California Veterans Assistance Foundation (CVAF) will be hosting the 18th Annual Kern County Veterans Stand Down on Thursday, October 13, at Stramler Park, 3805 Chester Ave., in Bakersfield.
The gates will be open from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., and all veterans and their dependents are welcome.
"It is the only day of the year that we focus all of our attention on the homeless and at-risk veterans in our community and it is all about them," CVAF President Deb Johnson said.
The idea for the local Veterans Stand Down originated in 1998, when then Director of the Veterans Service Office, Chuck Bikakis, determined there was a large number of homeless veterans in Kern County in need of a service intervention. The Veterans Stand Down has since evolved into a one-day, one-stop-shop resource fair that serves two types of veterans:
- Homeless or at-risk veterans with special needs for clothing, food, housing, showers, haircuts, legal assistance, immediate social and medical service linkage, etc.
- General veteran population looking for a day to simply relax and connect with fellow vets
In 2015, the Kern County Veterans Stand Down served 494 veterans, 101 of whom (20%, or one in five) were identified as homeless or unstably housed. Eight percent of veterans served were female.
Veterans will be able to enjoy two hot meals, breakfast and lunch, courtesy of VFW Post 97 and the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, patriotic activities; one-on-one interaction with social and medical/dental service providers, take-home items ranging from clothing to backpacks to useful literature to food from the Community Action Partnership of Kern Food Bank and Bakersfield Pet Food Pantry, haircuts, showers and more.
