Nevada Outreach secures 8-bed facility for temporary emergency housing

After many months of hard work and dedication, Nevada Outreach Training Organization has now officially secured the funding and permitting necessary to allow for the operation of an 8-bed temporary emergency housing facility for its clients.

Nevada Outreach has been using the new facility, owned by Rain Man LLC, for a full month now but it had been operating under a Temporary Use Permit, which was set to expire. In order to continue housing people experiencing emergency situations, a Conditional Use Permit was needed.

The request for that Conditional Use Permit was originally denied by the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission late last year, leading to an appeal being filed with the Nye County Commission. Throughout the discussion at the commission’s Jan. 17 meeting, however, it was determined that the denial was primarily due to the number of emergency responses at the location under a previous operator. That operator has since vacated the space and no longer uses the facility, assuaging concerns and clearing the way for the appeal to be granted.

Nevada Outreach Executive Director Kathie McKenna gave commissioners an overview of how the situation had come to its current point, explaining that Nevada Outreach had managed to find a grant funding opportunity through Nevada Community Foundation.

“I expressed to them what the issue was, what we were needing this property for and they agreed to give us two years worth of funding,” McKenna detailed. “Keeping our children off the street and out of foster care is a primary goal. Helping families get back on their feet and maintain long-term sustainable is a main goal. Keeping the nucleus of the family is key.”

Underscoring this fact were two meeting attendees, both clients of Nevada Outreach who would be using the facility for temporary emergency housing.

Julie Hix, a grandmother with children in her care, said she’s never had to worry about having a home before. However, she ended up experiencing a severe injury that left her unable to move for several months, leading to a snowball of financial consequences.

“We were out for 30 days on our own, staying in hotels,” Hix remarked.

She said Nye County Health and Human Services was a big help and ended up referring her family to Nevada Outreach, which was her saving grace. “When I got to Nevada Outreach, I was on my last dollar and we were going to be in the car,” Hix stated. “We have no family here and no help… We are not homeless, we are all just waiting to get into our next home, like we’ve always had in our lives.”

Craig Hall, a veteran with a wife and four-month-old child, said he too was rescued from dire straits by Nevada Outreach’s assistance. After moving to Pahrump from Texas, his family was ultimately forced to leave the place at which they had been invited to live.

“And I had no idea what I was going to do,” Hall stated.

Fortunately, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office managed to get the Halls to Nevada Outreach only minutes before it closed for the day and they were given a room in the facility, preventing them from having to expose their very young son to the dangers of sleeping on the streets.

“I want to remind everyone, this is not a homeless shelter,” McKenna stressed during her appeal presentation. “Eight rooms does not a homeless shelter make, not when we have over 130 people in this town who are homeless… I need everyone to realize that right up front. I am not fixing a homeless problem. All I am doing is giving emergency services to individuals so that we can get them into permanent housing.”

So as to assure the commission that Nevada Outreach has the ability to successfully manage such a facility, McKenna reminded them of the organization’s track-record and good reputation.

“If you look at what we’ve done over just the last year with the almost $1.2 million (in county ARPA grant funds) to help our community, that has to say a lot. We’ve been in this community since 1995. And I know there is a lot of concern about what happens when we run out of this grant? Well, I’m going to go look for another one! That’s what we do,” McKenna said.

Following a round of discussion, the commission voted 5-0 to reverse the decision of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission and grant the Conditional Use Permit.

For more information on Nevada Outreach and the programs it offers visit NevadaOutreach.org or call the Pahrump office at 775-751-1118 or the Tonopah office at 775-482-3016.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com

Author’s note: The location of the facility has been withheld for privacy and security purposes.