Sign sale to benefit group that helps homeless teens

Safe Place placards displayed at Terrbile Herbst convenience stores

Larry Cruikshank/viewNevada Partnership For Homeless Youth Executive Director Matt Hirsch shows some of the replica checks that have been used to donate money to the organization, located at 4800 S. Maryland Parkway. The NPHY is partnering with Terrible Herbst convenience stores to raise money for the nonprofit group through the sale of Safe Place signs like the ones displayed outside Terrible Herbst locations, which let homeless youth know it is a safe place to go for help. Advertisement

The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth has been providing services -- among them food, message service, counseling and limited housing -- for the invisible homeless, or homeless youth, for five years. Of course, all of these goods and services have to come from somewhere, and while many local merchants and citizens donate items and money to the NPHY, there's always a need for more as the situation worsens.

Compounding the difficulties is the fact that the NPHY long ago grew too large for its small suite of offices at 4800 S. Maryland Parkway. Plans are in the works to move the NPHY to a new nearby location. The organization has a structure in mind and would like to retrofit the interior to suit its needs.

As part of the NPHY's fundraising efforts, both for the new facility and day-to-day operating expenses, the group has partnered up with Terrible Herbst to promote its Safe Place Sign Sale.

All Terrible Herbst convenience stores serve as official Safe Places, as identified by the now familiar yellow Safe Place sign they display. The clerks have been trained to help any child who asks by getting them in contact with their parents. Safe Place works with Operation Go Home, which is funded in part by US Airways and flies children home free of charge.

If that's not the best or safest course of action, the clerks will get the kids in contact with the NPHY. The NPHY will send a van to pick them up and take them to its drop-in center on Maryland Parkway for evaluation and counseling.

"The people at Terrible Herbst have been just great," said Kathleen Boutin, founder and director of the NPHY. "Our work would be a lot harder without them."

As it has in years past, Terrible Herbst will play a vital part in the fundraising for Safe Place by selling miniature versions of the signs that are displayed at the counter.

As with many sign promotions, patrons are encouraged to sign their name to the sign, and then the signs will be posted in the store.

The sign sale serves a dual purpose; it not only raises money, but raises consciousness among community members of how much everyone cares about the issue.

Currently, the NPHY provides housing for a limited number of clients in small condominiums the organization has acquired.

"I love it, I don't have to wake up and wonder if I'm going to have a place to stay that night," said a 17-year-old male client who's been on and off the streets for two years. "I've got a home as long as I follow the rules -- no drugs, drinking. You've got to go to work or school."

He noted that he has had no write-ups as of yet, and that his school work is vastly improving.

"My grades could be better, but when I was homeless, I'd usually sleep in school, and I couldn't get much done," he said.

On the more exclusive end of the fundraising scale will be the Roast of Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Nev., at Bally's Grand Ballroom on April 19 at 6 p.m.

The tickets are $175 with a minimum purchase of four. RSVPs are due today.

The Safe Place Sign Sale will continue at all Terrible Herbst convenience store locations through April 15. For more information about the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, call 383-2723 or visit www.nphy.org.

SAFE PLACE SIGN SALE

The Safe Place Sign Sale will continue at all Terrible Herbst convenience store locations through April 15. For more information about the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, call 383-2723 or visit www.nphy.org.