Once

you discover you can do something very well, it becomes a crime to not give it to the world.

November 1995: Tiger Todd, the CEO and founder of Hero School, arrives at a park on the corner of D Street and Washington in Las Vegas during November 1995. After speaking to employees of a local nonprofit about ways to solve the homelessness issue, they invite him to the park where they serve the homeless food.

On that Saturday morning, there are over 1,800 homeless people lined up behind a food wagon. On a whim, Tiger begins to go down the line and speak to these people. He asks them how they got there and what they have in plan for the future.

December 1995: Tiger is troubled to see that all of the nonprofits are only feeding the homeless and preparing them for a life of dependency. The outcome to create independence in the homeless is always at the forefront of his mind. After hearing that the nonprofit wouldnt be serving food the following week, he decides to plan the next event. After securing 300 chairs, designing a sound system, and gathering food and volunteers, he returns to the park and makes the homeless listen to him before they can eat. It was here that he found his strength. He motivated, engaged, and connected with the audience, and he realized that what he was saying was working.

Listen for an hour, or you wont get fed.

 But, there were challenges. Other organizations would show up with items in hand for the homeless to have. It would become a fight over the items, and he realized that the homeless were being taught not to work for anything. I would just sit there and watch as they put the homeless in charge.

1997: The Las Vegas Faith Center, the nonprofit, is established to solve the issue of homelessness.

Until 1999: After 3 years of conducting services at the park, he is amazed to have witnessed the character change of the homeless people he taught. They were returning in uniforms and work clothes because they had taken his message and run with it. The numbers of dependency were dwindling, and he was steadily becoming involved with student engagement.

2000: The Hero School Model is created.

2002: Tiger starts giving classes to the homeless men at Catholic Charities.

2004: Tiger speaks at Katz Elementary School and helps them develop a model where the roles of parents, teachers, and staff become complementary and differences dissolve.

2009: Tiger speaks to Swainston Middle School and conducts a pilot study. He discovers that after speaking to the students, test scores increased by 33.3% among the lowest performers. 2010: Tiger begins Hero School classes at The Shade Tree.

2011: Tiger begins partnership with the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority and conducts their career academy.

3 Biggest Priorities: v We want to have a Hero School location where we can have night classes for the homeless. v We want to have a stand alone career academy to help the underemployed and unemployed. v We want to consult in the Clark County School District to help reduce the dropout rate to lower than 2%. Vision for Hero School: v Our vision is to make Hero School a replicable system, so we can plant seeds in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Texas, Chicago, New Jersey, Canada, India, and Australia. v We want the model to be an integral part of the American public education system. Statistics: v Unemployment Stats for USA: 9.2% estimated at 14.1 million people v Unemployment Stats for NV: 12.1% estimated at 159,300 v Homelessness Stats for USA (duration of one night): 1,105 family members - on the streets 10,926 - in an emergency shelter 15,255 - in transitional homes v Homeless in Southern NV: 11,269 people About the Money: v Annual Operating Budget: $250,000 v Average Yearly Donations: $36,000

As of July 8, 2011 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

As of June 17, 2011 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

As of December 2010 from the U.S. Conference of Mayors Status Report of Hunger and Homelessness in American Cities

As of May 2011 from the Clark County Nevada Government Website