Social Services

West Las Vegas Library

April 5, 2024 by

Las Vegas-Clark County Library District (LVCCLD) is planning a new facility to serve the severely distressed West Las Vegas neighborhood. The neighborhood is deeply impoverished; more than four out of ten households earn less than $25,000 a year, and nearly half of all households with children live in poverty. Six of the seven census tracts to be served by the new library are severely distressed. (The census tract that will host the library possesses a poverty rate of 55.1% and a household median income amounting to not even one-third of the region’s figure.) Over 75% of the population within the library’s service area is non-white, and with fewer than 1 in 10 of those over 25 years old having earned college degrees, overall educational attainment is low. West Las Vegas is also considered to be the most unsafe neighborhood in the city, with violent crime rates over 700% higher than the U.S. average. The neighborhood is crying out for a well-resourced, broad-based intervention.

The new West Las Vegas library will devote no more than 15% of its interior square footage to book stacks. Rather, libraries today are “services-centric” opportunity hubs. To unlock the human development potential of its highly-disadvantaged service area, the new library will focus on four areas: Business & Career Services/Workforce Development (Employ NV Career Hub), Family Learning, School Support (children & teens), and Social Services & Healthcare (in partnership with Intermountain Healthcare & the Southern Nevada Health District). 21^st century skill sets will be taught, including Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Visual Literacy, Media Literacy, Entrepreneurial Literacy and Global Awareness. This will leverage the library system’s mature programming capacity: Over 1,000 programs per year will be offered, addressing topics such as early childhood and parenting education, media production within dedicated makerspace labs, culinary and nutrition programs, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) projects, and English language, high school diploma, and citizenship instruction.

In March of 2024, in partnership with Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institutions, Prestamos CDFI, Accion Opportunity Fund, and Chase Bank, Crescent closed on a $33.5M Federal NMTC financing to construct a 40,000 SF library – more than twice the size of the library currently serving the neighborhood – will support this within Project-Based Learning Spaces, including an Innovation Lab, Youth Technology Area & Multimedia Area (A/V Studios, Green Room, Editing Suite, Music Room), Children’s Collection & Story Time Space, Tween Area, Teen Area, Adult Learning Classroom, Adult Learning Lab, Employ NV Career Hub, Business Center, Computer Lab, Conference Room and Event Spaces (with a kitchen), Tech Area Flex Space, Quiet Room, and Study Booths.

The library will engage in four key areas: Business & Career Services/Workforce Development, Family Learning, School Support, and Social Services & Healthcare.

By combining cutting-edge programming, experienced outside partners, state-of-the-art infrastructure and sympathetic design, the new facility will catalyze transformative improvement in educational and social outcomes for its users.

Approximately 22,000 people will be served annually by the services provided by the new branch, and 250 jobs will result from its construction and operation.

Metrocrest Services

March 1, 2024 by

For more than 50 years, Metrocrest Services (“Metrocrest”) has provided programs for individuals, families and seniors that lead to self-sufficiency and foster independence. Every day, Metrocrest offers a comprehensive bundle of services to address gaps in finances, employment and nutrition to help holistically end poverty for residents of Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, Farmers Branch and the City of Dallas in Denton County.

The Metrocrest Services Bundled Model is a holistic approach that has three areas of focus: Basic Needs (housing stabilization and food), Financial Capability (education and coaching) and Workforce Development (job counseling, GED preparation and certifications/education). Focusing on a client-centered approach, Case Manager Coaches (CMC’s) build trust and empower clients through one-on-one coaching sessions where clients drive the conversations.

With this approach, Metrocrest clients build upon their past successes and are able to construct a stable foundation for their future. A recent survey of clients who sought help in the previous 18-months underscores the success and stability found with the agency’s help: 66 percent of families reported at least 6 months of housing stability after receiving rent assistance and 85 percent reported a better understanding of their finances after working with a case manager or utilizing educational resources. In FY23, Metrocrest Services assisted 22,006 unduplicated individuals and distributed 3,793,238 meals through its food programs (food pantry and seasonal programs).

Metrocrest Services is committed to building a stronger community together – a thriving community for all. As the only agency providing a comprehensive approach to social services in northwest Dallas County, Metrocrest is uniquely positioned to provide the tools and resources for individuals, families, and seniors to respond to crises, get out of poverty, and stabilize. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary year in 2021, the Board of Directors turned its focus on the next 50 years. Looking towards the future, Metrocrest developed a plan to increase capacity and improve services and programs through the construction of a new facility to focus on expanded client services and community engagement.

In February of 2024, in partnership with Enterprise Bank, PeopleFund Advisors, and Capital One Bank, Crescent closed on a $15.5M Federal NMTC financing to construct a new facility, which has expanded Metrocrest Services’ breadth of services in the Dallas area.

