Get to know us.
Understand our passion.
Our Approach
We bring people together to advance solutions to homelessness. We do this by partnering closely with federal, state, and local government, business, philanthropic, civic, faith-based organizations, and people who are currently experiencing homelessness and those who have in the past.
We Advocate.
We lead the Policy Council on Homelessness, a cross-sector coalition focused on advancing policy solutions at the local, state and federal level. Join us to take action by signing up for advocacy alerts.
We Educate.
When we know better, we do better. -Maya Angelou
The Nevada Homeless Alliance is proud to present our virtual self-paced training program. We offer 7 training topics on evidenced based practices to homeless service providers. CEUs will be awarded to Social Workers upon request. Find more information here.
We Coordinate.
Collaboration is key in the fight to end homelessness. There is not a single organization or sector that can accomplish this task alone. We hold regular provider meetings, networking events, roundtables and working groups to build and strengthen partnerships. Join the Alliance to connect with us!
We Serve.
We organize Project Homeless Connect, a mobile one-stop service fair, to connect people experiencing homelessness to the local service organizations who provide housing, healthcare, employment support, legal aid, and basic care services. Find more information about Project Homeless Connect here.
Our Approach
The Nevada Homeless Alliance pursues collaborative strategies to end homelessness in Southern Nevada through advocacy, public awareness, education, and coordination of services.
This requires a multidimensional approach among government agencies, community organizations, the private sector, and homeless people themselves. The Nevada Homeless Alliance works to create and strengthen these relationships to facilitate an effective and comprehensive systems response to homelessness.
Partnering to Improve Outcomes for People Experiencing Homelessness
Our work is predicated on partnerships with service providers assisting people who are homeless with housing, healthcare, mental health, education, legal aid, courts, employment services, child and family services, law enforcement, and more. This includes partnering with the federal, state, and local government, business, philanthropic, civic, and faith-based organizations, and people who are currently experiencing homelessness and those who have in the past.
Policy Advocacy
The Nevada Homeless Alliance provides a voice at the federal, state, and local levels on policies that can be supported, amended, or otherwise enhanced to create effective solutions to issues related to homelessness and its end in Southern Nevada.
Promoting Best Practices
Our goal is to identify innovative and effective strategies to combat homelessness through our initiatives and national partnerships. This knowledge is shared with partners of the Nevada Homeless Alliance, informing our policy work and the recommendations we make. In 2018, the Nevada Homeless Alliance launched a series of trainings on best practices in service interventions for providers and members of the community.
In 2022, the Nevada Homeless Alliance was awarded a grant from Clark County to expand our training and help teach more people about the best practices.
You can see our training offerings here
Public Education
The Nevada Homeless Alliance disseminates information to support and advance the movement to end homelessness. Our public education efforts raise awareness, build partnerships, mobilize advocates, and generate support for people experiencing homelessness. We engage and educate partners, members, policymakers, and the public through public events, various publications, and social media.
Coordination of Services
The Nevada Homeless Alliance leads the coordination of Connect events. These events assist individuals and families who are experiencing homeless or are low-income by providing immediate access to a full array of services in one place.
Services offered at Project Homeless Connect (PHC) and Family Connect events include housing, medical, dental, and vision care, behavioral health care, job readiness, family resources, food resources, legal and court assistance, general community assistance, pet care, and more. The Nevada Homeless Alliance has convened community partners in the planning and execution of 30 PHC events. Over the last five years alone, these events have assisted over 15,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in accessing vital resources and services.
In 2017, PHC expanded from two annual events to monthly Pop-Up PHC events, a mini-but-mighty outreach event that convenes partner organizations to offer showers, housing assistance, ID recovery, medical and mental health support, legal aid, clothing, and more.
In 2022, the monthly Pop-Up PHC events was expanded into 2-4 events per month. This allowed us to provide services to more people and to meet the clients where they are.
In 2023, the Pop-Up PHC events have been expanded even further to 8 events every month. This was made possible by the HUD Unsheltered NOFO.
The Nevada Homeless Alliance helps champion the Built for Zero campaign, a cross-sector initiative designing and implementing strategies toward Southern Nevada’s goal to end chronic homelessness.
Annual Report
Every year, Nevada Homeless Alliance releases an annual report to show our stakeholders the effect we had in the community. 2022 marks the 30th year of Nevada Homeless Alliance being in operation and thus this year is a special edition of our annual report.
Past Reports
Staff
Catrina Grigsby-Thedford MPA, LSW, CADC
Executive Director
Catrina is originally from Arkansas and moved to Las Vegas in 2000, where she experienced literal homelessness for 9 years. She received help from local organizations in Las Vegas and started to change her life for the better in 2009.
Catrina has 11 years of professional experience working with those experiencing homelessness. Catrina is a licensed social worker and certified drug and alcohol counselor. She obtained her Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Public Administration from UNLV. She received her Doctorate in Public Policy from UNLV in 2023.
As a person with lived experience with homelessness, Catrina is passionate about ending homelessness and is dedicated to collaborating with community partners who are working towards similar goals.
“I was saved from homelessness to serve the homeless”.
Corina Marquez
Operations Assistant
Corina began working for the Nevada Homeless Alliance in April 2019 as a recent transplant from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She brings over ten years of nonprofit experience and has a love and passion for giving back to others. Being homeless herself as a child, Corina developed a deep desire to change the world around her and impact the future to end homelessness. She has been an advocate for foster children, those in poverty and especially those who are homeless. She is proud to bring her skills of fundraising to this team and help make a larger impact on those we serve.
Don Gripper
Program Manager
Don Gripper is NHA’s current Program Manager. In this role, he oversees all Unsheltered Homelessness programs, community collaborations, and event coordination. He also participates in strategic planning, program development, budget development, implementation of policies and procedures, and obtaining funding/grants to support programs. Donald grew up in Compton, California, graduating from Dominguez High School, California Trade Tech/Business Computer Programming, and eventually Guilford Tech in Jamestown, N.C. with a Business Administration Degree.
He was promoted from his work as a Resource Specialist in April 2021. Prior to joining NHA, Donald worked as a Resource Specialist/Case Manager at the Salvation Army in the SSVF (Supportive Services for Veterans Families). Before entering the human services field, Donald was employed for many years with NPS Pool Supply, Inc. As one of the Five (5) Acting Officers of the Company, he performed my duties under the title of Director of Internal Solutions, where he had multiple responsibilities such as Hiring/Recruitment, Facilitating, Implementation of Policies/Procedures, Evaluating Charge Account Limits, Overseeing Collections, as well as Heading the Safety Committee.
Don spends much of his free time playing Golf (“FORE”) and less of it singing Karaoke (“oh no”)
“It was and has always been my goal to see all persons in need to have access to all resources available with the end result being that they eventually find healthy perceptions of themselves as well as strengthening his or her families so that they can be complete, whole, and safe.”
Board of Directors
Sandra Shulman
President
Credit One Bank
Robert Reynolds
Vice President
Reynolds & Associates
Senator David Parks
Treasurer
Retired
Pastor Henry Sneed
Lucky Little Chapel
Travis Bleazard
Board Member
LV Fire and Rescue, EMT