LAS VEGAS—Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) and Las Vegas Sands announced the expanded Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit will take place November 8 at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
With support from the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the seventh annual Summit shifts to a statewide focus, recognizing the imperative to attack the youth homelessness issue with a broader movement that can more effectively address state-level policy initiatives and create collaborations for innovative solutions.
This year’s Summit will provide the foundation to build the state’s first plan to end youth homelessness, modeling the effort to build the Southern Nevada Plan to End Youth Homelessness that had been curated through previous Summits.
“The scope of the youth homelessness crisis extends throughout the state of Nevada, and we know that we can no longer focus just on Southern Nevada to create lasting change,” Arash Ghafoori, CEO, NPHY, said. “We must join forces with the host of great organizations throughout Nevada to aid vulnerable young people and youth in crisis. Youth homelessness is bigger than any one sector and any region.”
Shortage of Affordable Housing
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 2022 roughly 12 percent of youth experiencing homelessness across the United States were residing in Nevada. In addition, homelessness risk factors have accelerated as the state of Nevada is facing an estimated shortage of more than 80,000 affordable rentals for extremely low-income tenants, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
To expand The Movement to End Youth Homelessness statewide, a steering committee is spearheading content planning and participant engagement for Summit 2023. Members include representatives from University of Nevada, Reno; Eddy House; ACLU Nevada; Nevada Department of Education; Nevada Homeless Alliance; Nevada Housing Coalition; Clark County School District; St. Jude’s Ranch for Children; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Las Vegas Sands; Clark County Social Service; Help Hope Home; Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority; and NPHY, with collaboration from the Northern Nevada Continuum of Care and Balance of State Continuum of Care.
Go to https://nphy.org/summit23.
