First Things First: For homeless, a home

By Timothy Pratt

Las Vegas Sun
Tue, Apr 22, 2008 (2 a.m.)

It wasn’t exactly a crystal ball.

After careening through the nation’s alleys and jail cells for half his life, 47-year-old Michael Sumling saw his future one Fremont Street morning in a plastic bottle of Coke — with urine and a cigarette butt in it.

He spat out the sickly sweet liquid and almost vomited. He cursed his life. He knew it was time to stop living on the streets.

A first-of-its-kind project for the Las Vegas Valley, in the heart of what is called the homeless corridor, was the answer. Now in its fifth month, Horizon Crest on Owens Avenue is an unusual blend of 66 low-rent apartments for the poor and 12 apartments for the chronically homeless, those who have been on the street the longest.

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