BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Carlos Baldovinos, executive director of the Mission at Kern County in Bakersfield, will sit on a bench for 24 consecutive hours on Oct. 8 and 9 to talk about addiction — and he says this year, he wants to focus on prevention.
The event, called Conversation on a Bench, returns for its second year. Baldovinos said a test run last week confirmed he was ready for the challenge.
Baldovinos said the most powerful moments from last year's event came from family members of people struggling with addiction.
"I think that hearing the stories of people, loved ones that have seen people go through that are currently experiencing addictions, and just their pain, their hurt, where are their kids, what happened to their kids, how can they help them, like any good parent," Baldovinos said.
"How can I help my loved one? How can I help my son, my daughter? That's when you see from a different lens you look at it like that's a real pain. That's a real hurt, and nothing can change that unless some things come to grips with that, that person seeks help and that together they can go through this. But that, that's for me was a real reality," Baldovinos said.
He said he also witnessed the other side — people who have recovered from addiction, reconnected with their families, found employment, secured housing and are now thriving in the community.
This year, Baldovinos said he wants to build on those stories while shifting attention toward prevention and getting the word out about drug and substance abuse.
He pushed back on the idea that addiction is a lost cause, saying no one chooses to become addicted.
"I have never met anybody that has said today I'm gonna be a drug addict or today I'm gonna be an alcoholic. They fall into hard times. They fall into a situation and there for the next 20, 30 years or a lifetime they become addicted to some sort of substance," Baldovinos said.
"I think for us as a community, us as people from a humanitarian standpoint, we gotta have a compassion to help that person. Because they really have fallen into that disease of addiction," Baldovinos said.
Baldovinos also addressed criticism that millions of dollars have been spent on the problem without results. He said the money has largely gone to housing — not treatment.
"We have not spent millions and millions on treatment. We have spent millions and millions on the housing first. That means building houses. That means building condos. That means building all these units across the country, including in our community, that we have not gotten to the root of why that person is in that spot," Baldovinos said.
He said treatment needs to go hand in hand with housing and workforce development, and that a whole-person approach is essential.
"Is housing the only thing? Is providing a job the only thing? Is family reunification the only thing? No, I do believe it's all — you gotta treat people with a whole person approach and you gotta provide these different avenues," Baldovinos said.
He added that people seeking help must also be active participants in their own recovery.
"They gotta have skin in the game. They can't just be — we provide everything for them and they don't have anything to participate in. It doesn't work that way," Baldovinos said.
As for preparing for 24 hours on the bench, Baldovinos said the event has been on his mind — including at 3 a.m.
"I've been thinking about it a lot. This morning I was actually thinking about it at 3 o'clock in the morning that this is gonna be my reality here in less than 2 weeks," Baldovinos said.
He said no cause is a lost cause.
"Not every cause is a lost cause," Baldovinos said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy
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