BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Bakersfield Senior Center has been around for decades and in about one year the facility will be transformed to provide 36 brand-new affordable housing units for senior citizens in Bakersfield.
“We’re helping the community with homelessness and making homes affordable, especially for seniors," explained Lilli Parker, the executive director of the Bakersfield Senior Center. "We’re accomplishing that goal there, as well as providing a safe and secure place for the community and our seniors to come to.”
Parker says the project in the works is roughly 59,000 square feet. She says the brand new senior center that will have 36 affordable housing units is going to consist of four floors.
“Floors one and two will be the facility that will house our kitchen. It will also have our dining hall where our seniors will come and congregate as well as socialize, talk about life experiences. On floors three and four that’s where the affordable housing will be.”
Parker adds in addition to the housing units that have both a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom option, some of the features will include a new recreation room, a multiple-purpose room, a community room, and more.
It is a project Parker says can be defined as an “all in one” for the senior community.
“It’s going to transform this entire community. They are going to see something they have not seen before.”
Jenni Byers, the assistant economic development director for the City of Bakersfield, says the $7.6 million for this project came from the Regional Early Action Planning funds. She says that currently the city’s rental availability is only about three percent, posing a challenge for many to gain access to housing, and that is why this new development is important.
Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) 2.0 is a flexible program that will accelerate progress towards our state housing goals and climate commitments through a strengthened partnership between the state, its regions, and local entities. REAP 2.0 funds will accelerate infill housing development, reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), increase housing supply at all affordability levels, affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH), and facilitate the implementation of adopted regional and local plans to achieve these goals.
REAP 2.0 is administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in collaboration with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
REAP 2.0 provides a $600 million investment to advance implementation of adopted regional plans by funding planning and development activities that accelerate infill housing and reductions in per capita VMT.
This new program was established as part of the 2021 California Comeback Plan under AB 140.
“How wonderful would it be that you can live on-site, access the amenities, have access to healthcare, have access to healthy food? It's just such a wonderful project that the city is so happy to support.”
Ladonna Norwood has been coming to the Bakersfield Senior Center for years and says she cannot wait to see the developmental change that is coming to the city. She, among other seniors at the center, has expressed gratitude for the housing.
“I am very excited about it. I’ve been around since 2013 so I have watched us grow, I’ve watched COVID hit us, and we got small but now we are growing again. We are very excited about the new building. It’s going to be great. We need it. It’s been overdue.”
Parker says the development of the Senior Center that will host the 36 affordable housing units is expected to be completed in the next couple of years. She adds this upcoming project is one of the many ways the center is bridging the gap in helping low-income senior households.