Working families, children and seniors needing assistance now may access onsite services with the opening of the Boulder Highway Collaborative Campus. This nonprofit collaboration is the first campus-style service partnership of its kind in Nevada and includes Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada (BGCSNV), Lutheran Social Services of Nevada (LSSN), and Nevada HAND.
Beneficiaries include not only the residents of Nevada HAND’s new 264 Boulder Pines Family Apartment homes, but also families living near the Boulder Highway campus, who will have access to the new Boys & Girls Clubs facility, as well as the Comprehensive Safety Net Center and Food Pantry operated by Lutheran Social Services of Nevada. Residents and the Boulder community were joined at the grand opening celebration by Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani (Chris G); CJ Manthe, Director of the Nevada State Department of Business & Industry; Joseph Lombardo, Clark County Sheriff; the CEO’s of the collaborative partners; and other community and financial partners.
“The Boulder Highway Collaborative Campus is a great example of a public/private partnership that addresses community needs on a broad scale, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, whose district encompasses the area. “This resulted from needing a safe place for kids to play and a subsequent Boys & Girls Clubs and Nevada HAND discussion joined by Lutheran Social Services…a true collaboration. This collaboration, funded in part by Clark County’s HOME Program and a Community Development Block Grant, not only addresses our shortage of affordable workforce housing, but it also provides essential services for nearby neighborhoods and Southern Nevada families. I am confident that the Boulder Highway Campus will stand as a model for what comprehensive community building can be throughout our valley.”
“It’s great to be here with the many partners who have helped make this campus more than a home for our working families, and a resource for the neighborhood and entire community,” said Mike Mullin, founder and CEO of Nevada HAND, the state’s largest nonprofit dedicated to providing high quality affordable housing solutions and supportive services. “I’m grateful for our new educational, business and residential neighbors, such as the Mater Academy of Nevada and Arizona Charlies, who have welcomed us and are now joining in this unique community.”
The idea for the campus germinated from conversations about innovative collaborations at the CEO Exchange, an organization of CEO’s of Southern Nevada’s largest nonprofits, who work together to protect and strengthen the community’s safety net for thousands of residents.
“This unique facility allows us to reach young people just footsteps from their homes and throughout this neighborhood, and allows them a world-class club experience that assures success is within reach,” said Andy Bischel, CEO of BGCSNV. “And it makes it easier for us to fulfill the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada mission for them in enabling these people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”
“Lutheran Social Services of Nevada became the perfect complement for the Boulder Highway Campus upon learning the service provider was seeking a new home,” added Mullin.
