HELP of Southern Nevada is one of many organizations in Clark County dedicated to providing the unhoused in our community with the resources they need.
"We have a lot of individuals that we were able to get into some kind of crisis stabilization or treatment setting," said Louis Lacey, the organization's Homeless Response Teams Director. "We are definitely working to place as many individuals into some type of positive housing setting as we can."
Funding for organizations like HELP is crucial in order to make that goal a reality.
Jamie Sorenson, the director of Clark County Social Services, says the biennial Point-in-Time Count, where data is collected on the homeless population in Southern Nevada, is a big part of that.
"The information from this count is used to help federal HUD determine fiscal allocations to this area of Southern Nevada," Sorenson said. "It's a substantial amount of money that we really rely on heavily."
"This is really critical," Lacey said. "We require federal assistance to be able to help in our community as a whole. It really helps us to get the resources we need to help the individuals that are unhoused."
On Thursday, hundreds of volunteers and outreach workers in our community will conduct the count across Southern Nevada.
At the time of the last count in 2024, 7,906 people were experiencing homelessness. While officials say it's difficult to predict whether they'll see an increase in those numbers, they'll continue doing what they can to make sure everyone gets the help they need.
"We're going to work really hard to figure out from what we learn in this PIT count what are some of the contributing factors we really need to pay attention to in this community," Sorenson said.
Sorenson says they hope to have the data they collect from the count within 30 days, which they'll then put on a website for the community to see.
In the meantime, if you or someone you know who's experiencing homelessness needs assistance, HELP of Southern Nevada provides social services at their location on Flamingo Road, Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. To 5 p.m.
You can find more information about the help available on their website here.
