BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The 2nd Annual Hope & Help Resource Fair was held Saturday at The Mission at Kern County, bringing over 30 organizations together to provide free services to people in need.
Dakotah Massie with McWilliams & Walden Inc. said they have been working on this event since January and he loves the turnout of the fair.
"Got 21st Street here just lined out. You can go up the block and down, getting resource by resource. It's amazing," Massie said. "Get such a good event like this together, it's truly there's nothing better. It's awesome just to see all the people getting resourced by resource and help galore it makes my heart so happy."
Steven Peterson, the director of programs at The Mission at Kern County, said that although the event started at 10 in the morning, volunteers were already setting up hours before they welcomed guests.
"Everybody's here volunteering their time and everybody's happy to do it. People started a lot of these vendors started showing up like at eight o'clock this morning to get set up," Peterson said. "Bakersfield is a great community where people work together to get things done to help those who are in need and that's what this day is all about."
There were lots of free services for people to take part in, from enjoying lunch to getting a nice haircut. That is where I met Mike Howard, who was volunteering and providing free haircuts at the event.
"To me, it is fulfilling. You know, it's something that I really enjoy doing. I'm a people person. You get to sit down and you have a discussion with people, you get to get perspective on different people's lives on other than yours, and you realize, like, how small the world is and how connected people actually really are," Howard said.
Monica, who did not want to give her last name, went to the event with her mom and said she knows what these events mean to people who are experiencing homelessness.
"I've been there, I'd done it, you know, I was in the streets for a while for three years, you know, and it was a struggle. But now I'm getting my life together, you know, I'm trying to help everybody else out also," Monica said.
Monica said she has received help from many of the organizations that were at the fair and the guidance she has received has really helped her out. Soon, she will start taking classes at Bakersfield College.
"I'm looking forward to that. I really am, you know? I mean, it's a big step in my life, you know, big change. And I just want to make myself proud of my mom proud," Monica said.
Organizers said their goal is to have this event every year on the second Saturday of April.
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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