BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The City of Bakersfield is continuing to provide resources to help homeless people in the community, and one of those resources is the Dream Center.
Cynthia Lira-Martinez is a peer support specialist at the Dream Center of Kern County in Bakersfield. Prior to receiving that title, however, she was just one of the many homeless youth living in Kern County.
"When I first came to the Dream Center, I was 17 and I was homeless and was a teen mom. I actually came here with no resources at all, and I was able to access all my resources here," said Lira-Martinez.
According to Lira-Martinez, her role at the Dream Center consists mainly of providing support to those in need, which helped her back in the day.
"I was able to come in and get help enrolling into college. I was able to get a job. I did their housing program. I had very amazing case managers, and through really intensive case management, I was able to graduate from the housing program and become successful," said Lira-Martinez.
Lira-Martinez says her success story wouldn't have been possible without the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, or HHAP grant.
Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh says the HHAP grant is the only direct statewide funding that cities receive to address homelessness. Goh says all improvements made over the past three years to facilities like the Dream Center are thanks to HHAP funding from the state.
"The City of Bakersfield has used HHAP funding to support shelter expansion at the Open Door Network, at The Mission at Kern County, we've used it to build permanent supportive housing for those with mental health and substance abuse issues," said Goh.
According to the 2023 Kern County Point in Time Count of unhoused people, children under 18 years of age accounted for 6.42 percent of those counted, and young adults aged 18 to 24 made up another 6.16 percent of the total sheltered and unsheltered homeless population.
Dream Center Prevention Specialist Bryanna Wood says thanks to the HHAP grant and the center's partners, the center has been able to give back to the youth in a more meaningful way.
"We had 709 youth visit the Dream Center during our last fiscal year. We gave out 5,940 snack bags. We gave 1,273 hygiene kits," said Wood.
Wood says the Dream Center knows the need in Kern County, and says they will continue to be the support system that young people need in order to be successful. Young people like Lira-Martinez, who understands the stress of not knowing where to go or even that they need and deserve help at all.
"A lot of people are struggling with mental health or substance abuse and they don't know there's resources, so being able to have a safe place where you can access those resources and people are constantly meeting you where you're at and believing in you," said Lira-Martinez. "It makes a really big difference. I know that it changed my whole life."
The Dream Center offers assistance to current and former foster youth up to the age of 25 in Kern County. They call themselves the only Kern County one-stop-shop for support and resources for foster youth.
