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Las Vegas Sands Corporation has reaffirmed its commitment to tackling youth homelessness, with the staging of the second such summit at The Venetian Resort, titled Summit 18: The Movement in Action.

Held alongside the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY), the Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit, held on Friday 2 November, culminates a year-long community wide effort to build the region’s first-ever southern Nevada plan to end youth homelessness.

Set to be unveiled at the summit, themed “The Movement in Action,’ it is to also highlight the work done over the last year to create the plan, as well as provide presentations to mobilise the community towards ending the region’s chronic and significant youth homelessness problem.

Arash Ghafoori, Executive Director of NPHY, commented: “For a region our size to have this large of a problem demonstrates not only tremendous need, but challenges with service delivery and community coordination.

“The Movement is changing that. The number of organisations and individuals that have come to the table is amazing, and I believe we have a turnaround story in the making.

“We appreciate the partnership of Las Vegas Sands to join with NPHY as the catalysts for this comprehensive youth homelessness effort.”

Last year launched ‘The Movement to End Youth Homelessness in Southern Nevada,’ developed through facilitation by national experts and input from a wide range of community partners

Ron Reese, senior vice president of global communications and corporate affairs at Las Vegas Sands, added: “We have pledged significant involvement to make an impact in youth homelessness, and we encourage our colleagues in the business community, and local civic leaders, to do the same by joining this year’s Summit, and learning about how they can take a role in the plan.

“We can solve this problem with the full power of our community behind it.”

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2017 annual homeless assessment report, Clark County had the third highest number of unaccompanied homeless youth, following Los Angeles and San Jose.

Furthermore, Nevada had the highest rate of unsheltered unaccompanied youth, with 89 per cent staying in places not meant for human habitation.