Catholic Charities’ dining facility gets makeover in Las Vegas

A renovated community meal space in Las Vegas’ Corridor of Hope reopened Tuesday, following an 18-month closure during the pandemic.

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada welcomed hundreds of people back to the St. Vincent Lied Dining Facility for the daily community meal. The space underwent an approximately $3 million renovation as part of the nonprofit organization’s larger plan to increase sustainability on the campus, located between Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard North.

While the renovations started in July 2021 during the pandemic, they weren’t sparked by it, said Steve Schmitt, chief operating officer of CCSN. It’s one phase of the roughly $25 million plan to sustainably update the organization’s 7-acre campus. The 23-year-old dining facility added new concrete floors, energy efficient fixtures and appliances, touchless faucets and a rooftop solar facility.

“We just wanted to give it a refresh but also make it sustainable for another 20 years and serve 10 more million meals,” Schmitt said.

Victoria Fertitta, a donor whose family supported the project and others at the nonprofit, said seeing the dining hall full and feeding those in need was a welcoming sight. The family foundation, started by the late Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr., and other family members pledged $10 million to the organization in 2018.

“I tell myself often when I do my prayer work, ‘What you do the least for my brothers, you do for me,’” Fertitta said, referencing a Bible verse in the chapter of Matthew. “That’s always on my mind. I feel like when God’s good to you, you need to give back.”

Tuesday’s meal — beef tenderloin tips, scalloped potatoes, green bean almondine and red velvet cake — was a bit different than previous meals in the room or outside in the tented pavilion, which was used for the community meal during the renovations.

David White, a member of Catholic Charities’ Renewing Hope program that helps homeless men achieve self-sufficiency through employment, said the indoor environment is more comfortable.

“Being in the dining room, it means the food is fresher,” White said. “What you’re getting previously were boxed meals. Here, you’re getting a hot meal and it feels good to sit down and actually have a conversation with people over a meal in a facility that’s provided.”

The tented pavilion, funded through the CARES Act to serve meals in a socially distanced setting, will be fully enclosed to house about 200 beds while the Catholic Charities’ overnight men’s shelter undergoes renovations, Schmitt said.

The organization learned from the temporary setup that clients preferred spacious seating instead of the picnic tables used before the pandemic.

“This gives people a little bit more dignity, and we found that it lowered the temperature a little bit,” Schmitt said. “They were more relaxed, could relax and eat their meal in peace. It really opens the door to case managers and other people being able to speak with them about what their situation is and really get them out of homelessness, which is the goal of this.”

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.