Igniting Change: Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit Fashion Showcase Empowers Youth to Share Their Journeys

On November 8, Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) and Las Vegas Sands will present the 2024 Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit at Las Vegas City Hall. Launched in 2017 to address the high incidence of youth homelessness in Nevada – one of the highest rates in the nation – the day-long Summit convenes stakeholders to collaborate on solutions, working toward creation of the state’s first standalone plan to end youth homelessness.

One of the most moving and thought-provoking components of the annual Summit is the artistic showcase featuring creative presentations by youth with lived experience of homelessness. This year, Summit 2024 will present Igniting Change, an artistic showcase featuring fashion designs created by youth to bring their journeys to life, paired with presentations about their experiences.

“All too often, youth are marginalized by adults, even well-intended ones,” Arash Ghafoori, CEO of NPHY, said. “We assume we know best about what they need to heal and thrive – yet we don’t, unless we listen. This session empowers youth to be advocates for change and provides a creative outlet that can even be healing.”

Kevin Smith, founder and lead educator of the Las Vegas Trade and Fashion Academy, is curating the session though a multi-week course for youth participants. Smith aims to inspire youth by combining tactile art therapy with practical life and vocational skills. Over the past several weeks, he has taught youth how to sew, cut out patterns, and learn other skills to turn two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional garments that represent their journeys.

“We have two goals – first, we want to give participants an opportunity to make something with their hands,” Smith said. “I’ve built my career on making things, and I can tell you how impactful and joyful it is to use your hands to make something. Our second goal is to teach them life skills so they can care for their own clothes, as well as vocational and business skills.”

For Charles, a 17-year-old with a passion for music and video games, the fashion project has helped him transfer his graphic design experience to his fashion creation.

“It’s making me realize, I could really take my classes from school and put them into the fashion show – all the designs that I’m working on at the moment,” he said.

Already artistically inclined, 23-year-old Justin is gaining beneficials skills for future business endeavors.

“I want to show people how I came from a struggle and then turned it into a whole business, because my struggle kind of turned me into a businessman,” he said. “I’ve got a daughter to take care of, so I need and want to be responsible. That’s what I want to show with my outfit I’m creating.”

An avid youth advocate, 20-year-old Nariya is participating in the youth showcase for the third year and says the showcases have been tremendously empowering for both youth participants and attendees.

“Expect to cry,” she said. “Expect to get a lot of feedback about things that need to change. If you’re a teacher, a social worker, you have a big role in this world, and you’ll be getting a lot of feedback on how you could help and give the teens and young adults you’re working with hope and show them you’re sticking with them.”

Beyond the Summit, NPHY integrates art into its overall programming through classes in art, music and singing. NPHY’s campus features a recording studio for youth and murals they created with inspiration from their experiences.

“Creative expression is one of the key ways we help youth heal, advocate for themselves and develop skillsets for a successful future,” Ghafoori said.

As published in Psychology Today, evidence shows that arts engagement can help improve outcomes related to mental health and trauma recovery, such as social connection, self-efficacy, physiological functioning and positive affect. A National Endowment for the Arts report noted that at-risk students who have access to the arts in or out of school tend to have better academic results, better workforce opportunities and more civic engagement.

“Creative expression is a really interesting pathway to self-advocacy,” Ghafoori said. “Unlike the traditional interviews our youth normally get asked to do, creative expression puts them in control of their narrative in a medium they are comfortable with. More important than the result of what they make is the journey of making it – that’s what’s therapeutic and empowering.”

Nariya agrees. “My favorite memory from my past Summits is the Pull Up a Chair theme we did last year,” she said. “I mentioned something about the bird fighting the storm, and I believe I got a lot of people on my side with that. It also helped me believe that I can be something more than that after that day.”

To attend the 2024 Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit and be part of the transformative Igniting Change experience, visit https://nphy.org/summit24. Summit 2024 is presented by NPHY and Las Vegas Sands with support from the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.