Las Vegas Sands and Sands Cares Increases Aid to Homeless in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), the world's leading developer and operator of integrated resorts, today announced an expansion to its corporate citizenship commitment to address homelessness in the Las Vegas area. Through grants totaling $320,000 to local non-profit organizations Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) and HELP of Southern Nevada, LVS will help support the availability and effectiveness of stable housing in the Las Vegas area for homeless youth and adults.

Las Vegas is disproportionately impacted by homelessness. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports that Las Vegas trails only New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Diego in the size of its homeless population. Given these sobering statistics, LVS is increasing its commitment in this second year of a multi-faceted, long-term effort to address the issue of homelessness in Las Vegas. In 2015, LVS provided two grants totaling more than $100,000 to NPHY and STREET Teens to support the organizations' drop-in centers for youth and to expand educational resources. This year's increased support will allow NPHY and HELP of Southern Nevada to provide safe and stable housing and supportive services to homeless adults and youth.

"Homelessness is a pressing concern in our own backyard and adversely impacts nearly 7,000 individuals and more than 2,000 youth in Clark County. As a business leader in the area, we are dedicated to making a continued positive impact to improve lives of those most vulnerable in our community," said Ron Reese, senior vice president of global communications and corporate affairs at Las Vegas Sands.

The $170,000 donation to NPHY will fund two key initiatives that will expand its emergency shelter, allowing it to double the number of clients that can be housed per year, and expand accessibility of its Drop-In Center from five to seven days a week and expand their hours. At the center, homeless youth can fulfill immediate needs such as food, clothing and hygiene supplies, and be connected to resources to help them become independent, including crisis counseling, life skills classes, and educational and employment assistance.

"When youth become homeless, it often happens very quickly and unexpectedly. Being young and homeless is incredibly frightening and dangerous. The funding from LVS will help NPHY provide safe and stable housing and resources to more youth so they can focus on building healthy, productive lives," said Arash Ghafoori, executive director at NPHY.  

LVS also has donated a $150,000 grant for HELP of Southern Nevada, to support the Housing First Harm Reduction Model in Las Vegas. In recent years, many homeless programs and advocates have shifted to such "housing first" approaches that couple housing with supportive services and intensive case management instead of treatment-based models that require beneficiaries to prove "housing readiness" through enrolling or completing treatment programs. HELP of Southern Nevada was the first organization in Las Vegas to use the housing first principle.

The LVS funding will allow the organization to hire three new case managers and increase supportive services, particularly during nights and weekends. Additionally, with this funding, HELP of Southern Nevada will also be able to pursue other public grants that require recipients to secure matching private funds. 

"Numerous studies find that the Housing First model ends homelessness for chronically homeless individuals faster, more often and more permanently than treatment-based approaches. This approach also lowers taxpayer costs by reducing reliance on expensive services such as jails, psychiatric hospitals and the ER," said Terrie D'Antonio, CEO and president for HELP of Southern Nevada. "Funding from LVS will increase the number of our case managers and supportive services, which are the linchpin to ensuring that the housing first model works." 

LVS' focus on homelessness is part of the company's corporate citizenship program, Sands Cares. Announced in 2014, Sands Cares manifests the company's core corporate social responsibility focus: supporting people in the company and the hospitality industry, making local communities where LVS operates a better place to live and reducing environmental impact on the planet. Sands Cares provides a cohesive approach to corporate and property-level giving and support in local communities where LVS operates to address the most pressing issues and help make them better places to live. For more information about Sands Cares and key initiatives, please visit www.sandscares.sands.com.   

About Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is the world's leading developer and operator of Integrated Resorts. Our collection of Integrated Resorts in Asia and the United States feature state-of-the-art convention and exhibition facilities, premium accommodations, world-class gaming and entertainment, destination retail and dining including celebrity chef restaurants and many other amenities.

Our properties include The Venetian and The Palazzo resorts and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Sands Bethlehem in Eastern Pennsylvania, and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., LVS owns a portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

LVS is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of delivering a great working environment for more than 50,000 employees worldwide, driving impact through its Sands Cares corporate citizenship program and leading innovation with the company's award-winning Sands ECO360° global sustainability program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com. 

About the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY)
NPHY began in 2000 when a group of concerned community members formed a coalition to address the growing problem of unaccompanied homeless youth in the Las Vegas Valley. Confronting legal barriers preventing homeless youth from accessing life-saving services, the group successfully fought to get the landmark "Right to Shelter" law passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2001. Today, this law still makes it possible for abused and neglected unaccompanied homeless minors to receive critical services they might otherwise not be able to access. Since then, NPHY has grown from a small citizen coalition to the most comprehensive service provider for homeless youth in Nevada, bringing resources, safety and well-being to thousands of homeless youth each year.  For more information, please call NPHY at 702-383-1332 or visit www.nphy.org. 

About HELP of Southern Nevada
HELP of Southern Nevada operates nine departments, consists of 112 employees and serves more than 100,000 unduplicated clients each year. The services HELP provides assist low-income families, homeless teens and adults among other individuals, to become more self-sufficient through direct services, trainings and referrals. Programs available include Shannon West Homeless Youth Center, Emergency Resources Services, Framing Hope Warehouse, Weatherization, Community Alternative Sentencing, Work Opportunities Readiness Center, Holiday Assistance, Homeless Services, Behavioral Health Services and Mobile Crisis Intervention. For more information, call HELP of Southern Nevada at 702-369-4357 or visit www.helpsonv.org. 

Contacts:
Kristin McLarty
[email protected]
702-414-3218

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SOURCE Las Vegas Sands Corp.

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