Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

GOOD WORKS:

No one who reaches for help should lose hope

Nevada Partners

Courtesy

Nevada Partners Inc. works with businesses, community leaders, public agencies and faith-based groups to connect those who want to rebuild their lives with the support they need to do so.

Monica Ford

Monica Ford

Title: President/CEO

Agency address: 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd., North Las Vegas

Agency phone number: 702-924-2100

Agency website: nevadapartners.org

Hours of operation: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

To volunteer: Programs include the Las Vegas My Brother’s Keeper initiative, the Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood Initiative, the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, an urban garden and more. Support could include mentoring a child, assisting in the career resource center or adopting a project.

What is Good Works?

In Good Works, an occasional series, we highlight nonprofit groups that are making a difference in our community. If you’d like to nominate an organization, email [email protected] with details.

What does your organization do? We provide programs and services designed to ensure that individuals reach their full potential through employment, education, housing and civic engagement.

Who are your clients? Our clients include the community’s most vulnerable residents, as well as people seeking to alter, through homeownership and career development, their family’s trajectory. Among the people we serve are unemployed and underemployed adults, veterans, youths aging out of foster care, homeless youths, adjudicated youths, first-time homebuyers, prospective apprentices and anyone desiring a second chance through employment or education.

When was your organization established? Nevada Partners was established in 1992 with the aim of providing employment services. Over time, we have expanded our services in response to the needs of the community.

What services do you offer that the community likely knows about? As a result of our 20-plus-year history providing employment and training services, the community is aware of our reputation as a nationally recognized workforce development agency.

What services do you offer that the community might not know about? People may be less familiar with the emergency needs assistance and down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers programs we offer. In addition, we provide free tax-preparation assistance, pre-apprenticeship training and free staffing services.

Do you have any recent news you’d like to share? We recently were recognized by the White House as a model workforce-training program. We were one of just 30 organizations highlighted nationally and were the only agency recognized in Nevada.

What has been your most exciting professional project to date? I’ll highlight just a few: Nevada Partners was awarded a substantial capital grant to establish a regional workforce-development center. The center will offer training in emerging markets and areas of demand, including film production, commercial drone use, allied health professions and information technology. Also, Nevada Partners now serves as the northern affiliate one-stop career center for Workforce Connections, our local workforce-investment board. Moreover, Nevada Partners recently was recognized as the inaugural workforce-development champion by Workforce Connections. We are also serving as the neighborhood sector lead for the city of North Las Vegas Choice Neighborhood Planning Initiative, a cross-agency effort to transform the community through employment, education, infrastructure improvements, housing and health.

What can people do to help your organization and the causes you serve? There are several opportunities, including supporting the Las Vegas My Brother’s Keeper initiative, the Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood Initiative, the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, our urban garden or any of our signature programs. Support could include mentoring a child, assisting in our career resource center or adopting one of our projects.

What can Southern Nevadans do to improve our community in general? Beyond supporting our efforts, we encourage Southern Nevadans to join us in improving our community through advocacy, civic engagement and stakeholder engagement. We face a number of complex social issues, including homelessness, school dropout and human trafficking. These issues require Nevadans to link arms, leverage resources and understand the nuances of these societal challenges.

Whom do you admire and why? I admire every person who has faced challenges and/or lost hope yet builds up the strength to walk through our doors for assistance, allowing us to rebuild their life and ultimately living out our organizational mission of building a healthy, sustainable community where all residents achieve their full potential.

How do you motivate people to get involved? By sharing the many stories of the true change that is possible and by reminding people to live by my favorite Ghandi quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Where do you see your organization in five years? Five years from now, I envision Nevada Partners continuing its ideals of collaboration, empowerment and advocacy while leading the way in ensuring that residents are gainfully employed, youths are prepared for success and communities are stabilized through homeownership. To this end, I see an organization characterized by a network of strong partnerships, recognized for national best practices and transforming the community through responsive programming.

If you could change one thing about Southern Nevada, what would it be? If given the opportunity, I would encourage further investments in our infrastructure, particularly investments in education, the mental health system and alternatives to incarceration.

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