Time to Listen to City's Homeless
By: Lisa Kimble
Topics: Homeless, St. Vincent de Paul Center
Posted by lisaedmonston Sat Sep 27, 2008 17:50:59 PDT
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St. Vincent De Paul Center Calls
Out Amid Overdue Improvements
Note: A version of this story first appeared in the May issue of Bakersfield Life Magazine.
If you are reading this from the comfort of your leather sofa in your well-appointed den, inside your insulated, secure home, then please sit up and take note: The ranks of those who don’t have this paper delivered, whose den is a cement curb somewhere under a bridge, whose world, through no fault of their own is neither insulated nor secure is growing.
And it is time for this community to take off its blinders. The number of Bakersfield’s homeless has been steadily growing. Add to that the tidal wave of home foreclosures in the past twelve months that has sent your neighbors scrambling for a roof over their head, and the plight of this community’s homeless can no longer be ignored. This is no longer a problem tucked away somewhere on the east side of town. This is a community challenge that should be embraced by all.
Estimating the homeless population in Bakersfield isn’t easy. There are believed to be at least 50 men and women who regularly sleep on the streets every night. More than 200 men, women, and an alarmingly growing number of children show up at the St. Vincent de Paul Center every day. Many struggle with mental illness and will never leave their transient society for a conventional one. For them, a snack of coffee, sandwich and dessert goes a long way.
For more than fifty years, St. Vincent de Paul Center in East Bakersfield has fed and sheltered the area’s poor and hungry out of humble and modest buildings and warehouses along an alley off Baker Street. They have managed to maintain a powerful presence with a low profile. Now, at long last, this beacon of light in the homeless community is finally getting some much-needed sprucing up.
Since the beginning of the year, property adjacent to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store has been turned into a safe and serene environment where some of the area’s homeless can spend their daytime hours in dignity instead of in the shadows of the alleyways. Lives may not necessarily be changed, but by planting seeds of serenity, the dignity of someone’s daily life on the streets most certainly will.
Already, trees and shrubs have been removed, sewer lines have been laid and concrete walkways have been poured. When completed, the center’s grounds will seem more park-like, complete with a covered patio, an eating area, landscaping, new bathrooms and showers. A water fountain will be anchored in the center of the grounds. Landscaping will be used to create separate gardens and alcoves, making the fence that has been erected less conspicuous and affording the people who come here a luxury the do not know: privacy.
As the German proverb says, ‘Charity sees the need, not the cause’, a group of dedicated volunteers at the heart of the aesthetic redevelopment of the center and its park is focused solely on enhancing the quality of the daily life for the needy. Rather than sitting in alleys, the homeless can come to a safe haven, a tranquil environment for day lodging, sheltered from their uncertain world, if only for a few hours of their displaced day; a Garden of Eden where green lawn and blooming flowers will add fragrance and color to the lives of the lost and lonely.
The community can help in several ways: This Saturday, September 27, the Feast Day of St. Vincent de Paul, the first annual, national Friends of the Poor Walk will be held in cities around the world. The Bakersfield walk will begin at 8 a.m. at the St. Vincent de Paul Center, 300 Baker Street.
Tuesday, September 30 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the St. Vincent de Paul Center project, the ‘Five Minute Fundraiser’ will be held to share with the community the progress that has been made. Families are encouraged to bring their children as an extraordinary way to expose children to the spirit of giving.
Whether you ‘walk a mile’ in a homeless person’s shoes Saturday, September 27 or ‘spare five minutes’ Tuesday, September 30, leave the comforts of your home. You will return humbled and overwhelmed by gratitude.
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