Construction on Campus for Hope, a $200 million homeless campus, is set to start in September.

Located on 26 acres of land off Charleston and Jones Boulevard, state and local leaders held a ceremonial groundbreaking this month.

Funding for Campus for Hope was established in the 2023 legislative session, with the state paying $100 million and the gaming industry and broader business community committing another 100 million.

The 900-bed facility will model Haven for Hope in San Antonio, Texas.

Its mission is to empower people experiencing homelessness to transform their lives.

Ben Brooks, Jr., who spoke at the groundbreaking, said the numerous resources at Haven for Hope helped him do just that.

(Ben Brooks, Jr.) Near death experiences, homelessness, not having any real understanding of where to go, it was Haven for Hope that connected me to everything that I needed in order to get my life back together.

They encouraged me to go to school, get counseling, find a job, and there were people along the way that helped me to get there.

This is why I know that Campus for Hope is going to be such an amazing opportunity for individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

-Here now with more on why the San Antonio model can work in Las Vegas and to address some of the concerns that homeowners near the Campus for Hope site have is Kim Jefferies, CEO of the Campus for Hope Foundation.

You are also the former CEO of Haven for Hope in San Antonio.

So tell me, why do you think that model will work here?

(Kim Jefferies) Because it's a proven model.

You know, in San Antonio, I got to see it not just work for individuals, obviously, most importantly for individuals like Ben, to give them an opportunity to really recover from what led to their homelessness.

And getting out the underlying cause is really the key.

So making sure those comprehensive services that Ben was talking about are all on the singular campus, gives them the opportunity to do that.

And then for the community, I got to see our homeless issue in San Antonio just decrease over time.

So it's down 15 years later from our point in time count.

We're still down today in San Antonio.

So it works not only to get people away from homelessness, but to keep them stably housed for the long term.

-So perhaps it's not a matter of will this work for Las Vegas; rather, it works in a lot of different cities.

You think it would?

-I think it would.

This community is different than San Antonio, so we have to make sure it works here.

There's different resources here.

The housing crisis is a little bit different here.

We had one in San Antonio.

It's deeper here, so we're gonna have to be more creative around housing interventions that we bring onto the campus to make sure we can get people housed.

But the model works.

It's based on, you know, really getting at that underlying cause, and then it changes people's lives, not just for the moment, but for the future.

What are expectations that are realistic for this community to have as you move in and begin construction and open up in-- you want to open up in 2027 or 2028?

-2028 is when we anticipate we'll be able to finish construction and open.

I think it's realistic for this community to see, one, an immediate decrease in the number of people they see on the streets.

When you lift up something of this scale, so 900 beds on a campus, you're going to see that immediate reduction in individuals who are on the streets, because now they have a place to go.

Long term, you're going to see.

Short term, you're going to see immediate.

Then you're going to see, short term, you're going to see us, housing thousands of people a year, helping people get jobs, people getting self-sufficiency, moving back into the community.

And then long term, you're going to see homeless numbers in this community going down, unsheltered counts going down, the number of people experiencing homelessness and returning to homelessness will go down over time.

So I'm confident that we can think big and we can think bold about what this is going to do for this community.

-Help our viewers understand the types of clients you will be serving, because when I'm driving down the street, you know, I will encounter homeless people who have significant, I believe, mental health issues.

And I'm wondering, are these people going to be served?

Are these the people you're talking about that we'll see a reduction in their numbers on the streets, or is this a different type of a clientele, a different homeless population?

-Well, it's really designed for people who are at the point where they're ready to make that cognitive decision to do something with their life and to change their life, because we can't do the work for them.

We can create the environment on campus, but they really have to do the work.

And so we're talking about economically disadvantaged folks.

We're talking about people who have mental health challenges, kind of that low to moderate acuity.

The people who have severe mental illness, or are right now active in their addiction, will have to go to other facilities first and then can step down into Campus for Hope from those facilities--from detox, from crisis, from behavioral health centers.

Then they can come onto campus after that.

They have to be stable in order to be on campus, because we will have families.

We'll serve families, and we'll serve young adults 18 to 24, and we'll serve the elderly.

And so we need to keep a safe campus for everybody.

And ensuring that people are stable, we'll be able to serve them.

It might not be in that immediate moment directly from the streets, but creating a pathway for them to go from the streets to a location, then to campus to have the time they need to rebuild their lives.

-Safety is one of the concerns that homeowners in the area have.

And I believe they are thinking that as this opens up, homeless people are going to travel from all around to try to get in, and they will not all be allowed, so perhaps they're going to just stay in that area, be in that neighborhood.

-Yeah, I think, you know, because it is not a walk-up facility, I think I understand the fear.

But it's not a relevant fear, because we can really address that.

We can say, What are those entry points?

So where can we make sure that we're getting to those entry points to get people who can qualify and who are ready at campus, and, if not, then they stay at those entry points until they're ready and able and willing to come to Campus.

