Reno Reporter

Clark County recently issued the following announcement.

An old Fremont Street motel is being turned into a bridge housing program to help homeless individuals transition from sleeping in a shelter or on the streets to permanent housing.

This project is the latest in a series of County actions to address homelessness in our community.

“This program will provide temporary housing and the necessary support services to help people get off the streets,” said Commissioner William McCurdy II, whose district includes the former motel. “It is important for us to support programs that provide real and tested solutions to homelessness.”

The ongoing renovations of the former Safari Motel at 2001 E. Fremont St. will turn the former daily/weekly rental property into a BETterment Community, providing clients with bridge housing for up to 90 days, counseling, and employment assistance among other services. The program is expected to serve as many as 46 clients at a time, and up to 184 individuals a year. Eligible clients will be homeless adults without children.

The County is in the process of securing the former Safari Motel for the new BETterment Community and is working with the property owner who is upgrading the rooms. Clients are expected to move in this summer.

The County contracted with local homeless services provider U.S. Vets to operate the BETterment Community program, which is modeled after a similar program U.S. Vets operates for veterans. The U.S. Vets’ program has served more than 5,000 veterans since 2001, and 80 percent of those served by their program transition to permanent housing each year.

The County has allocated $4 million to fund the BETterment Community program for the next two years. The program could be extended for an additional three years.

During the past two years, the County has taken many steps to address homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Southern Nevada. Those actions have included providing temporary housing to more than 9,000 homeless individuals and families, allocating more than $300 million for rent, mortgage and utility assistance for more than 60,000 local households, and setting aside $140 million to support affordable housing developments that will create permanent housing solutions for residents of all income levels.

Original source can be found here.