Supervisors formally have transferred $200-thousand to the Bakersfield Homeless Center to help feed people who have nowhere to go, as local tallies find the number of homeless people in Kern County has jumped 38-percent. Center Director Louis Gill said today he was grateful the Board stepped up to address a local problem. “This is the first time that I am aware that local money is being invested in this local problem instead of just federal pass-through. It is commendable, and I respect it a great deal.” Gill asked for money on September 1st, saying state and federal funding had dried up while the number of people who are homeless and hungry has grown exponentially. He’s serving about a thousand more meals a month than a year ago, and over a thousand of the Homeless Center clients are kids younger than nine, with about 450 ages 10 to 19.

Suzanne Grant