Mayor Oscar B. Goodman City Council Gary Reese (Mayor Pro-Tem) Michael J. McDonald Larry Brown Lynette B. McDonald Lawrence Weekly Michael Mack

In 1996, the Mayor and Council created the Department of Neighborhood Services to emphasize that residents are an integral part of City planning. This has resulted in a multi-faceted approach to involve residents by providing action oriented, direct service to the neighborhoods. The department was organized into the Neighborhood Development Division, Neighborhood Response Division and the Neighborhood Planning and Support Division.

Neighborhood Development administers and coordinates the allocation and expenditure of Federal and State funds to improve housing and quality of life for low-income residents through funding of major construction projects and non-profit organizations. Neighborhood Response abates physical impediments through neighborhood clean-ups, graffiti removal, and code enforcement. Neighborhood Planning and Support takes a proactive approach by working with neighborhoods to improve the quality of life for citizens / residents through the Neighborhood Partnership Program.

Director Sharon Segerblom Neighborhood Planning Manager Stephen K. Harsin, AICP YNAPP Program Manager / Coordinator Jocelyn Bluitt

The Neighborhood Partnership Program offers a variety of services and programs that partners resources aimed at helping neighborhoods help themselves. The Neighborhood Partnership Program focuses on six core services:

• Advanced Development Notification - an opportunity for neighborhoods to work with developers, long before issues reach the public hearing phase.
• Neighborhood Workshops - an opportunity for community leaders to learn more about building effective neighborhood groups.
• block by block - a quarterly neighborhood newsletter that communicates information on city programs, services, and the achievements of active neighborhood associations.
• Neighborhood Initiated Plans - an avenue for neighborhoods to partner with Neighborhood Services to develop a neighborhood plan that is community driven.
• Neighborhood Partners Fund - a $5,000 matching grant program for neighborhood associations.
• Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program - a $1,000 matching grant program for youth to partner with neighborhood associations.

A frequent concern and perceived problem expressed by neighborhoods was youth hanging out in the community. The department’s response to that often-expressed concern was to figure out how to make the youth a part of the solution, hence, the creation of the Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program (YNAPP).

Initiated in 2000, YNAPP provides the opportunity for youth to take an active role in their neighborhood through implementation of youth-led, youth-driven neighborhood-building projects of their own design. Youth groups can apply for financial assistance of up to $1,000 to implement community service project ideas. Each project team must match their grant request with cash, volunteer labor, or donated supplies and materials.

While YNAPP enables youth throughout the City to carry out community building projects of their own design, the program encompasses so much more:

• Youth acquire skills in leadership, volunteerism, team building, grant writing, presentations, and public speaking;
• Youth develop knowledge, skills and abilities to implement neighborhood and community improvement projects;
• Youth learn how to use tools such as neighborhood and community-mapping exercises to identify the neighborhood needs that lead to action plans;
• Youth are treated as community assets by providing them with opportunities, resources, funds, and guidance to enable them to become involved in their communities by helping to improve their neighborhoods;
• Youth and adults are enriched by the experience of working together on a project responding to the community’s need;
• Youth get involved in service learning projects and learn the value of community involvement;
• Youth become project leaders who work to make positive changes in their neighborhoods and the community. The program is designed to use the gifts of young people while helping them grow into stewards of their community.

Each youth group makes a presentation to a 15-member panel made up of two persons appointed by the Mayor; one by each Council member; and 7 youth members appointed by the Mayor in consultation with local high schools.

Under the program, youth groups partner with neighborhood associations to accomplish projects such as rehabilitating an elderly widow’s home, conducting tutorial clinics for public school youth, cleaning up the desert around their neighborhood, reaching out to homeless youth and adults and removing graffiti.

In the first two years of the program, 300 youth engaged in community improvement projects, matching the city’s investment of $17,000 with $126,000 in volunteer labor, materials and donations, which is a ratio of seven to one.

Twenty-seven youth groups have been approved for funding this year. The City will spend $26,600, which will leverage a community match of $151,640 in volunteer time, in kind, donations of goods and services, and/or financial contributions. This is a ratio of almost six to one.

Since its creation three years ago, interest in the YNAPP program has been overwhelming. The Mayor and Council increased available funding for YNAPP to further demonstrate their commitment to investing in youth. The program received a DeBoer Award from the Nevada State Chapter of the American Planning Association and an Ahwahnee Award from the Local Government Commission which recognizes exemplary projects and programs that further the creation of livable communities in the fourteen western states.

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For further information on YNAPP, please call Stephen Harsin, AICP, Planning Manager, Neighborhood Services Department, at 229-6269 or email at sharsin@ci.las-vegas.nv.us

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Author and Copyright Information

Copyright 2002 by author

Stephen K. Harsin, AICP
Manager, Neighborhood Planning and Support
City of Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department

sharsin@ci.las-vegas.nv.us