Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Salvation Army shelter near

The Salvation Army says its $850,000 Pathways building, constructed with funds from the largest federal homeless grant ever issued, is expected to be completed in August.

Construction is under way on the 40-bed shelter at 35 W. Owens Ave. that will provide housing and training for chronically mentally ill homeless people -- 20 men and 20 women in the initial phase.

"This facility will provide hundreds of chronically mentally ill homeless men and women with the opportunity to overcome their condition and return to productive lives," said Lt. Col. Jim Sullivan.

"We have proven with our PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) Program that these people can be helped, and with this new program we will be able to do even more to restore these hurting men and women."

Salvation Army spokesman Sumner Dodge said a dedication ceremony will be scheduled in late August, with clients likely moving in by the end of the month. He noted that PATH will continue as an outpatient program, providing help for an additional 300 mentally ill clients annually.

It was the success of PATH in recent years that swayed officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make the Pathways shelter part of a $900 million nationwide package -- the largest grant for the homeless in HUD's history -- last July.

HUD bypassed the city of Las Vegas' key homeless project in favor of awarding nearly $1.9 million to the Salvation Army.

HUD turned down a $400,000 request from the city for its Mobilized Assistance and Shelter for the Homeless project and a $1.2 million request from the Key Foundation and United Homeless Industries for homeless veterans projects.

Nationwide, 818 applications were accepted out of the 3,000 proposals. In Nevada, the three applications, totaling $3.5 million in requests, were the only ones submitted.

About $400,000 of the grant money will be used to build the $850,000 Pathways shelter, with the rest coming from donations to the Salvation Army, mostly from wills. The facility, which will take four months to construct, also will include classrooms and offices, Dodge said.

The remaining $1,476,000 will cover operating costs for the next three years -- 75 percent for the first year, 75 percent for the second and 50 percent for the third. The rest of the money for the operational costs will come from public donations, Sullivan said.

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