Read the transcript for this report below.
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CRESENCIO RODRIGUEZ-DELGADO, HOST: Next week, big-city mayors will lobby Governor Newsom in a push to fix the state’s homelessness crisis. KVPR’s Joshua Yeager reports on how new funding is already helping some of the most vulnerable in Bakersfield.
JOSHUA YEAGER: When Cynthia Lira-Martin first came to the Dream Center, she was a teen mom living on the streets. She says the nonprofit in downtown Bakersfield helped her find a job and a place to live. Now, Lira-Martin works as a case manager for the center. She helps some of the 700-plus homeless youth who walk through these doors each year, just like she did at age 17.
CYNTHIA LIRA-MARTIN: My role is to just hold the hope and meet the youth exactly where they’re at, just like someone met me where I was at.
YEAGER: On Thursday, Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh announced $4 million in new state funding to help bolster services for foster and homeless youth, like many of those here at Dream Center.
KAREN GOH: We particularly today are highlighting our youth, because we can not let our youth fall into homelessness.
YEAGER: Goh says the money will help fund Lira-Martin’s position and other programs aimed at preventing homelessness. For KVPR News, I’m Joshua Yeager in Bakersfield.
