For many children in Las Vegas, the recession isn’t over.
Not even close.
Some are homeless, some will have their only meals at school, some are the primary caregivers for their siblings. They face economic and social problems that haven’t been cured by the recovery — wage stagnation, underemployment, cyclical poverty and food insecurity among them.
Staff and volunteers from Communities in Schools see those children every day, at schools across the valley.
“I don’t believe that people in Las Vegas realize the extent of the poverty here,” said Cheri Ward, executive director of CIS of Southern Nevada. “Everybody’s saying, ‘It’s getting better.’ It is not. With the students and families we deal with, I feel like it’s growing worse.
