MASH VILLAGE: Homeless service provider could close.(news)

BYLINE: JULIET V. CASEYREVIEW-JOURNAL

The city's largest homeless service provider could shut down within six months if Las Vegas officials don't take it over or find a new operator.

In a letter to city officials, the Rev. Joe Carroll, who has overseen MASH Village since 1995, announced Friday he is pulling out of Las Vegas because he didn't find the financial backing needed to continue operations.

The San Diego-based priest said the shelter's parent company, St. Vincent de Paul Management, could no longer afford to subsidize the shelter and related programs at a cost of $1 million or more per year.

"We took a long hard look and decided we couldn't carry it financially any longer," Carroll said in a phone interview from his San Diego office. "We put a lot of money into it over the years, and we didn't own it or anything. We didn't get the support we needed, either from the city, the county, gaming or other donors."

He said a drop in donations in San Diego influenced the parent company to quit subsidizing the Las Vegas operation.

The news comes on the heels of the city's effort to clear the homeless from streets, even as providers and advocates say shelters are full. The city on Sunday swept some 175 homeless people from an encampment along Foremaster Lane and parts of Main Street, just across the street from MASH, which for months has been full.