The new 48,000 square-foot facility has quickly become the epicenter of Metrocrest Services’ daily operations and includes: expanded case management services, a Center for Employment and Continued Education, an expanded Food Pantry with a new Volunteer Center and allocated space for complementary services. A Training Kitchen and Teaching Garden is available for community engagement, events, and for special programming. This increase in capacity will afford Metrocrest multiple opportunities to expand current programs and introduce new services in one central location.

The $19.1M project has already created 5 new FTE positions, while greatly expanding the scope of all Metrocrest’s existing programming.

Hope Center

October 31, 2023 by

SA Hope Center began over 30 years ago as a benevolence ministry of Oak Hills Church. The SA Hope Center became a 501c3 nonprofit organization in 2001 and moved to its current location in the Westside on 321 N. General McMullen Drive in 2005. In 2014, the SA Hope Center’s program model took a shift from a food pantry program to a multi-faceted social service agency.

In 2014, SA Hope Center’s program model took a shift from a food pantry program to a multi-faceted social service agency that addresses the root causes of poverty to help the community become holistically sustainable.

The SA Hope Center has been serving the community on its westside campus in a donated 40+ year old portable buildings previously used for other purposes. These buildings have been “well-loved” and have served countless thousands over the past 16 years, but are currently falling apart and must be replaced.

In October of 2023, in partnership with PeopleFund Advisors and Capital One Bank, Crescent closed on a $8.0M Federal NMTC financing to construct the new Westside campus, which greatly expands SA Hope Center’s ability to serve the community in their greatest times of need, highlights of which are as follows:

400% increased capacity to provide transformational classes such as workforce training, financial literacy, and Parent University.
190% increased capacity to provide one-on-one case management services to an estimated additional 750 households annually.
New counseling room to provide clinical and spiritual counseling services.
Kids Club to fill a major gap in programming to ensure parents can focus on gaining new skills while children benefit from social, emotional, and educational programs.
Renovated food and clothing services building doubling capacity to provide services and adding climate-controlled storage and a new loading dock.
Covered interior courtyards
400% increase in administrative and support staff offices
2 new meeting spaces for visitors, meetings, and overflow programming.

SA Hope Center’s new facility plans on creating 14 jobs during the entirety of the NMTC Compliance Period, 100% of which pay above the living wage rate for Bexar County, Texas, and 100% of which that will offer benefits.

DePaul Community Health Centers

May 20, 2023 by

Ascension DePaul Services New Orleans (ADSNO) operates 11 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) as DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) in the greater New Orleans area that offer an array of primary and preventive services, optometry, dental, pharmacy, and behavioral health. ADSNO has more than 190 years of experience and a very sound relationship in the Metropolitan New Orleans Area, which brings a wealth of knowledge to provide services, care, and best practices for outreach to meet the needs of our vast multicultural community. ADSNO has provided health screenings and outreach services built on health literacy and access to health care for all people, particularly for those who are underserved or experience linguistic and cultural barriers to care and services.

ADSNO’s success is built upon its history and experience in health care in New Orleans since 1834. ADSNO’s history in New Orleans began with its founders, the Daughters of Charity, and their management of Charity Hospital from 1834-1992, ownership and management of Hotel Dieu Hospital from 1859-2015, and ownership and management of DePaul Hospital from 1865 to 1973. In 2019, Daughters became Ascension DePaul Services of New Orleans.

DCHC’s plan is to create long-term and sustainable ambulatory campus rooted in delivering high quality healthcare and improving the health and well-being of the Metro NO community members. The sites will include primary medical services, behavioral health services, pharmacy, after hours care, urgent care, as well as imaging and lab services. This financing will greatly assist in bringing needed healthcare services to the low-income population.

In May of 2023, in partnership with Stonehenge Community Development, PB Community Impact Fund, The Community Business Investment Fund, and US Bank, Crescent closed on a $23.0M Federal NMTC financing, to construct two new facilities:.

Algiers – A $15.8 million clinic will include primary care, behavioral health, pediatrics, a pharmacy, urgent care, and outpatient diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. This new 20,000 SF facility will replace a nearby leased facility possessing only 1,944 SF, growing ten-fold in size.
Harvey – A $4.2 million clinic will include primary care, behavioral health, pediatrics, and a pharmacy. This new 9,400 SF facility will replace a nearby leased facility possessing only 3,750 SF, representing a nearly triple increase in size.

DCHC’s new facilities plan on creating 34 jobs during the entirety of the NMTC Compliance Period.

Center for Transforming Lives

May 20, 2023 by

The Center for Transforming Lives (“CTL”) traces its origins to 1907; under various names its mission has always been to serve women in need. In the 1930s, CTL recognized that it could help most effectively by aiding both women and their children. While the following decades saw CTL’s steady development of a variety of programs and partnerships targeting poor and homeless women and their children, the need for such services increasingly outstripped the ability of the organization to provide them. By the start of the coronavirus pandemic, waiting lists for services were common, and CTL’s 1920s-era building in downtown Fort Worth was poorly located, woefully undersized, nowhere near able to accommodate all of CTL’s services and personnel, and with maintenance costs spiraling out of control.

