Local charities face high demand while reports find homelessness decreasing

Jamey Galloway laughed and cried as she recounted the past 13 years of her turbulent life.

But the 48-year-old has reason to be filled with joy instead of sorrow.

“I’m not the person I used to be,” said Galloway, who arrived in Las Vegas from Columbus, Ohio, in 2000 and ended up living on the streets of Clark County. “I thought I was going to die out there.”

Galloway, who had fallen back into a drug and alcohol habit, was homeless for eight years. She then lived in a couple of sober homes and slept on people’s floors.

But in April, she got her own apartment through a HELP of Southern Nevada program. She’s approaching her second year of sobriety.

A recently released homelessness report by the Housing and Urban Development Department mirrors results of a local report released this summer — the number of Nevada’s homeless is decreasing.

However, local organizations that provide services to homeless and those in need say what they are seeing contradicts what the reports show. They say they see an increased need.

The federal report shows a decline of homeless people nationwide. It also points to a significant drop in long-term or “chronic” homelessness, as well as a decrease in the number of veterans and families without roofs over their heads.

Galloway keeps a sign that reads, “Who is the most awesome person today?” taped above her bed. It was given to her by HELP of Southern Nevada to encourage her to move forward and not end up back on the streets.

“The feeling is so indescribable,” she said this week of having her own place. “Look at me now.”

During 100 days from March to June, the Southern Nevada Rapid Results Team moved 116 chronically homeless individuals into housing, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said. It was part of a campaign by local organizations and government agencies to focus on the chronically homeless.

“We estimate that there are about 700 chronically homeless individuals in Southern Nevada on any given night,” he said. “That number is less than it was two years ago, but it is still too many. We still have a long way to go to eliminate chronic homelessness in our community.”

Two years ago, that population numbered more than 1,500, he said.

The HUD report shows there were 8,443 homeless people in Nevada in 2013 compared with 14,594 in 2010.

A similar trend was found by the Southern Nevada Homeless Census and Survey conducted in January. It found 7,355 homeless people throughout Clark County, a decrease from 9,432 homeless people in 2011.

Local nonprofit groups are not seeing a decrease in the number of people seeking services.

Leslee Rogers, Salvation Army of Southern Nevada spokeswoman, said the number of people the nonprofit organization helps is climbing.

“We still see more newly homeless or nearly homeless,” she said.

The organization’s food pantry serves from 225 to 250 families a day, she said. That’s up from about 130 a day in 2012.

People running out of unemployment benefits and the cut that 362,000 Nevadans saw to their federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program benefits this month, among other factors, have played a role in the increased need, Rogers said.

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada is experiencing the same thing.

Leslie Carmine, Catholic Charities spokeswoman, said the nonprofit group’s overnight shelter, which is available every day, has 350 to 390 people on a daily basis. The shelter has 520 beds.

“It’s always in between that range and as the weather gets colder, that number will increase,” she said.

The federal report shows that Nevada is among the five states with the highest rates of unsheltered homeless people in 2013 with a total of 4,745. The other states are California, Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Catholic Charities averages about 1,000 free meals a day, with a large number of those going to the homeless, Carmine said.

With the need increasing, these organizations are also in need of support.

“Every little bit helps to help provide for someone who is in need,” Carmine said. “It can be as simple as donating a shirt.”

Today, Catholic Charities will be preparing about 1,500 Thanksgiving meals. Galloway won’t need one this year.

“It’s a beautiful feeling to be able to cook for myself,” she said. “I can invite people over and I can cook. I’m beyond thankful. Now I’m so grateful, I’m so blessed.”

She does have one more wish — to reunite with her son after 31 years. She lost custody of Divine Lamont Galloway, who is 33, when he was only 4 months old.

The last time she saw him, he was 2 years old. She recently found a picture of him on the Internet and is trying to reach out to him.

She is selling little packets of tea at her church to raise money to buy a ticket to visit Columbus with the hope of reuniting with her son.

Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at (702) 383-0440 or yamaro@reviewjournal.com.