Las Vegas U.S. Vets’ 15th Stand down

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By: Megan Way | Photos by Su Phelps and Lawrence Oravetz
Las Vegas U.S. Vets hosted their 15th Las Vegas Stand Down this year with great success after months of planning and recruiting hundreds of volunteers. This year, there were more than 100 booths at the event and as many as thousand people were coming in and out of Big-League Dreams Park the entire day on Wednesday, April 17th.
All the services a veteran may benefit from were under one roof, clothing, basic medical care, taxes, legal assistance, showers, haircuts, professional dress, employers who will hire on the spot and much more. All the booths were from local organizations and providers. Even the community pitched in by donating non-perishable foods for the booths, donating clothes/shoes for the free store, and donating money toward the Stand Down.
“U.S. Vets Las Vegas is one of our stellar sites, especially when it comes to stand down.” Says Darryl Vincent M.S.W., CSAC Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Vets Nationals, “We want to let them know that there there’s something we can do here and U.S. Vets has been doing that for several years now. “
While the number of homeless veterans in southern Nevada is going down, an event like this coordinates services to help veterans avoid homelessness and reaches out to those who are still living unsheltered in our community.  Many veterans that day received same day housing, met employers at the event who will interview and hire on the spot.
The Executive Director of Las Vegas U.S. Vets, Shalimar T. Cabrera, who’s been here since the first Las Vegas Stand in 2004 explains the origin of the Stand Down. “The term Stand Down comes from a term used in times of war, where front line service members were brought off the battlefield and into a place of rest, recovery, safety and respite. We now translate that to bringing in veterans whose new battlefield that might be the streets or facing homelessness. We bring them down to this stand down.”
Thanks to the support of presenting sponsors MGM Resorts International, COX Communications, Vanguard Integrity Professionals U.S Vets were able to bring this favorite veteran community event for a 15th year.