asked if he texted the child's teacher whether he would get the same answer.

Gloria Flores said she worried the kids would bail when she started devoting part of their time to homework. Still, they showed up, just with backpacks and bummed faces.

When possible, they also try to take the children on field trips. They implemented a gold star system this year for children who focus on their homework, the prize being an end-of-the-year trip somewhere.

Many of the children don't leave the block, Michael Flores said. Once, he took them to the Town Square shopping center. The kids were convinced that they had traveled to another country. It's a way of life Flores said he thinks would shock most people: kids for whom socks are hard to come by, 12-year-olds who've never been to a movie theater.

Recently, the Floreses had each of the children start journals.

"Some of the notebooks get really deep. The kids go through a lot. They see a lot. They get really into the notebooks," Flores said. "You have the glitz and the glamour of the Strip, but a lot of people don't know we have some really bad problems here."

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes