THE LOOP A COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM AROUND NEVADA
JANUARY 2024
ISSUE 34
VOLUME 3
Happy New Year from WestCare Nevada, There is so much I need to catch you up on when it comes to what we are doing in WestCare Nevada. Over the last few months, we’ve continued our efforts towards supporting our community, including other providers. We have maintained and improved some of our traditions, which in turn have continued to provide us structure, meaning, and a sense of continuity when bringing in the new year. You can blame it on the new year if you would like, but I feel compelled to write about the importance of how certain resolutions (and traditions) can help us grow and set goals for the future. For example, some of us had the privilege of attending A Night Beneath the Neon, which in relation to a resolution, allowed us the opportunity to share a sense of collective purpose and unity as opposed to attempting to do this work separately and within silos. From a traditional standpoint, it helped us to continue to build the connections needed to make positive changes in this community. When it comes to our overall emotional well-being, traditions such as our holiday celebrations and the giving of gifts contributed to our sense of accomplishment and became a powerful motivator towards continued giving. As you will read, with the help of others, WestCare Nevada was able to provide gifts to all of our clients, their children, and some other local non-profits over the holidays.
Over the New Year holiday, our Tamale Fest fostered and contributed to the preservation of cultural identity while also establishing a new family unit of clients who were able to participate in enjoying the traditional Latino custom of making and eating tamales. This year, we even added a third type of tamale, chicken, to the menu. (Now I am hungry!) We also couldn’t leave out the fact that Harris Springs Ranch (the Mountain) received quite a bit of snow, and hopefully, the photo in this newsletter can be used by us all in a few months when we are experiencing triple-digit temperatures as a way of reflecting back on cooler times. As we continue into the new year, let’s remember that resolutions and traditions can contribute to our personal and collective well-being by providing opportunities for reflection and helping us create shared experiences that foster a more comforting rhythm to a world that can sometimes feel the complete opposite.
Leo Magrdichian, LCSW, LCADC, Vice President
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Our Community Shares Holiday Cheer with the WCC! By Rhonda Davisson, Transitional and VA Programs Coordinator ‘Twas the season for celebrating Christmas at our Women & Children’s Campus (WCC) last December! We celebrated our “Grinchiest Tree” in our newly renovated Family Room. Thanks to our friends and community partners, the women and children we served were able to enjoy the holiday season with the following: Angel Tree gifts for every child Teacups, gingerbread houses, holiday sweets, and gift cards from our Community Action Council (CAC) WestCare Alumni t-shirts from our WestCare Nevada Alumni 100 stuffed animals from Las Vegas Metro PD Carols, cookies, and cocoa from Bob Vickery and his Merry Band Toys from Raider Nation Wrecking Crew, LV Bikes and toys from HELP of Southern Nevada Toys, gift cards, baby supplies, and gift bags from St. Joseph Catholic Church A Shopping Day for all children of WestCare Nevada’s clients Ladies' lingerie from Knits and Kits Bath and Body Works gift bags from Living Grace Holiday food delivery and a monetary donation from Torrey Pines and the Bonner Family towards the purchase of Client ID’s and Food Handler’s Cards Christmas morning robes for every female client from Our Very Special Santa Family Holiday Concert of “Merry and Bright” from Las Vegas Men’s Chorus Donations and gifts from our lovely anonymous donors throughout the month Thank you to everyone who makes a difference to those we serve every holiday season!
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Uplifting the Human Spirit 4th Annual Tamale Fest By irma Magrdichian, Director of Residential Services This January 1, 2024, we welcomed the new year with another successful Tamale Fest for the fourth year. We’d like to send a special shout-out to Ben from our Community Involvement Center, who assisted our Vice President Leo with mixing the masa for over 900 tamales! Staff and clients worked diligently in three tamale assembly lines to make queso con rajas (cheese and pepper), pollo con chile verde (chicken and green chile), and puerco con chile rojo (pork with red sauce). Our Women & Children’s Campus (WCC) clients were able to sign up for shifts throughout the day and into the night to take part in serving and giving back to their peers during this time. Here’s what some of them had to say about their participation: “I enjoyed making the tamales for New Year’s because it reminded me of home. I loved how everyone joined in the kitchen to cook them; some of us got emotional, but we enjoyed it because we made it out of love and laughter as one big family for everyone at WestCare.” - JV “I was worried how I could have fun in recovery, and now I know that it is possible to laugh, sing, and dance with my house sisters while making tamales at WestCare.” - JB
Snow at Harris Springs Ranch By Edgar Salcido, Program Director, Harris Springs Ranch Winters at Harris Springs Ranch (HSR) are some of the most interesting times of the year compared to the rest of the year. With the temperature being 15-20 degrees lower than in the city, we experience all four seasons, especially the winter season. While Las Vegas can get cold at times, we get to experience the cold fresh air, beautiful views of the high desert covered in snow, and snow for the holidays and New Year. We are extremely lucky as staff at HSR that we get to experience this weather daily while no one else in the city really does. It is also a fun-filled time with the clients as they have snowball fights with each other and get to experience the snow every morning as they walk out of their cabin for a cup of coffee to start the day. Many clients expressed the therapeutic aspect that the snow and winter weather provides to their time in treatment as they work towards changing their lives. Experiencing this daily offers a calming and natural touch to the work that our staff does and the new life journeys that our clients are embarking on.
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Uplifting the Human Spirit A Night Beneath the Neon By Leo Magrdichian, Vice President, Operations In my short tenure as a Regional Vice President, I believe that WestCare Nevada has been at the forefront of breaking down some of the silos that have previously existed between treatment providers - silos that have hindered some of the services that our most vulnerable in this community deserve. What pleases me today is the conscious effort being made by other providers towards the same goal: Providing a holistic approach through improved communication and enhanced coordination, ultimately leading to improved outcomes for those that we serve. This also includes a willingness to support one another during community events, fundraisers, and even expansion of services. Several WestCare employees, including myself, had the privilege of attending the A Night Beneath the Neon fundraising gala presented by Shine A Light in Downtown Las Vegas. New program initiatives were introduced and the collaborative efforts between multiple organization types benefit the participants involved and also benefit our community at large.
A Special Gift for Those That We Serve!
Quarterly Baptism at HSR By Ryan Creelman, Director of Spiritual Care, WestCare Foundation WestCare Spiritual Care Chaplain Program (SCCP) Spiritual After Care Fellowship leaders provided our quarterly Baptism opportunity for those in care who are pursuing their personal faith development at Harris Springs Ranch. Since SCCP’s inception in 2015, we have respectfully met the faith-specific request of those we serve 945 times.
Continue the journey online!
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By Ryan Creelman, Director of Spiritual Care, WestCare Foundation The Las Vegas Nevada Metropolitan Police Foundation became partners with WestCare‘s SCCP and generously donated 2,000+ soda beverages (Part of a recurring donation) to support our weekly groups, services, and events in WestCare Nevada.
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