Opportunity Village announces $136 million capital campaign

Opportunity Village on Thursday announced the launch of a five-year, $136 million capital campaign.

The announcement was made during a press conference at Sunset Springs Ranch, the former Wayne Newton estate.

During the event, a $35 million matching gift was made by the Engelstad Family Foundation.

Dorothy and Lacy Harber, owners of Sunset Springs Ranch, donated $10 million from their estate to help match the $35 million gift.

“We can build a future where any person with a disability can be the best they can be,” said Linda Smith, chief development officer and foundation associate executive director for Opportunity Village.

The funds will help the organization establish a new model of residential facilities at the Ralph & Betty Engelstad campus on South Buffalo Drive, an Opportunity Village campus in northwest Las Vegas, and it will help expand and retrofit the three existing campuses, Smith said.

Opportunity Village is a Southern Nevada nonprofit that assists those with intellectual disabilities. The organization helps them get jobs at its employment resource centers and in the community. It also provides recreational opportunities.

The organization so far has raised a total of $52 million, including the gifts announced Thursday, Smith said.

The projects will be done in phases, with the first phase being the residential facilities at the Engelstad campus, said Amanda Holland, associate director of donor development at Opportunity Village.

Opportunity Village is also in talks with multiple entities about having the land for the new 25-acre campus in the northwest donated, Smith said.

The organization has formed a campaign leadership group to help reach the fundraising goal, Smith said.

“We know we are going to be successful,” she said. “The people that we serve are very deserving.”

Opportunity Village has always done what it said it would do, said Jeffrey Cooper, a trustee of the Engelstad Family Foundation.

“The goal and hope is that others will step forward,” he said.

The new residential facilities planned for the Engelstad campus and the new location planned in the northwest will be a “model for the future,” said Bob Brown, president of the Opportunity Village Foundation. The current design consists of about 80 to 88 residential slots at the Engelstad campus.

The northwest Las Vegas campus will have more, he said.

“We are going to double in size as an organization in five years,” Brown said.

The organization serves about 2,500 clients now and aims to serve anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 clients in five years, he said.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter: @YeseniaAmaro.