Ep. 317: Life in the Vegas Tunnels: Clowns, Crickets & Crank [REMASTERED]

Meredith for Real: the curious introvert

What’s it like living underground? How did he get out?

Paul Vautrinot shares his story of living in the Las Vegas tunnels, or as he states it, beneath the neon. He shares what life in the Vegas underground city was like with the tunnel people, how he left, got sober & became a co-founder of Shine a Light Foundation. He shares the organization’s unique approach to ending homelessness & how they are by-passing wait lists.

This episode originally aired June 6, 2022

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 248: SURVIVING THE TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY: SEPARATING IDENTITY FROM EXPERIENCE [REMASTERED]

Guest:

https://www.shinealightlv.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shinealightLV

https://www.instagram.com/shine_a_lightlv/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-neon-podcast/id1532967337

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

[email protected]

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — The hidden city beneath Vegas

02:00 — A “happy” childhood behind chaos

03:20 — Getting invited underground

06:00 — First night in the tunnels

07:00 — Nicknames and neighborhoods below ground

08:00 — The drug dealer’s driver and the underground map

09:00 — Biking blind in total darkness

10:00 — Hierarchies of the homeless tunnels

12:00 — The girlfriend, the cricket, and the cops

18:00 — Jail, withdrawal, and a strange stroke of luck

20:00 — From drug court to sobriety

21:00 — Meeting Matt O’Brien and the flood-drain exposé

23:00 — The birth of Shine A Light

25:00 — Building a no-waitlist system for help

27:00 — Trust, recovery, and the Vegas community

29:00 — What would actually end homelessness?

30:00 — Creating stability in the smallest windows of hope

31:00 — What’s next for Shine A Light

32:00 — 104 people out of the tunnels

33:00 — How to help and get involved

34:00 — A new kind of light under Vegas

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/