A nonprofit veteran has been tapped to lead the $200 million “Campus for Hope” project in Las Vegas to aid residents afflicted by housing insecurity.
After an 18-month search, the Campus for Hope Foundation selected Kim Jefferies as CEO for the mega complex that will offer temporary housing and a bevy of resources. It’s slated to open at Charleston and Jones boulevards in 2027.
Staff at the 26-acre facility will help tackle the sometimes unique reasons why its clients don’t have a roof to call their own so that “once they are back out in the community and stable, they don’t return to homelessness,” Jefferies told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The public-private partnership, sealed during the 2023 State Legislature, called on Nevada to fund half of the $200 million to bring the campus to life.
Local governments — Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas — are covering operational costs of up to $15 million a year beginning in 2027.
The foundation was set up as a nonprofit to build and operate the facility. Its board announced Jefferies’ hiring in late March.
Rising homelessness
Planning for the complex is ramping up as Southern Nevada confronts a double crisis: a rise of homelessness and a critical shortage of affordable housing.
A daylong census early last year counted a 20 percent year-over-year increase of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, the highest figure in a decade.
The number coincided with the determination from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development that 23 out of every 10,000 people in the U.S. were estimated to be homeless in 2024, the highest number ever reported.
“Las Vegas isn’t unique in the significant increase over the past couple of years,” Jefferies said. “More families are falling into homelessness than ever. It’s not unique; and as a community, we’re not immune.”
Jefferies said people also don’t often think about children being homeless.
Inspired by successful Texas facility
The Las Vegas facility was inspired by the “Haven for Hope” campus in San Antonio, Texas.
Since the Texas facility opened in 2010, the city has seen a 77 percent reduction of homelessness in its downtown area, according to Nevada officials who toured the facility. Each dollar invested into that complex has turned into $29 in benefits, officials added.
More than 90 percent of clients obtained and maintained more permanent housing for at least a year, according to Jefferies, who was president and CEO of Haven for Hope from 2021 until recently.
But the Las Vegas Valley has unique challenges compared with San Antonio, which will require unique tools instead of full replication, she said.
For one, Clark County’s population is about 1/3 greater than the Texas city, according to census figures. Then there’s the housing shortage and places where people sleep, such as washes and underground tunnels, Jefferies said.
“The scale here is a little bit different,” she said.
‘Regain self-sufficiency’
In the coming months, staff will line up programs and partnerships to provide medical, dental and vision resources, Jefferies said. Services related to counseling, workforce training and child care also will be offered so that people can “regain self-sufficiency.”
Jefferies envisions the facility to become a data hub service providers across the county can use to foster uniformity and easier collaboration.
The groundbreaking for Campus of Hope is expected later this year, and construction should be completed in about 18 months, Jefferies said.
Pushback from residents
Area residents have expressed concern that the facility’s location and what might happen to their property values.
“The city, the county, the state, the private sector (are) all actively working toward making this project something that we can all be proud of,” Las Vegas Councilman Brian Knudsen said in February when the City Council approved the local governments’ funding agreement. “Something that can be beneficial to those who are experiencing homelessness, their families, and beneficial to the surrounding area.”
Knudsen, whose Ward 1, encompasses the campus, said he’s exchanged emails with Jefferies.
A good reputation precedes her, and she’s expressed that she will listen to his constituents, Knudsen told the Review-Journal this week.
“This is a strategy for more housing and resources,” he said. “At the same time, I’m also very aware that the neighborhood and the folks around this campus are very anxious of what it will do to their property and values.”
Knudsen said officials are working to establish a “harmonious environment for everybody.”
Jefferies, who said she understands the apprehensions, said the facility will resemble a college campus that will be “safe an secure.”
She expects to provide educational opportunities for the community to understand that the influx of services might also benefit them.
‘A piece of a puzzle’
Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Virginia Valentine, president and CEO of the Nevada Resorts Association, praised Jefferies’ hiring.
Clark County Commission Chair Tick Segerblom touted Jefferies’ work in Texas. He said the campus will only be a “piece of the puzzle” to combat homelessness, but that “it can’t hurt.”
“This is just the start,” said Segerblom, adding that he’s happy to support the efforts.
Jefferies has more than a quarter-century experience in nonprofits, according to the foundation. She’s earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas, San Antonio, and Our Lady of the Lake University.
She said that her pastor grandfather inspired her to serve the public.
“Nothing compares to it. You’re changing lives, hopefully,” Jefferies said. “The goal is changing generations and ending the cycle of homelessness.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
