This story was originally published by The Intersection.
It had been just a few months since Emily Miranda turned 18 and she was trying to find a place to live with her then 2-year-old son. She had been living with her mother at the time, working and covering household bills.
“When I was living with my mom, I was paying all the bills by myself,” Miranda said. “She wasn’t working. She was making it very difficult for me. She didn’t take care of my son, and when I needed her to, she would charge me.”
When Miranda’s mother gave her one month to move out, Miranda scrambled to call property managers, but without a rental history, she was repeatedly denied. She applied for one last apartment, but just a week before her deadline, she found out that she had not been accepted.
“I was struggling and in survival mode, not knowing where I was going to go or what I was going to do,” Miranda said.
That was until her sister, who worked as a housing navigator, heard about a room available at Casa Esperanza, a two-year transitional housing program in Bakersfield for homeless women and children. Within a week of calling the program and being interviewed, she was able to move in.
Miranda and her son are one of just seven families living at Casa Esperanza. The home includes shared amenities, such as a kitchen, living room and dining room, and a backyard with a playground. Along with housing, the program provides mental and emotional health support, and educates women on financial wellness, parenting, career development, health and nutrition.
According to Casa Esperanza’s Program Manager Susan Harrison, the transitional home has amassed a waitlist of more than 300 women since opening three years ago. Casa Esperanza has predominately served Black and Hispanic women with children in Kern County. Some women in the program have a history of generational poverty, substance use, domestic violence or exploitation.
Homelessness service providers in Bakersfield often prioritize those who experience chronic homelessness, said Diane Contreras, Casa Esperanza’s executive director. In 2024, about one third of the 2,669 people experiencing homelessness in Kern County identified as female. Casa Esperanza aims to meet the needs of women who may not be chronically homeless, but demonstrate an urgent need for housing because they have children and face barriers to education, employment or financial stability.
“What we’re seeing is the biggest challenge for our families is climbing out of that poverty status, and that’s exactly our focus when they get here,” Contreras said.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must be at least nine to 12 months clean and sober, and, for safety reasons, they cannot be actively fleeing domestic violence. They must also be willing to attend school, seek employment opportunities and attend therapy during the program.
After two years, families have the option to transition to another two-year program at Casa Esperanza’s affordable housing unit, where residents pay 25% of their incomes and continue to have access to the program’s services. The goal is for mothers to start saving money to become homeowners, have additional time to complete their degrees and enter their career field.
Miranda said that with the support of Casa Esperanza she has been able to get a driver’s license and her first car, earn money working at Chick-fil-a and attend Bakersfield College as a full-time student studying criminal justice. For her, the program provides a structured lifestyle.
“It’s been a big change,” Miranda said. “At first, it was hard to adjust to something new, but then over time, I’ve gotten along with all the ladies here. We’re like family.”
When there is a vacancy, Casa Esperanza calls about 10 to 15 applicants from its waitlist to determine whether they still need housing and schedule follow-up interviews. Only one family, of up to five people, can be accommodated per room.
If Casa Esperanza cannot accommodate a family, the program’s staff try to search for other housing services within 100 miles of Bakersfield. Harrison said she asks families if they are willing to relocate if local homelessness programs and navigation centers that accept families are at capacity. She also refers families to Kern County’s coordinated entry system, which assesses those experiencing homelessness and connects them with community resources.
“It’s all very heart-wrenching because we have seven rooms and they’re full,” Harrison said.
Mariah Wesley Summerall, 32, and her family had been without a permanent place to live for five years when the program that assisted with paying their rent in Riverside County ran out of funding. Summerall also had a history of substance use, which caused her to lose custody of her children.
“A CPS case got started,” Summerall said. “They took both of my sons and the baby. I did six months in the county jail because it was my first time getting in trouble.”
Summerall said she completed rehab and later lived in a sober living home. She tried to regain custody of her children, she said, but was required to have stable housing to do so.
After hearing about Casa Esperanza through her case manager at Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Summerall called the program at the end of April 2024.
Summerall was one of about 20 applicants being considered for one open room at that time. Just three days after her interview, she was invited into the program.
“I was crying,” Summerall said. “I was just blown away.”
By the following month, Summerall reunified with all of her children.
Casa Esperanza has supported Summerall’s family with childcare since she went back to school. She attends California State University, Bakersfield and Bakersfield College for public health science and drug and alcohol studies. She said she hopes more families can find the same support that she has been able to receive at Casa Esperanza.
“In the past we haven’t had stability,” Summerall said. “We have for short periods of time, but then we’ll just uproot and go. Since we’ve been here, we’ve been able to gain that stability. We’re building our trust back with each other, and just our relationship as a whole.”
Haydee Barahona is The Intersection’s reporting intern from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She covers health equity in Bakersfield and Kern County.