I think there's an opportunity for us to create a system that doesn't allow that.

The other thing is, there are already people experiencing homelessness in those neighborhoods around there.

And so now we get to bring services to get those individuals off the streets and help support that.

And so safety is a big concern for us.

We want to be good neighbors, so we want to be able to do things for the community, the broader community where we're living.

And our clients will be living and working in the community.

So we want to be a part of the community and be integrated and be good neighbors.

-What will happen if someone walks up and is not appropriate for Campus for Hope?

-We'll have an opportunity then through those other entry points, so the low-barrier shelters that are in the community like the Courtyard or the county's Navigation Center or the Las Vegas Navigation Center.

We'll have an opportunity to get them to those facilities so that they can be assessed.

And then when they're ready and appropriate, they can be referred back to Campus.

-So you'll physically take them?

-So we're working on all that right now.

Again, this community is different, so we have a working group that is working through, how do we make sure that people are moving about this community and through the system in a way that's seamless?

Because if we make it difficult, people aren't going to do it.

And so that's where we're working with RTC.

We're working with our working group to figure out what that transportation will look like back and forth between the Navigation Centers and our campus and vice versa.

-Another difference between San Antonio and Las Vegas, as far as these, the Haven for Hope and the Campus for Hope, is that Haven for Hope in San Antonio is within maybe a mile to two of the downtown area; whereas, Campus for Hope is about, I think, six to seven miles from the downtown area where there is a large homeless population.

What was the thinking in having it located that distance?

-It's all about, is there transportation?

Is there a lot of transportation?

Are there services in the area?

This was already a campus providing mental health services, the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health campus, and so they're already providing these services.

There's Workforce in the area.

There's a community college right next door.

There's services for people with IDD through Opportunity Home.

So there's already an array of services in this community and there's a lot of transportation.

And it is central to the Greater kind of Clark County area.

And so that's really what we were looking for in this.

And the Navigation Centers that will exist are in those downtown areas.

The Courtyard is the Navigation Center for the City of Las Vegas, and that's in the downtown area.

And so that's kind of the funnel to get people to Campus from those areas where there's a larger population.

-So why is it better to have it farther away from where there's a large contingent of homeless people?

-Because it gives-- You need opportunity around.

So as long as there's a lot of opportunity around.

And so there's-- Where the Corridor of Hope is right now, there's a lot of services, specifically low-barrier shelter.

There's not those comprehensive wraparound services in the way that will be on campus and the way that they can integrate in the community.

That's what it's really about.

It's helping people reintegrate in the community.

We want them to be in a typical neighborhood where they can move about, go to school, go to jobs, find transportation, find the resources that they need to rebuild their lives.

Yes, they'll be on campus, but they'll also be part of the community.

And so having it in an area where there's already a well-established community for these individuals to rebuild their lives is really important.

-Campus for Hope, though, is a low-barrier facility?

-No.

It's not in the way that-- Define low barrier, because low barrier means, you know, no background checks.

Low barrier means, you know, no requirement for sobriety, those kinds of things.

On our campus, it will be, there will be background checks.

So certain backgrounds will not be allowed.

We have children, so there's certain backgrounds that are immediately eliminated-- violent backgrounds, those kinds of things.

We will require people to do programming.

So low barrier does not require people to do programming.

They will have to do programming to be on our campus.

They will have to be committed to sobriety when they're on our campus, which is why we'll be a step down from the other places after they detox and those kinds of things; whereas, low barrier allows them to stay in their addiction when they're in that.

And so really, that's the difference, is we-- It is a higher barrier, but we're trying to make it as low as possible so we can serve as many individuals on campus.

-On your website, you do make that clear that everyone is going to be vetted.

Who does the vetting?

-So that is one thing we're doing.

We're working with our working group.

Of course, we have ideas and thoughts about how to work on that, but this community is different.

We want to make sure we're involving all the community players who are going to be the entry point.

So it will be the Navigation Centers that do that assessment.

It will be our preferred partner networks.

It will be those individuals who have an assessment tool who can say this is an appropriate individual to go to Campus and make that referral to us.

-Okay.

So those procedures have yet to be determined?

-We're working through all that right now, yes.

-Another concern of homeowners in the area is potential traffic, because you have mentioned this has the potential of creating 300 new jobs.

So that's perhaps 300 new vehicles parked near their homes.

What do you say to that?

-Yeah, and I would say there's already a good traffic pattern there.

With the college next door, there's already a lot happening, and so I think it's one of the things we're looking at.

Obviously, you know, not every person on our campus is going to drive a vehicle.

Same to be said for our staff members, because we're going to hire individuals, you know, from all walks of life on this.

And so many of them will use public transportation.

We saw that in San Antonio.

We'll have all kinds of entry-level to professional jobs on the campus.

And so not, not all 300 will be driving.

But we will, like everybody else, have to do, you know, parking assessments and traffic plans and all of those kinds of things, which we're working through now with our construction and design teams.

