BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — “I got involved in homeless services 30 years ago when I was a homeless man myself. I’m a veteran, and like a lot of veterans, I came back home, and I had a difficult time adjusting and I spent a lot of years on the streets struggling. When I finally got help, I spent the rest of my life trying to do the same for others,” said Theo Dues, who now serves as the regional director for Mercy House, an organization that works to end homelessness—one bed at a time.
“We started as a 150-bed shelter based on our incredible success in getting people housed, the city then funded an expansion that took us to 250 beds, and then a second expansion that took us all the way to 300 beds,” said Dues.
In less than five years, they’ve placed hundreds of guests at the Brundage Lane Navigation Center (BLNC) into permanent housing, with Randell White marking the number 500.
“My navigator, she went above and beyond her duty to get my housing,” said White.
White had been living at the BLNC for 11 months before Mercy House found him a new place to call home— and with that a sense of belonging.
“Every person who walks through these doors, our goal is that they leave with permanent housing,” said Dues. “Regrettably, that doesn’t happen with every person. But at the very minimum, my expectation is that every guest of the shelter leaves with a sense of dignity and self-worth.”
Walking around the facility with Dues, he’s made the effort to know nearly every guest by name, despite having near-full capacity on a daily basis with people coming in-and-out each day.
“I believe that homelessness is a problem that we don’t have to manage; that we can actually solve,” said Dues. “We are on the front lines working to solve the problem of homelessness.”
The BLNC will reach another milestone, marking its five-year anniversary on October 26, 2025.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