Notwithstanding its dire facilities needs, CTL today offers a targeted and rare approach to boost poor and homeless women and their children into independence, financial security and, if necessary, psychological well-being. CTL engages with 1,500 Tarrant County families annually; its typical client is an African-American or Hispanic woman with one or two children experiencing poverty or homelessness. Household income for these clients averages only $20,000. Given the effectiveness of its approach, and in light of ever-increasing demand, scaling up became the chief imperative of the organization.

CTL’s board considered several alternatives and decided upon a wholesale relocation to a thirteen-acre site in east Fort Worth. Here, an existing commercial warehouse dating to 1959 will be repurposed into a modern, 102,000 SF facility. The combination of services offered in one location will permit single mothers to access counseling, housing assistance and resources for economic mobility all in one day, with drop-in daycare provided for their children and a robust early childhood education program also on offer.

In May of 2023, in partnership with Capital Impact Partners, People Fund, Pacesetter, McCormack Baron Salazar, and Capital One Bank, Crescent closed on a $39.5M Federal NMTC financing, to construct the Center for Transforming Lives’ planned Early Childhood Education & Economic Mobility Center (Riverside Campus) in Fort Worth, which will enable a quantum leap in capability and capacity for the 115 year-old organization, tackling Tarrant County’s entrenched debilities of high, multi-generational poverty and homelessness via a state-of-the-art facility perfectly sited for optimum accessibility and programmed to shatter the devastating cycle of poverty and homelessness experienced by so many single mothers and their children.

All programming will be organized around CTL’s potent two-generation approach, assisting both women in need as well as their children to disrupt the cycle of poverty and homelessness by arresting its otherwise likely intergenerational perpetuation. Key project elements will include an Economic Mobility Center, an Early Childhood Education Center, a Housing Connections Center, Counseling Rooms, and Play Therapy Spaces for children.

When complete, the new facility will increase childcare availability by 57%, grow by 27% the number of homeless women to be served, boost the capacity of economic mobility services by 65%, and provide to clients and the surrounding community a suite of behavioral health services currently unavailable. 52 new jobs will result, and 119 jobs will be relocated to the new campus.

St. Thomas Community Health Center

May 9, 2023 by

St. Thomas Community Health Center (“St. Thomas”) was founded in 1987 by a small group of members of the Catholic and Episcopal religious communities, including Dr. Donald T. Erwin, who continues as the CEO today. The clinic began operations in the former St. Thomas Housing Development in the Irish Channel, moved to its current main clinic location on Magazine Street in 1991, and today has expanded to multiple locations throughout the Greater New Orleans area, on both the East and West banks of the Mississippi River.

STCHC offers a full range of healthcare services that includes primary care, pediatrics, perinatal care, mental health counseling, optometry services and women’s health care. STCHC also offers specialty care in the areas of child and adult psychiatry and counseling, gastroenterology, rheumatology, and cardiology. Of the community-based health care centers in New Orleans, St. Thomas is one of only a few providers with a dedicated team of infectious disease specialists, working to treat and prevent the spread of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. STCHC patient base is 86% minority, and 6 out of 10 board members are minority as well.

True to St. Thomas’ mission of providing health care services for those who need it most, St. Thomas’ overall clinical payer mix is 60.1% Medicaid, 19.1% Medicare, 9.2% commercial insurance, and 11.6% uninsured. The vast majority of St. Thomas’ patients are Black, with a growing Latinx patient population. Annually, St. Thomas (STCHC) serves approximately 20,000 distinct patients and handles approximately 76,000 patient visits.

In May of 2023, in partnership with Gulf Coast Housing Partnership and US Bank, Crescent closed on a $5.5M Federal NMTC financing, and in March of 2024, in partnership with Enhanced Capital Partners and US Bank, Crescent closed on a $5M Louisiana State NMTC financing to construct two new facilities to significantly expand services and improve accessibility:

Garden District – A $5.1 million clinic will include primary care, behavioral health at the site, pediatrics, access to the pharmacy next door at 2010 Magazine, women’s health, access to other services located across the street at 1936 Magazine Street and 1020 St Andrew including infectious diseases, optometry and mammography services. This new 6,092 SF facility is expected to serve 7,680 patients and handle approximately 19,200 visits on an annual basis.
Algiers – A $1.8 million clinic will include primary care, behavioral health at the site, pediatrics, and women’s health. This new 4,596 SF facility is expected to serve 4,800 patients and handle approximately 12,000 visits on an annual basis.

Without the NMTC financing it may otherwise be less fiscally viable to pursue such an initiative. This financing will greatly assist in bringing needed healthcare services to the low-income population. St. Thomas’s two new facilities plan on creating 17 to 22 new jobs as a result of the project.

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