LAS VEGAS -- The Clark County Commission is expected to discuss Tuesday whether to take back $200,000 in grant money previously awarded to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
The charity has been in the headlines lately for a scandal involving its founder Kathleen Vermillion. While Vermillion is no longer with the organization, the bad publicity has left its mark. In the end, it is threatening the futures of hundreds of homeless teens.
Few would argue that former Henderson City Councilwoman Kathleen Vermillion and her on-again-off-again boyfriend Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak have not helped thousands of teens through the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
However, their very public break up with lawsuits and scandalous allegations has not been good for the charity. Now, with $200,000 at stake some of the kids it serves want everyone to see how the partnership has shaped their lives.
Armed with two number-two pencils, Levon Moses takes a practice exam for his real nursing assistant boards later this week. Just as he has for most of his life, Levon does better than expected.
"It was kind of hard. I just wanted to prove everybody wrong that was saying that I was going no where and I was going downhill," Moses, a formerly homeless teen, said.
At just 12-years-old, Levon's father kicked him out. That was shortly after his mother left in pursuit of her next high.
For years he bounced between friends' houses, homeless shelters and the occasional park bench. At 17, Levon found the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
"I had to get out of the habit of carrying a bag with me constantly because that is what I am used to. I always have a backpack, like my whole life is always stuffed in there," Moses said.
Now, like dozens of other previously homeless teens, Levon shares an apartment paid for by the partnership. Instead of worrying about where he will sleep, Levon focuses on the tools he needs to one day be self-sufficient.
Vince Pollard is the outreach coordinator for the partnership. He says he remembers when Levon walked through the doors.
"He said ‘I want to be a nurse.' He said ‘I want to go back to school. I want to become a security guard.' About a year later after entering our program, he reached all of those goals," Pollard said.
Like Levon, Lorna Rivers has plans of her own: a high school diploma, fashion school and a career in the performing arts. Until she was 16, Lorna shared those dreams with her mom and her grandmother. They died a year apart, leaving Lorna alone.
"I would probably be on the streets if I did not have this," Lorna said.
Officials at Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth say thousands of other teens who have passed through their doors would also be on the streets without the program. They show up to unwind, to grab a meal, to take a shower or to seek out services. They can get help with everything from getting a bus pass to finding a birth certificate.
"These are the kids who if not for a program like this could have gone straight down the drain and now they are going to be doing big things with their lives," Pollard said.
Levon Moses agrees. He credits the program with helping him move forward.
"It is definitely here that has given me the opportunity to be who I am. I really appreciate this program and what it has done for me," Moses said.
The county did an audit of the charity last month. It raised some accounting issues. It did not find any evidence that funding had been spent inappropriately. If the county commissioners decide to take back the $200,000 in grant money. Some of it is expected to be used for swimming pool access for at risk kids.
