North Las Vegas project helping homeless has feet covered
When it comes homeless advocacy, Charlene Falkner of North Las Vegas is the go-to person at City Hall.
The information technology employee of 13 years is the leader of Advent Sockoctober, a volunteer project that donates socks and other materials to the less fortunate in winter. Falkner’s mother, Eileen Sager, started the project more than 35 years ago when a homeless man visited her while she was working at the Social Security Administration office in North Las Vegas.
Sager asked the man if she could help with anything, and he replied that he could use a pair of socks. She complied, and from that point on, Sager made it her mission to provide socks for people who needed them. She got her family involved, including Falkner and her siblings and her grandchildren, and had them package the socks, which they would pass out in the Corridor of Hope in downtown Las Vegas.
They passed out the socks on their own for a few years, but when a police officer informed them that it was dangerous, the Metropolitan Police Department got involved and distributed them to people who didn’t visit social service providers, Falkner said. Metro assisted for about 15 years.
Sager ran the project for about 12 years predominantly on her own before becoming ill with emphysema. She asked Falkner to take over not long before she died in 2002.
Falkner said she knew she was taking on an important task. Her mother used to purchase about 100 socks to be donated to the homeless on her own, but since Falkner has taken over the project, they average more than 3,000 pairs of socks from donations by her friends, family, members of her church and city of North Las Vegas employees per year. She also works with other organizations including Clean the World and the Church of Las Vegas. For the past 10 years, she’s gotten involved with an event run by the Nevada Homeless Alliance called Project Homeless Connect, a service and resource fair for people experiencing homelessness or those who are at risk.
Falkner said she has distributed more than 30,000 pairs or socks to people in need.
In addition to collecting socks at work, Lee allowed Falkner to host a glove drive in which she received about 500 gloves and 20 pairs of shoes for the most recent Project Homeless Connect fair, she said.
Falkner’s efforts were recently recognized when she was nominated by her boss, Terry Fletcher, for the Governor’s Points of Light Award, a volunteer recognition program administered by Nevada Volunteers. There are seven award categories, including nonprofit and community organization volunteer program and Southern Nevada individual, which is what Falkner was nominated for.
“I immediately thought of her because she’s been doing it for so long,” Fletcher said of Falkner. “She collects (donations) at her home, at work, and she tells everyone that she talks to (about the project). She’s just a really good spokesperson for the effort.”
Falkner said she was surprised to find out this summer that she was one of three finalists for the award in her category. After being nominated, she was interviewed and asked to share her story and why she deserved the award. She attended the awards ceremony Oct. 5.
“For me, it was very humbling, but the opportunity to bring recognition to what my mom started and to the needs of our community was very powerful,” she said. “There’s a message there that everybody can make a difference.”
Falkner’s daughter Nicole Whitley, who has been helping her she was in high school, said the project has become a family tradition.
“Service is important to us as a family,” she said. “We like to meet the needs when we can, and it can be as small as giving someone a dollar if needed, and it all started because of (my) grandma.”
Falkner said that this year she recognized a need for blankets for homeless people who were not able to get beds at shelters, so she plans to add 4that to her roster of donations in the upcoming year.
Contact Kailyn Brown at kbrown@viewnews.com or 702-387-5233. Follow @kailynhype on Twitter.
How to help
Project Homeless Connect holds pop-up events for the homeless to receive resources on housing, health care, employment, legal aid, showers and basic needs. The organization is always looking for volunteers, donations and service partners. Visit nevadahomelessalliance.org to register or email emily@nevadahomelessalliance.org.
By the numbers
Fourth: Nevada’s national rank in the number of homeless people who are unsheltered
6,490: Individuals and families who are without homes or a steady shelter on any given night
111: homeless families living in Southern Nevada
Nevada Homeless Alliance
