The youth homelessness demonstration program (yhdp) aims to support selected communities in developing and implementing a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development awarded $395,795 to Help of Southern Nevada (doing business as Help Center) on July 1, 2026, under the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (CFDA 14.276) to support coordinated community responses to youth homelessness in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The YHDP funds eleven categories of assistance including property acquisition and rehabilitation, new construction, structure leasing, rental assistance across short-term, medium-term, and long-term tenancies, supportive services to help program participants obtain and maintain housing, operating costs for supportive housing, Homeless Management Information Systems implementation and operation, program administrative costs, and relocation costs. Help Center will deploy these resources to serve unaccompanied youth, pregnant or parenting youth, and other youth experiencing homelessness, age 24 and younger, through the coordinated community approach model.

The award runs through June 30, 2028. Help Center, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit, operates as a homeless services and supportive housing provider with a portfolio centered on permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, case management, youth shelter operations, and rental assistance. The organization serves homeless individuals and families, persons fleeing domestic violence, and individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance-use disorders across the Las Vegas region. This award is one of three YHDP grants totaling $1.914 million that Help Center received in September 2025.

Activities

Eleven types of assistance may be provided through the yhdp: 1. Acquisition of real property (including structures) for use in the provision of housing or supportive services; 2. Rehabilitation of structures to provide housing or supportive services; 3. New construction, including the building of a new structure or building an addition to an existing structure for use as supportive housing; 4. Leasing of a new structure or structures, or portions thereof, to provide housing or supportive services; 5. Rental assistance, which may be short-term, medium-term, or long-term, as well as tenant-based, project-based, or sponsor-based, for transitional or permanent housing; 6. Supportive services to assist program participants obtain and maintain housing; 7. Operating costs of supportive housing; 8. Costs of implementing and operating homeless management information system (hmis); 9. Program administrative costs; 10. Relocation costs; and 11. Indirect costs in accordance with 2 CFR part 200, as applicable. No assistance provided under this program (or any state or local government funds used to supplement this assistance) may be used to replace state or local funds previously used, or designated for use, to assist homeless persons or persons at-risk of homelessness.

Expected outcomes

As a result of developing and implementing a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness, there will be: • significant decrease in the number of youth experiencing homelessness. • increased income, education, health, and social/emotional well-being of participants. • community-level understanding of the number and needs of youth at-risk of and experiencing homelessness. • new or improved partnerships between youth-serving organizations in the community.

Intended beneficiaries

Homeless unaccompanied youth (age 24 and younger) and homeless youth (age 24 and younger) with children.

Subrecipient activities

The subrecipient activities are unknown at the time of award.