Today marks two years since Governor Sisolak announced the pandemic shutdown in Nevada. As our community finally looks toward recovery, something historic is happening. The federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocated a total of $6.7 billion to Nevada for pandemic recovery. Local municipalities and the state spent months deciding how to best spend those funds. Now, federal funds are flowing in record numbers to the nonprofit sector, enabling nonprofits to meet our community’s pandemic recovery needs and strengthen the social safety net. 

On December 21, 2021, the Clark County Board of Commissioners awarded its largest ARPA allocation to-date. Of the more than $69 million in ARPA funds distributed, nonprofits accounted for 49 percent of direct funding ($33.8 million). Nonprofits have also received funds outside of those awards in important areas like eviction prevention and rapid rehousing.

At the state level, we’re seeing positive progress. On February 9, the Interim Finance Committee approved the governor’s recommended nonprofit recipients of $30 million in Community Recovery Grants, which is a little more than 1 percent of the total $2.7 billion at the state’s disposal. While this may feel like a small dent, we believe the state is just getting started. We see more funding on the horizon for complex and transformational initiatives that will strengthen the social safety net longer-term. 

And most recently, on February 16, the Las Vegas City Council awarded the vast majority of their ARPA funds, including 40 percent in direct allocations to nonprofits ($46.8 million) and more funds to nonprofits in areas like affordable housing.

Our local leaders have listened to their stakeholders and allocated significant dollars to nonprofits, which is a great way to ensure this historic funding supports those who need it most. 

If you’ve ever worked at or served on the board of a nonprofit organization, you know that we are mission-driven. We also use data to measure impact, refine our services, and continuously improve. Funding from private and government sources is what allows us to fulfill our mission and meet the needs of our clients. And our clients, who have increased in number since the world shut down in March 2020, have needed greater and wider-ranging support to stay housed, fed, and employed during this crisis. The nonprofit sector stepped up during the pandemic and will continue to support Southern Nevada’s families to recover. 

As a group of nonprofit leaders in Southern Nevada, we are thrilled to see increased funding from our government partners. But we can also say with authority that thousands in our community are still struggling to navigate the ripple effects of this pandemic. 

As The Nevada Independent and others have pointed out, Southern Nevada is experiencing a “lopsided” or “asymmetrical” pandemic recovery that benefits mostly the well off, while those in need continue to struggle. For example, home prices continue to rise, benefitting those with means and making affordable housing impossible to come by for those without. Right now in our community, 114,000 people are spending more than half of their income on housing, more than 50,000 eviction notices have been served since the start of the pandemic, and 6,900 people are experiencing homelessness. 

Unfortunately this uneven recovery isn’t a surprise. Pre-pandemic we saw wide gaps between neighborhoods in income and access to opportunity – in some Southern Nevada zip codes, like 89106, the poverty rate is as high as 33 percent, while in others, such as 89085, it’s less than 1 percent. 

The millions allocated so far by Clark County, the city of Las Vegas, and the State are a strong start. With this funding we can feed more families and seniors, retrain our workforce, accomplish rapid rehousing, and, better yet, keep residents in their homes. We are also eager to see more of this funding used to build affordable housing, strengthen mental health resources, provide wrap-around services in education, and support women and children in areas like child care and for victims of domestic violence. 

A more equitable recovery requires sustained funding and we are eager to watch how the funding will be used to address some of the greatest challenges our community faces, like access to affordable housing. The governor recently announced the $500 million Home Means Nevada initiative, which he described as the largest housing-related initiative in the state’s history. We are hopeful a large percentage of these funds will be allocated to nonprofits working on the frontlines of the housing crisis. With more resources and capacity, nonprofits can meet our community’s most pressing recovery needs while we plan for a more equitable future. 

As the state continues to allocate relief funds, the Interim Finance Committee is monitoring proposed budgets, as we’ve seen in recent presentations from our state’s school districts. And jurisdictions like Clark County are releasing annual reports reviewing their pandemic recovery spending. These accountability steps are encouraging and we’re hopeful there will be more opportunities to review where funds are allocated and how dollars are (or are not) supporting those community members hardest hit by the pandemic.

There is a role for all recipients to play, including nonprofits who receive direct ARPA funding. Nonprofits, especially those that already receive large federal grants and have an audit history, are accountability experts. We regularly monitor program implementation and report to funders on both spending and results. We have the infrastructure in place to ensure these funds are spent well and yield impact.

Government and nonprofits must continue to partner to maximize this historic opportunity to build a stronger social safety net – and, ultimately, a stronger Nevada. We applaud decision-makers in government for what they’ve done so far, and ask that they continue to strengthen the social safety net through nonprofit investment.

This op-ed was submitted by the members of the CEO Exchange of Southern Nevada, a coalition of nonprofit CEOs who collaborate to strengthen the social safety net. They are:

Fuilala Riley, President & CEO, HELP of Southern Nevada (CEO Exchange Chair)

Audra Hamernik, President & CEO, Nevada HAND (CEO Exchange Vice Chair)

Captain Anthony Barnes, Clark County Commander, Salvation Army 

Andy Bischel, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada 

Bob Brown, President & CEO, Opportunity Village 

Barbara Buckley, Executive Director, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada 

Brian Burton, President & CEO, Three Square 

Tami Hance-Lehr, CEO & State Director, Communities In Schools of Nevada 

Julian High, President & CEO, United Way of Southern Nevada

Michael Lubbe, President & CEO, YMCA of Southern Nevada 

Mary Mazur, President & General Manager, Vegas PBS

Richard Neal Jr., President & CEO, Goodwill of Southern Nevada 

Liz Ortenburger, CEO, SafeNest

Deacon Tom Roberts, President & CEO, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada 

Jessica Rauch, Facilitator, CEO Exchange