MARK WAITE / PVT A tent city for the homeless is hidden in the dunes behind the Salvation Army thrift store on Dahlia Street. Advertisement

Stefanie Charbonneau, the diminutive Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce board member and co-owner of New Day Construction, doesn't think a homeless shelter in Pahrump would be a bad thing.

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said last week he disagreed with those who want to build a homeless shelter in Pahrump, for fear it will attract more homeless people to town and create crime.

Charbonneau said she formed a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation a few years ago named "Stepping Stones" with the intent of raising money for land to build a place to help the homeless.

"I used to be with a group called the Service Assistance Program. What they would do, down at Health and Human Services, they get people who say they're waiting for who knows, food stamps or any other services. They would call us and we would give them a week's worth of emergency services, and we had a food bank in the community center," Charbonneau said. "I was really saddened because people asked, 'Do you have baby diapers?' and 'Can you get this?'"

Charbonneau would like to acquire a 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot multi-purpose center on an acre to five acres centrally located in Pahrump where the homeless will have access to a variety of services.

"There's lots of good non-rofits here in Pahrump. I wish they had in town a large multi-purpose building where people in need could go to one place and say, 'What does your town provide?'" Charbonneau said. "I really just wanted to organize what we had available so we could help the people instead of them wandering around."

It started with talk of a community food bank and other services. Charbonneau then talked with Pastor Paul Jordan of Church on a Mission, who wanted a homeless shelter for people staying in Petrack Park and other places.

Charbonneau didn't publicize her project after seeing other people propose big ideas that never materialized.

"Our goal is to raise funds to secure land for this year. I'm thinking land needs to be around the Mesquite-Basin area," she said.

Mesquite Avenue would be wonderful, she said.

The proposed site needs to be on a water and sewer system to avoid the costly commercial water and septic systems. It would preferably be a central location near the sheriff's department.

Charbonneau had considerable sympathy for the homeless.

"I would not think of it in the same way," she said. "There's homeless that have needs. Some are there by choice and some are there just because they're down on their luck. It wouldn't be a free place to hang out. Gosh, we need people to help in that center, we need people to help serve food or clean up. There would be all kinds of jobs. That would be the return. It wouldn't be to hang out for free.

"Maybe I'm naive but that thought didn't even enter my mind. There's many people in need. I think they would be excited to help to get these services in return."

Capt. Arlene Torres, of the Pahrump Salvation Army, said her organization hopes to establish a place in Pahrump where the homeless can at least take showers, get their mail and wash clothes all in one place. Some homeless people can't collect their Social Security checks because they don't have a place to get their mail, she said.

The Salvation Army was previously given land for a homeless shelter at Whirlwind and Gamebird Road by developer Tim Hafen. Torres recalled their signs were vandalized, spray-painted and knocked over by people unhappy at the possibility of a homeless shelter.

"Because of all the opposition we saw, we weren't going to create any trouble. So we sold that property to raise money for what we have now," Torres said.

The Salvation Army acquired $172,000 in seed money to buy the Manor, now their divisional headquarters, which was formerly intended as an exclusive country club. The Salvation Army now runs its youth programs, senior programs and other activities out of the Manor.

Torres said the Salvation Army has used grant money to provide a room at a local hotel, a shower and a ride to the Las Vegas bus station for transients, but not the chronic homeless.

"The agreement is they have to be out in the morning at six. Our driver takes them to Las Vegas and they take a bus wherever they're going," Torres said. "We haven't done it in the past month. The last time we did it was in November, a woman who came from California."

While a program to pay someone to drive the homeless out of town may be appealing to some Pahrump residents, Charbonneau thinks a few more services here would be nice.

"My thoughts aren't to provide them permanent housing, so I don't believe that would drawn in homeless. There would be criteria they would have to meet, they would have to better themselves," Charbonneau said.

The large, multi-purpose room could be used to distribute food by day, but converted into sleeping quarters at night, she said.

"I have no intention of making it where that's where they're going to live for the rest of their lives," Charbonneau said.