Shelters do what they can to help homeless people amid scorching heat wave

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ( KGET ) — The marathon heat wave continues in Bakersfield and the threat of danger is the worst for our most vulnerable population: the homeless.

“Blistering,” said homeless resident Kelvin Jewell. “I never really felt no kind of heat like this.”

Jewell has been homeless for a year after he said his Social Security disability payments stopped coming in and his ID was stolen. He said he’s been trying to seek shelter from the heat at the Brundage Lane Navigation Center.

“My age, 65 years old it is very dangerous for me to be out here,” Jewell said.

Jewell said staff at Brundage Lane told him he was required to reach out to Flood Ministries to get help, but he didn’t have a phone. So, he found 17 News on scene and asked us for help. “They had some beds available so I was like ‘great.’ Then I saw you,” said Jewell.

Patti Loomis from Eerie, Pennsylvania said she became homeless during the pandemic. That’s when she found her new best friend here in Bakersfield — her dog Strawberry.

“This family gave her to me and I told her I said, ‘If you go with me, I’ll make sure I’ll always take care of ya,'” Loomis said.

Loomis and Strawberry are trying to stay cool in the heat wave while gas stations chase her away.

“You’re independent on everything — even restrooms. Do you see one? No. Are there Port-A-John’s for the homeless for the people that are homeless? There isn’t and a business will say no,” said Loomis.

The Mission at Kern County offers shade to those without and more importantly, they provide hope where it dried up.

“We don’t want anybody to die out there on the streets, obviously,” Steve Peterson with The Mission at Kern County said. “If somebody needs a cup of water, if they need a meal, if they need a shower they can come on down here. You don’t have to stay here to get all those services.”

According to the 2024 Point In Time count, there are more than 1,600 unsheltered individuals living in Kern County and during the summer it can be a death sentence.

“Their skin’s exposed. They’re on hot sidewalks. Sometimes they’re barefoot. Can you imagine walking bare foot in this?” said Peterson.

Every Saturday there are volunteers with the Mission at Kern County to meet the needs of the homeless where they are. They even bring shoes.

“We go out with water. We go out with fruit and we just try to bless people out on the street.”

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