Nonprofit of the Year: Community Action Partnership of Kern

In receiving the Beautiful Bakersfield Award last year, it has helped bring visibility to our agency on the impactful work of our staff and programs. It was an inspiring feeling to receive recognition from our peers and partners that directly support our efforts to reach the most vulnerable in our community, ranging from individuals experiencing homelessness to food insecurity.

Most recently, Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK), expanded its services at our low-barrier homeless shelter, the M Street Navigation Center, which was operational in May 2020. In June 2022, the agency expanded the M Street Navigation Center to include Safe Camping and Safe Parking options for individuals experiencing homelessness. The goal of the program is to build trust, increase community engagement, support local businesses by providing alternatives and provide a safe place for individuals who are shelter resistant. Additionally, it was designed to connect individuals to services to eventually transition to permanent housing or shelter environment.

Currently, our agency is in the midst of a capital expansion project of our Food Bank located in Southeast Bakersfield expanding the site by 200 percent to 60,000 square feet by Fall 2023. The expansion will help support program efficiency, streamline our service delivery model, store additional food and increase our distribution to food insecure residents in Kern County.

Through the 2021-25 Strategic Plan, the agency continues to progress with the six planned goals and objectives that serve as a road map to focus CAPK’s efforts over the next years toward achieving results that promote self-sufficiency among families and the development of thriving communities. Our goal is to address food insecurity by increasing access to healthy, affordable food to support the health of the communities we serve. The agency is in the process of conducting an assessment on food insecurity in Kern County.

This year-long project, which started in June 2022, will be used in conjunction with the Community Needs Assessment. The food insecurity study is focusing on the following key areas for the purpose of understanding how food supply, distribution, access and affordability impact the nutrition and health of Kern County residents.

Savannah Maldonado, Advocacy and Public Relations Manager, Community Action Partnership of Kern