BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A roof over our head and fresh clothes is what many of us take for granted.
- Kern County Homeless Collaborative received $5.2 million in federal funding.
- Youth Action Board will help decide how to spend the funds.
- Funds will be used for housing programs over two years, with a possibility for renewal.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Bakersfield Kern Regional Homeless received funding that can make progress for homeless youth in the community.
Bridging the gap between service providers and policymakers is what Jaki Sevieux wishes she had when she experienced living in the streets.
Sevieux shares with me,"How do we expect to serve a community if we don't know what that community needs so it's important to get youth who are informed at those decision-making tables so they can be their voice, and uplift themselves and the voices of others."
Sevieux was just two years old when, as a foster child, she first experienced being homeless. It happened again in her 20s after the death of a family member.
Sevieux reminiscences, "It was tough for me specifically because I thought that it was normal to be homeless, you know you turn 18-19, you're an adult now so I'm assuming it's normal, and it wasn't until I got on the youth action board and so met other homeless youth and we all got together and were like, this isn't how it's supposed to be."
According to Allyson Bapstie with the County Superintendent of Schools, there are about 6400 homeless youth in Kern County.
Bapstie explains, "Our youth action board has already given feedback to local leaders and they will continue to do that with these funds on policies and procedures, and they are going to be able to make a huge difference regarding our youth homelessness in Kern County."
For the first time, the Bakersfield-Kern Regional Homeless Collaborative, an independent non-profit, received a 5.2 million grant for Youth Programs and Services from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development.
There will also be other Youth Action board members advocating on how to spend the funds on homeless youth in Kern County.
Sevieux says, "I think a lot of times homeless youth get overlooked. They are an under served population and I think more misconceptions are just coming from a place of people not really understanding what the homeless youth crisis really looks like."
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