The Housing Crisis & Homelessness
Welcome to Flood Ministries’ blog page! We are thrilled that you’re here. Thank you for your desire to learn more about homelessness in Kern County, the challenges we face, and the miracles that we witness. It is our heart to be open with our community, and to increase dialogue surrounding the topic of chronic homelessness. You are always invited to the table.
Over the course of this blog, we will address some common questions that are asked by community members, barriers we are working to overcome, new legislation, and more. If there is a topic that is near and dear to your heart, please message us and we would be happy to address your concerns. The information that we share here is based on what we are seeing from the front lines; the one and only mission is to bring you into the know so that we can work together to end homelessness in Kern County.
With that, we come to our first commonly asked question: why are we seeing an increase in people experiencing homelessness on the streets of Kern County?
The answer is simple. We need more housing.
If you have tried to rent an apartment in the past several years, you’re probably already aware of how challenging it is to find an available unit- much less one that is affordable. Post-COVID, we are seeing a housing shortage unlike anything in recent history.
Flood Ministries does not offer housing or rental assistance; we are a referring agency. Our outreach teams establish relationship with people experiencing homelessness, provide linkage to housing resources, and then help locate a new home once that assistance has been secured.
With the housing crisis at hand, our clients are experiencing extended delays in finding available units. Even if a unit becomes available, it must be within the price range of the client’s rental assistance; there are also other barriers to securing a location, including competing applications, lack of credit history, and lack of rental history due to homelessness. The cards are stacked, but Flood continues to prevail and advocate for our clients regardless of circumstance.
Why aren’t more housing locations being built, you ask? Well, they are! Kern County is working hard to provide more housing locations that are accessible to people experiencing homelessness, whether that be through purchased and remodeled hotels, new construction, or discussing new and innovative ways to open more doors for clients. However, all of these things take time. Local shelter beds are completely full, and with each day that passes, the number of unhoused individuals in Kern County rises.
The days where Flood’s outreach teams could quickly get someone off the streets are gone, and sorely missed. Our staff, who loves our clients and has personal relationship with them, suffers while watching their people continue to struggle and hold out hope. We have an incredible team of resilient and hard-working people who never give up the fight.
But if you do see an outreach worker with a Flood shirt on, give them a hug. It’s not been easy.
In the meantime, Flood’s outreach focus has shifted. When new locations open up, such as the new Housing Authority Oak Street location or Hope on Heart, we fill them immediately with clients- often months before the units are ready for move-in. But in the interim, we are doing our best to care for the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness, protecting peoples’ health, providing transport to needed appointments and resources, continuing to build trust and relationship, and offering love and support through each person’s unique crisis.
We are so grateful for those that continue to provide Flood with hygiene products, sleeping bags, and other necessities for our unhoused clients. You are more of a lifeline than you realize.
We are also grateful to all of our partners in the homeless collaborative and at the city and county offices who are in the fight with us, who never hesitate to step up to the plate and do the hard work alongside us.
We have so much hope that we can pull together as a community to create solutions. Please join our mission to end chronic homelessness in Kern County!
-Kari D.
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