Families find nutrition assistance at center

John Gurzinski/VIEWPenny Treadwell measures and weighs 31/2-week-old Nathan Garcia as his mother, Cheryl Garcia, holds his head at the new Women, Infants and Children?s Nutritional Education Center opened by the Las Vegas-Clark County Urban League at 2340 E. Tropicana Ave., Suite 37, Oct. 1. Advertisement

Leonel Morrell was in need of baby formula for his baby boy.

He walked into the new Women, Infants and Children's Nutritional Education Center last week with his wife and two young sons in search of help.

"I've never asked for help before. I've never needed to," said Morrell, who was laid off as a maintenance supervisor three months ago.

His efforts to land another job have been unsuccessful.

Morrell walked away with more than baby formula, but nutrition classes for his wife and a referral to an employment program that pairs capable workers with employers.

"This is a good place to be," he said.

Families like the Morrells are why the Las Vegas-Clark County Urban League opened its second WIC center at 2340 E. Tropicana Ave., Suite 37.

In the crux of the national recession, Urban League's first WIC center in west Las Vegas has grown to see 400 to 4,000 clients a month over the last two years.

"There's a new face to social services," center program director Tim Perez said. "We are serving people who are unemployed for the first time their lives. People have nowhere to go right now."

The 2,100-square-foot center offers nutrition and parenting classes, free immunizations and lactation counseling for new mothers, as well as all of the Urban League services. The center will eventually expand another 3,600 square feet and work with volunteer doctors to offer basic medical care.

The local Urban League branch started in 2004 in downtown Las Vegas with a mission to ensure equal opportunities for low-income families by providing social services and economic assistance.

Funded in part by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, it also offers housing assistance, employment assistance, and through a program called PLUS, will refer potential employees to companies and cover part of their pay for at least three months.

"Urban League is on the front lines of poverty," Perez said. "We'll never turn anyone away."

The location for the new WIC center on East Tropicana Avenue was chosen because of the neighborhood's low average household income of $38,000 for a family of four, Perez said.

So far, the new center sees about 300 clients a month. At capacity, it can see 3,500 people a month.

Urban League plans to eventually open 14 WIC centers around the valley, from Centennial Hills to Boulder City.

The next couple will pop up over the next couple years in the northwest end of the valley and in Summerlin.

Perez said the push to bring more WIC centers to the valley is from Urban League's new interim president and CEO Morse Arberry Jr., a former state assemblyman who reached his term limit this year.

"As time goes on, these centers are going to be needed," Arberry said. "We want to be part of the new health care movement. We have to reduce all of the barriers we can."