Las Vegas Review-Journal: Lines of people seeking aid long

[marmar]

Lines of people seeking aid long
Demand for rental assistance increases

By LYNNETTE CURTIS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


They line up hours or even a day in advance, fighting the late-night and early morning cold and sometimes each other.

Hunkered under coats, winter hats and blankets, the dozens of people who can be found each weekday outside the Clark County Social Service building, on Pinto Lane near Martin Luther King Boulevard, are here because of a shared basic need: They don't have enough money to make the rent.

The tanking economy and skyrocketing unemployment have increased the numbers of those seeking emergency rental assistance designed to prevent homelessness. That increase is creating headaches for social service workers and sowing discord among those waiting for help.

"It is a nightmare," 51-year-old Gail Faubion said early Thursday while waiting on a bench outside the building, rolling her own cigarettes. "I've been coming here every day for two weeks. All this trouble, just to have to come back again the next day."

Faubion and others told of hours-long cross-town bus trips to get a good place in line, nights spent camping in the parking lot, and squabbles over who was there first.

"It started getting bad lately," said Jocelan Fox, 42, who was hoping to get a $400 check to pay her already late December rent. "People sneak ahead in line." .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.lvrj.com/news/36099559.html