LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — State and local leaders praised the progress for the planned “Campus For Hope” as protesters continued to voice their concerns about the impact to the neighborhood.
During a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Governor Joe Lombardo told the crowd that his search for solutions to the Las Vegas Valley’s homeless crisis started ten years ago, right before he became Sheriff for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
“We saw it as a fantastic idea moving forward for the Las Vegas Valley,” Lombardo said, describing his visit to the Haven for Hope in San Antonio. “We didn’t have the resources to implement it,” he said about the hopes for the project, then.
In 2023, lawmakers passed AB528, providing $100 million to social services for the homeless. Las Vegas resort leaders helped spearhead the bill and promised to donate a contribution of around $100 million.
Earlier this year, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development approved the application for the 26-acre site Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services campus. Prior to the announcement, project officials told FOX5 that sites across the Valley were being considered.
Recently, concerned neighbors filed a lawsuit to get answers about other site considerations and the overall impact to the community.
Around two dozen residents held a protest outside the groundbreaking ceremony.
Governor Lombardo addressed the concerns from the protesters during his speech.
“We’re going to have significant resources in our community for the people that are suffering the most,” he said, during a stream of the speech on X.
“Unfortunately, we have naysayers. You saw them when we came in. I think that’s a problem of a lack of education… it’s awareness,” Lombardo said.
“Without a facility like Campus for Hope, it’s pretty easy for people to stay in homelessness and fall through the cracks because there’s not those comprehensive services that give them what they need,” said CEO Kim Jefferies, who sat down with FOX5 about the project.
Officials with the Campus For Hope project tell FOX5, staff will screen each resident and will not admit anyone off the streets.
Residents still have concerns that the unhoused will come to the area to seek much-needed services.
“If they’re not qualified to stay here, what’s going to happen to them? Those people don’t have cars. They’re going to be here and they’re going to be in our neighborhood,” said Jim Root, who started the petition with more than 1,000 signatures.
Neighbors also voiced concerns over the traffic and congestion impact. A number of residents also oppose the state’s plans for the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services campus: an expansion of the Forensic Facility.
The group behind the suit plans to look at legal options to expedite legal proceedings, Root tells FOX5.
Site preparation work will continue through the fall, according to a Campus For Hope spokesperson. People receiving treatment on the mental health campus will be relocated to other upgraded facilities; after that, then construction will begin, a spokesperson said.
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