BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Homelessness remains a major issue in Bakersfield, and for organizations like The Mission at Kern County, continued community support is key to helping people get off the streets and into stable housing.<\/p>\n
“So the need is really great when you look at it. And we have in our shelter space and out recovery programs, women and children’s programs, which are off-site, we’re actually housing 300 of our neighbors each and every night,” said Carlos Baldovinos, executive director of The Mission at Kern County.<\/p>\n
Baldovinos said The Mission offers a variety of services, from case management, referrals for mental health services, emergency shelter, and daily meals.<\/p>\n
“The numbers that you see people lining up outside, they’re actually lining up for lunch,” Baldovinos said.<\/p>\n
“On a yearly basis, if I just give you a global number, we serve about 252,000 meals per year,” he said.<\/p>\n
At the most recent city council meeting, The Mission received an additional $300,000 from a homeless housing assistance and prevention grant to fund an additional year of operations for its 40-bed expansion. Baldovinos said the expansion opened up in 2021 in response to surging numbers in the homeless population.<\/p>\n
“If you look at the numbers from 23 to 24, we had 37% increase from year to year,” Baldovinos said.<\/p>\n
Baldovinos is referring to the annual Point in Time Count, which gives a census for how many people are experiencing homelessness. The 2025 PIT Count saw a decrease of 2.3%.<\/p>\n
“That 40-bed expansion has been an asset to decreasing homelessness in our community as well,” Baldovinos said.<\/p>\n
The 2026 PIT Count will take place in January. He said when those numbers release in the spring we’ll have a better understanding of the current need in Kern County.<\/p>\n
“And that’s what Kern County is all about, it’s working together and moving the ball forward, especially with something like this that is not going away anytime soon,” Baldovinos said.<\/p>\n
Baldovinos encourages community members to get involved by volunteering their time or coming to serve a meal if they have time.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
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