Program saving people from Las Vegas’ streets, changing their lives
In a city often noted for its excess — lavish hotel suites and multimillion-dollar homes — Michael Overton’s modest, one-bedroom apartment might not seem like much. But for Overton, who has lived on the streets on and off since 2008, it means everything.
It is an escape from a “dog-eat-dog” lifestyle and gives him a sense of stability and, most important, safety.
“You see (the homeless) get hit upside the head with bricks, you see them getting stabbed, you see them, women, getting beat, taken for their money,” Overton said. “It really is rough.”
Last year, two men sleeping on downtown Las Vegas sidewalks were bludgeoned to death. And earlier this year, a gunman shot three homeless men on the street, killing two of them, police said.
Overton, who has a disability from the complications of an aneurysm, had always vowed to never “depend on agencies or nobody.”
But he finally gave in. With the assistance of a homeless outreach program and the nonprofit HELP of Southern Nevada, Overton, 46, moved into his apartment in January.
“Ever since, I feel protected. I know this is something I can’t do without now,” he said.
What Overton calls his “light at the end of the tunnel” came in the form of a small team of Metro Police officers and representatives of the city of Las Vegas and several nonprofit organizations — the Salvation Army, U.S. Vets and HELP. They are part of the Multiagency Outreach Resource Engagement program and spend their days driving the homeless corridors, seeking those who may need help.
Available resources can vary: a ride to the DMV for an ID, a bus ticket for those who have family or friends outside of Las Vegas ready to take them in, and connections to employers and shelters. Or, in Overton’s case, a home.
Shortly before Thanksgiving Day last