Operation Life

Operation Life was a non-profit community development organization against poverty, whose initial goals were to improve living conditions in west Las Vegas and promote welfare reform. It was founded by a group of west side mothers who were also the founder's and original members of a Welfare Rights Organization called the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization which was a chapter of the National Welfare Right's Organization. The women were Ruby Duncan, Essie Henderson, Alversa Beals, Mary Wesley, Emma Stampley and Rosie Seals. On September 1972 the seven women created Operation Life. Ruby Duncan was its executive director from 1972 until 1990; in 1990 she had to retire due to her health. Operation Life created the first library, first day care center, first community pool in Las Vegas's black Westside neighborhood, and also created a children's medical clinic, a jobs program, and a drug and violence prevention program, among other services. It employed over 100 people, mostly former welfare mothers, by 1980. It also received grants in the 1980s from the city of Las Vegas and the U.S. Dept. of Housing to build new housing for poor families. Operation Life ended in 1992.