Guest written by Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth

Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) is celebrating 20 years of working to end youth homelessness and its wide-ranging, devastating impact in Southern Nevada – for each youth we encounter and our community as a whole. Since 2001, NPHY’s best-practice programs have helped thousands of homeless youth graduate from high school, enroll in college, embark on careers, transition to safe and stable housing, and realize brighter futures.

Among the many milestones in our 20-year history, one of our greatest accomplishments was bringing the National Safe Place program to Southern Nevada in 2002. Safe Place offers a critical safety net, enabling young people in crisis to access help at virtually any street corner, including every Terrible Herbst convenience store, City of Las Vegas Fire Station, Las Vegas-Clark County Library, Henderson Library, or on any Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) bus.

Our collaboration with RTC allows young people in need to board any bus 24-7 to be transported for free to the nearest Safe Place site. Youth accessing Safe Place come from various life situations, including needing a safe way to get home, being kicked out, or running away from abusive or dangerous situations such as human trafficking. Along with all Safe Place locations, the RTC partnership offers youth a quick respite and connection to long-term solutions on their journey.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we reflect on these incredible partnerships that have helped transform the lives of young people. We could not do the work we do without partners like RTC.