Mission and History

The mission of the Bakersfield Homeless Center is to provide support and resources to families and individuals in crisis while helping them achieve their highest level of self-sufficiency.

Bethany Services, founded in 1972, is a private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization that owns and operates the Bakersfield Homeless Center.

The Bakersfield Homeless Center has provided year-around emer­gency shelter, food, clothing and supportive ser­vices for more than fifteen years.  In that period, the BHC provided more than ●2,451,779 hot meals ● 727,226 warm beds ● 3,445 jobs ● 3,537 housing placements.

BHC Emergency Services

• Food
• Shelter
• Clothing
• Mail Service
• Hygiene Kits
• Laundry
• Restrooms and Showers
• Phone Messages

BHC Social Services

Program Name & Descriptions

1. Food & Shelter – Bakersfield Homeless Center provides critical emergency food and shelter to homeless families with children, single women and a small percentage of single men.
2. New View Program Family Program – Through extensive case management BHC addresses the root causes of homelessness to help families achieve stable, independent community living.  Individual case plans specifically address barriers to healthy family dynamics, employment and housing.  These services are also provided to single adult women and men residing at BHC.
3. Client Services – BHC Client Services’ staff provide laundry, hygiene kits, clothing distribution, mail service, furniture for housing placements, lockers, and donation management.
4. Health Care – BHC provides clients with access to evaluation and treatment by volunteer medical and dental professionals, preventive education and access to prescription medicine for uninsured homeless clients.
5. Counseling – A Family Counselor works with individuals and families to address behaviors contributing to homelessness and improve family dynamics.
6. Case Management – Case managers work with clients to develop individual case plans that address each individuals’ specific factors that contribute to homelessness.
7. Discovery Depot, Licensed Child Care – BHC offers the only licensed childcare center in the state of California located on-site at a homeless shelter, funded by First 5 Kern and staffed and operated through a sub-contract with California State University, Bakersfield.
8. Rainbow Room Childcare Center – On-site childcare offering activities for pre-school and school-aged children while parents are involved in on-site activities.
9. Homeless Court – This innovative community court is designed to help homeless individuals and families remove legal barriers to achieving housing and self-sufficiency.
10. Job Skills Program – The BHC In-House Volunteer Program is designed to help homeless clients learn valuable job skills as they assist in the day-to-day operations of the Center.
11. Job Development and Placement Program - BHC Job Development and Placement Program provides training for “living wage” jobs, along with the education and skill development and job placement services to help homeless people gain employment and long-term stability.
12. Housing Assistance Program - The Housing Access Unit assists in housing search and placement, negotiations with tenants and landlords, and tenant education in addition to the household goods needed to re-establish and maintain a household.
13. Homeless Prevention Services – BHC provides emergency housing and utilities payments through EF&SP and DHS funding to prevent loss of habitable housing.            
14. Aftercare Program - These services are designed to help prevent recurring homelessness through supportive activities such as home visits, counseling, and economic support in the form of supplemental food and household supplies and childcare.
    

BHC Demographics

Major Accomplishments in the past year

• BHC served more than 8,100 homeless children and adults.
• We provided services to more than 1,300 families with 3,023 children.
• Placed over 145 homeless persons in permanent housing.  All received the items necessary to set up their households.
• Medical and dental services were provided to 2,588 uninsured and underinsured homeless individuals by volunteer medical professionals.
• We added a new modular building for job development training, counseling and classes in parenting and life skills.
• Discovery Depot is the only licensed childcare center on-site at a homeless shelter in the state of California.  Over 400 children were cared for by licensed childcare staff at the BHC Discover Depot and in our after school program. 
• The BHC dormitory was remodeled to create family privacy units to allow homeless families to remain together.
• The Job Development/Placement Program provided 171 job searches and placed 172 homeless individuals in jobs.
• More than 166,126 warm, nutritious meals were served.
• The new commercial-like laundry facility washed more than 9,345 loads of laundry.
• 121 homeless women and men and 92 families with 252 children enrolled in the BHC Aftercare Program.