Vigil calls for sheltering homeless

Braving the afternoon sun in his dark brown robe, Franciscan brother David Buer waves at passing motorists who honk in approval for his current mission of getting shelter for the homeless.

"The weather now in September is still hot, but come late November it'll be dangerously cold," Buer said. "We realize that if we don't do something now, we'll be in trouble then."

Known to locals mainly for his protests against the testing of nuclear weapons, Buer, with a rotating crew of more than 20 volunteers, is camped out near the corner of Main Street and Owens Avenue during a two-week vigil for the homeless that is to conclude Wednesday.

"What we're trying to do with the vigil is raise community awareness," Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition chairman Brian Brooks said. "We have an immediate need for emergency winter housing and too little funds."

The city has 1,118 emergency beds for the homeless but needs 900 more, Brooks said.

"Our minimum goal is 250, but if you built a 1,000-person shelter tomorrow, it would be full."

The need, according to Brooks, is evident.

"Last year when shelters ran out of beds we had people sleeping on mats, and in some places the conditions were not exactly healthy," he said.

One emergency shelter had 155 people packed into a storefront, according to Buer.

"They were crammed together on mats," Buer said. "There was no ventilation, no running water and only two portapotties outside filled to overflowing."

To solve the problem, Buer proposes that two temporary structures, each with about 300 foldable cots, be placed at two separate locations. One would go on MASH Village property on Owens Avenue just west of Main Street and the other on Catholic Charities property at 1501 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

"We'd be willing to put it there if we had the funds," MASH (Mobile Assistance and Shelter for the Homeless) director Ken Robertson said.

Catholic Charities executive director Mike Husted confirmed that the plan is to erect temporary structures next year during the construction of new facilities. The temporary structures could be built now and used for the winter if funds were available, he said.

The agencies are doing the best they can with the available funds, Brooks added.

"There's definitely a need for more shelter," MASH social services director Ruth Bruland said. "There's a substantial hidden population of homeless living along the railroad tracks and in other scattered, dangerous places. They'll need to be inside during the winter."

"It's kind of like a 'Field of Dreams,'" she said. "Build it and they will come. And not like from Iowa -- they're already here."

Three hundred beds would cost $3,000 at $10 apiece from Army surplus stores. The tent-like temporary structures would cost about $500,000 each and last for about five years, Buer said.

"The $500,000 figure would include the tents, a concrete foundation, staffing, sewage fees, everything we'd need," Buer said.

The "spring structures" are the same kind the convention center uses for big events such as Comdex, Brooks said.

"They're very secure and can be heated," he said. "San Diego has had great success with them for the past few years, but Las Vegas doesn't want anything that looks like a temporary structure."

Another option would be to rent an unused building temporarily.

"The problem is that no one wants to lend us a building because they think the homeless will wreck the place. The truth is that every year we're told by Cashman Field that when we have our Stand Down day, the homeless leave that building cleaner than anybody," Brooks said.

Eventually the valley's growth will require more permanent shelters, he said.

"People are hesitant to fund shelters. They say, 'Get a job.' But you can't take a person right off the street and take them straight to a job interview.

"There has to be a starting place, and that's what the shelters do."

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