A renovated communal dining room in Las Vegas’ Corridor of Hope reopened Tuesday after being closed for 18 months during the pandemic.
Southern Nevada Catholic charities welcomed hundreds of people to the St. Vincent Lied Dining Facility for daily communal meals. The space was renovated approximately $ 3 million as part of the nonprofit’s larger plan to increase sustainability on campus between Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard North.
While the renovations began in July 2021 during the pandemic, it wasn’t triggered, said Steve Schmitt, CCSN’s chief operating officer. It’s a phase in the roughly $ 25 million plan to sustainably modernize the organization’s 7-acre campus. The 23-year-old restaurant has added new concrete floors, energy-efficient fixtures and appliances, touchless faucets, and a solar panel on the roof.
“We just wanted to freshen it up, but also make it sustainable for another 20 years and serve another 10 million meals,” said Schmitt.
Victoria Fertitta, a donor whose family supported the project and others in the nonprofit, said it was a welcome sight to see the dining room full and feed those in need. The family foundation, established by the late Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr., and other family members pledged $ 10 million to the organization in 2018.
“When I do my prayer work, I often say to myself, ‘What you do least for my brothers, you do for me,’” said Fertitta, referring to a verse in the Bible in the Matthew chapter. “I always have that in my head. I have the feeling that if God is good to you, you have to give something back. “
Tuesday’s meal – beef fillet tips, baked potatoes, green bean almonds, and red velvet cake – was a little different from previous meals in the room or outside in the tent pavilion that was used for communal dining during the renovations.
David White, a member of the Catholic charity’s Renewing Hope program, which helps homeless men become self-employed through employment, said the indoor climate was more comfortable.
“Being in the dining room means the food is fresher,” said White. “What you’ve got so far has been packaged meals. You get a hot meal here and it feels good to sit down and actually chat with people over a meal in a facility provided. “
The tent pavilion, which is funded by the CARES Act to serve meals in a socially distant setting, will be completely closed to accommodate about 200 beds while the Catholic Charities men’s overnight accommodation is being renovated, Schmitt said.
The organization learned from the temporary facility that customers preferred spacious seating rather than the picnic tables used before the pandemic.
“That gives people a little more dignity and we noticed that it lowered the temperature a little,” said Schmitt. “They were more relaxed, could relax and eat in peace. It really opens the door for case managers and other people to talk to them about their situation and really get them out of homelessness, which is the goal of it. “
McKenna Ross is a corps member of Report for America, a national utility that places journalists in local newsrooms. Contact them at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.
