Women cheered as men went on display, some even baring their chests, to raise money for the Bakersfield Homeless Center at the seventh annual Boots and Bachelors Auction, held at the Crystal Palace Sept. 28.
“Here are the rules, have as much fun as you can,” said MC Bino Bates, 38, from Los Angeles.
“If they don’t want to, you can’t make them,” said Bates while laughing as he explained the conditions of the dates. “In this case, no means no.”
The purpose of the auction is to raise funds for the BHC, where 100% of the proceeds are donated to the shelter as unrestricted funds.
Last year over $100,000 was raised at the auction.
“I love this event,” said Karen Newbern, a volunteer at the auction. “It’s really hard to sell yourself, but they do it for the kids and families.”
According to BHC Associate Director Diana Campbell-Rice, “The new face of homelessness is single women with children.”
“When we first started here, the homeless center was primarily for adult homeless men. With our board we took a look at the fastest growing homeless population in this country, not just Kern County, and it’s single women with children,” said Campbell-Rice, who also once worked at Bakersfield College in the Public Information Office as a departmental assistant.
According to their documentation, in ’06 the BHC provided service for “more than 8,100 homeless children and adults,” including “1,300 families with 3,023 children,” and served over 166,000 meals.
Eight years ago the BHC began reorganizing the center in order to focus on providing shelter for homeless women and their families.
“The needs of [homeless] children and families are very different than single homeless adults,” said Campbell-Rice.
The BHC is the only homeless shelter in the state of California with an onsite licensed childcare facility.
Last year the BHC “placed 172 homeless individuals in jobs,” and also “placed over 145 homeless persons in permanent housing,” according to their statistics.
Campbell-Rice said they recently applied for a grant with HUD in order to procure 21 apartments for their clients.
She said that they would help subsidize the rent and continue to provide childcare as long as they continue to make progress.
According to Campbell-Rice, the BHC boasts a 94 percent success rate of families who don’t return.
The BHC is now preparing for its annual Halloween Carnival, which will take place Oct. 20 and are requesting donations of costumes and candy. “We provide costumes for the kids and a carnival atmosphere. Because, where else are these kids going to trick or treat?”
They are also currently accepting volunteers for their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
For information on volunteering at the BHC, contact their office at 322-9199, or visit their web site at www.bakhc.com.