Las Vegas Homelessness Discovery Trip

on May 31 in Homelessness by lampso

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to begin to learn about homelessness in the city. A good friend is the director of a large industry conference that takes place in Las Vegas each year. As a part of the conference, he wants to offer a day to give back to the city. He hired Project Live Love to go create this experience.

As a result… This past April I traveled to Las Vegas with my brother Luke to begin to discover what homelessness was like there and what was being done help those in need.

We began our discovery by visiting the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. They shared with us what the Mission was about and the impact they were making. This organization is incredible! They serve more than 1,000 meals a day and house over 220 heads of household. In addition to those emergency services, they offer a 12 month substance/ gambling addiction recovery program for men and women.

The Brand New Shelter Beds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were finished meeting with John, we set out on foot to explore the city and visit with people. We met many different and amazing people who had many incredible stories. I did not find the people there to be very different from what I have encountered in Atlanta. They were all unique with their own reasons for being homeless.

Some Friends We Encountered

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later that night we had the opportunity to return to the mission for dinner. They were kind enough to let us bring in our camera and take photos of anyone who agreed to let us. Again, we heard many different stories. One story that really stood out was that of our escort Mike.

Dinner At The Mission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike had been in the program for more than 6 months. He was placed in charge of leading us to the cafeteria and back when we visited for dinner. (The facility has lots of security) He shared a lot of his story with Luke in particular. He explained that he was an alcoholic and was stuck living in a home with alcoholics until he came to the mission. He knew as long as he was living in a home with alcohol that he would not be able to move past his addiction. Since coming to the mission he has remained clean and they are teaching him the skills necessary to remain clean.

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am excited to partner with this huge industry event and the Las Vegas Mission to make a difference in the lives of people like Mike.

These amazing photos are taken by my good friend Andy Brophy of One Nine Images.