Social services group to lose its home

A 40-year-old social services organization that provides inexpensive child care for low-income families might soon be homeless because of squabbles with its landlord.

The Nevada Association of Latin Americans, NALA, has for more than three decades leased a building at 323 N. Maryland Parkway, near Stewart Avenue, from the Las Vegas Housing Authority for $1 a year. NALA, a nonprofit organization, houses its preschool and administrative offices in the building.

The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, into which the Las Vegas housing authority recently merged, served NALA an eviction notice earlier this month, saying NALA hasn't worked hard enough to recruit clients from among the poor who live in housing authority properties and hasn't adequately maintained the building. It gave NALA until Valentine's Day to get out.

"It's a disgrace that we have to tell parents on Feb. 14, unless we can find a place, we don't know what's going to happen to their day care," Peggy Maze Johnson, a member of NALA's board of trustees, said at a Thursday morning press conference where she was surrounded by dozens of preschoolers.

NALA plans to file an injunction in coming days to stop the eviction, its attorney said.

Johnson said the housing authority hasn't provided NALA with a list of grievances.

"We are being kicked out, and we don't know why," she said.

But Carl Rowe, interim director of the regional housing authority, said NALA was given plenty of notice and opportunities to address problems. The organization's long "record of failure" no longer could be tolerated, he said.

NALA is "returning no value to speak of," Rowe said.

Rowe insisted low-income families whose children attend the preschool won't be affected by the eviction. The housing authority will take over operation of the school at that site until it finds "a new service provider," he said.

"People who still want their kids to go there can, and there won't even be a wrinkle," he said.

NALA's preschool has 110 children registered, but attendance varies each day, Johnson said. Six of those children live in housing authority properties, she said.

Families pay between $65 and $95 per week for child care, depending on their income. NALA's annual budget, which comes mostly from donations and grants, is $1.2 million.

Officials said the problems with NALA include the organization's failure to do outreach at housing authority properties, consistently file monthly reports, repair a long-broken air conditioner and paint the building.

NALA's lease, which was to run through June 2011, requires it to maintain the property. The housing authority can terminate the agreement if it determines the facility isn't benefiting housing authority residents or if NALA doesn't meet the lease's other terms.

NALA "did not keep their commitments," said Dora LaGrande, chair of the regional housing authority. "This contract should have been canceled a long time ago," LaGrande said.

NALA has tried to recruit more children from housing authority properties to its preschool, but a shaky economy and high unemployment have left many parents unable to afford even modest day care fees, Johnson said. Transportation to the school for those children also has been a challenge, she said.

NALA hesitated to spend money fixing some of the building's recent maintenance problems because of the threat of eviction, Johnson said. But the organization has spent more than $1.2 million on maintenance of the building over the past decade, she said.

NALA was incorporated in 1969 to provide social services to Hispanics in the Las Vegas Valley. The organization has struggled in recent years because of a scarcity of grant funds and decreased donations.

Teri De La Torre, NALA's executive director, wasn't sure where the organization would go if it's forced to move. But she resents the housing authority's plans to take over the preschool, she said.

"They cannot assume that they can come in here and take over ... our children," she said. "All the families, the children, belong to NALA."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@review journal.com or 702-383-0285.