PIT Count 2024: More homeless than ever in Bakersfield
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The 2024 Point In Time count shows more people living on the streets in Bakersfield than ever before.
“I’ve had people sneaking in my tent while I was sleeping,” Loren Richard. “I’m a dead sleeper and I’ve woken up to people trying to take advantage of me while I was sleeping.”
The data shows 2,669 people currently experiencing homelessness in Kern County, which is 37% more than 2023.
Loren Richard became homeless when she turned 18. She moved from North Carolina to Bakersfield. Now, she’s 26 and still homeless.
“I got adopted by my mom,” said Richard. “She was in the army for about 20 years, and then when she passed away that’s when I got stuck here.”
The annual PIT count, by the Bakersfield-Kern Regional Homeless Collaborative serves as a snapshot of how many people are homeless.
More than 400 volunteers participated in the two part count. The sheltered count is a single night count that grabs data from each local shelter.
The unsheltered count involves a three day operation, with volunteers interviewing homeless from all areas of Kern.
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The data is used by state and federal governments to gauge funding for homeless resources.
From 2019 to 2023, the city of Bakersfield received $138 million in homeless funding.
Richard says the problem is the ridiculous shelter rules.
“7 o’clock curfew? Some people gotta go way far out to places,” said Richard. “If you miss one night without letting anybody know you were gonna miss a night, you get kicked out.”
The majority of the homeless are located in east Bakersfield, Oildale, and Rosedale.
The local homeless collaborative had to add two more days to count the homeless in rural Kern County and Kern riverbed areas.
$7 million went to the Oildale Village that has a 9 p.m. curfew.
City Serve got a $30 million grant for 126 one bedroom apartments for foster youth. The grand opening was April 1, but it’s still under construction.
The BKRHC got $7 million to clear encampments, while The Open Door Network received $3.9 million in August 2022 and $9 million in March 2024.
“There’s a lot of good people out here that don’t need to be out here, but they’re out here,” said Richard. “They get judged and turned down because they’re out here.”
Governor Newsom allocated $300 million for local governments to combat homelessness.
The deadline for those funds is June 2024.
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