-And that is another concern from some of the homeowners who have filed a lawsuit to stop this project, is that, Where is the traffic study?

Where is the environmental impact study?

Have those been done?

-So because this was already an existing campus that the State owns-- So the State owns the land.

They're just leasing it to us.

It was entitled for these purposes.

So mental health services, economic mobility services, these kinds of things already in their master plan.

And they did all of those studies years ago, as a state, in the master plan.

And so it was entitled for those purposes.

So that's they're leasing, the State, the land to us.

And so we'll have to go through the normal, you know, processes with City of Las Vegas to do all the permitting and get all of that.

But because it's entitled for this purpose, those apply to our campus.

-And there was legislation, I believe, at the end of this last session that exempts the Campus for Hope from the oversight and involvement of the State Public Works Division, and it was introduced as a way to expedite the development of this much needed project.

Do you think that that raises flags for some people, that this is just being allowed to happen?

On top of that, the session prior to that is when the funding for this was established in the very last week at the legislative session.

-Yeah.

You know, we're trying to do everything, as Campus for Hope, right and by the book.

And we have done everything up to this point.

I, you know, I understand that the legislature moved quickly on these two things, but it's because they know that this is a necessary thing for this community.

I think we can't continue to ignore what's happening with those individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

And so their movement of moving swiftly to make sure we can get this open as quickly as possible is really to benefit the entire community, not just the individuals that we're gonna be able to serve on campus.

-Were there other locations considered?

-There were.

It was before my time coming here.

I've only been here four months, moved from San Antonio and loving it.

But there were others considered.

They asked the local municipalities who are participating in the operational funding to each produce two sites that they thought might be good, and the campus at Charleston and Jones was the one that was recommended by more than one municipality.

And that's why it got a deeper look and was chosen.

-Okay.

And do you think neighbors got enough time to protest that, to make their voice in opposition known?

-You know, I think anywhere we would put a campus like this, people are going to have the same reaction.

And it's unfortunate, but it's-- I get it.

I get it.

As a homeowner, you're concerned about it.

I get it, because these campuses don't exist anywhere, so people have one thing in their mind, one image of what this is going to be.

I was talking to one of the neighbors.

I said, You're not even going to know who our clients are, because they're going to be moving around this community.

They look like you and I.

And so I think there's-- we have to, like, paint a different image for people, because they think it's one thing, and it's not a walk-up facility.

It's not an encampment.

It's not a low-barrier shelter.

It's a literal campus, a beautiful campus that's going to replace old buildings, where individuals can really rebuild their lives.

And so I understand the fear of that, and I hope over time we'll win them over and they'll be volunteers on our campus.

-But that's an influx of 900 people, potentially, not even including new employees.

That will dramatically change their neighborhood, don't you think?

-Yes and no.

I mean, yes, there'll be more people there, but they're going to be moving around, having jobs everywhere.

It's not like they're all going to stay there all day, every day.

It's-- The goal is to get them self-sufficient.

So get them using resources, get them jobs, get them moving about this community, finding new apartments, places permanently to live.

And so they're not all going to be staying and located there.

So again, I understand the concern, but when they see it happening in real time, they'll-- it's very different than, I think, what most people are envisioning in their minds.

-Would you live in that neighborhood?

Would you buy a home there?

-I would absolutely.

-Do you think it'll impact property values?

-You know, the studies that have been done around it have demonstrated, you know, there's, there's not an increase in crime.

Usually there's a decrease in crime if there's already a, you know, a population there.

And then that home, the property values don't go down over time because it's new builds and new construction.

And usually what happens after these types of places go up is there's building around it, and there's new kind of life that's given to-- This is a very old campus, and it's going to have new life.

And so hopefully that will encourage others in the area to develop as well.

-And it is encouraging for CSN.

They have come out with their own statement in support of this and what it can actually provide them and their students in terms of potential employment.

I have also seen you quoted as saying that you are planning on educating these homeowners on how this influx of resources could help them.

How?

How would this help them?

-Well, because we're going to bring things, you know, medical, dental, vision, behavioral health services, other services.

We're going to have a micro enterprise on the campus.

It could be a bakery or coffee shop.

Who knows?

There's going to be other things that won't just be for our clients that will be available for the community as well.

And so I think there's-- And there's an opportunity to volunteer.

There's a lot of great people in these neighborhoods who have time to volunteer and are already doing some great work at the church, working with this population nearby.

And so how do we engage them in volunteerism so they can see firsthand what we're doing from the inside out.

And we're looking forward to doing that.

We're going to have a community education center on the campus while we're building to invite neighbors in to look at plans, to get those questions answered, to really walk through the campus and tour it as we're building it so they get a better sense of what this is and we can really have those one-on-one conversations, which are important.

-When will that open?

-In the next probably 60 days we'll open that on campus.

We'll let you know.

-Kim Jefferies, welcome to Las Vegas.

Thank you for joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you for having me.