United Methodist Social Ministries, Inc. was founded in 1987 by a group of United Methodist clergy in the Las Vegas Valley who saw an unmet need. These pastors partnered with other clergy, across denominational boundaries, to begin the Weekend Emergency Assistance Program (WEAP) to provide emergency food and other basic needs items to families on the weekends when other service providers were not available. While we continue to carry the United Methodist name, we are a non-sectarian organization, serving all of the Clark County community.

WEAP has served families consistently since the program began in 1988. Thus far in 2006, the WEAP program has seen an increase in clients served by 25% over the same period of time in 2005. We believe there to be many contributing factors to this increase, including but not limited to: the ever increasing population of Clark County; low-wage, service industry positions available for unskilled workers in Las Vegas; and the limitations of welfare, as many of our clients have exhausted their federal benefits.

Hats and Hands was taken over by UMSM, Las Vegas in 1989. Each winter, this program distributes clothing items to the homeless in partnership with other agencies where homeless services are provided, such as: Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, St. Timothy's, Las Vegas Rescue Mission, University Medical Center, and others, as resources are available. In 2005, Hats and Hands provided items of hats, scarves, socks and gloves to more than 1,300 individuals. Each individual received 1 hat, 1 scarf, 2 pair of gloves, and 3 pair of socks to prevent illness and injury caused by long term exposure to the elements. We estimate serving 1,800 clients through this program in 2006.

For more information, visit the UMSM website: http://www.umsmlasvegas.org