- Lloyd Cartagena, a resident at the Brundage Lane Navigation Center, was ready to be moved into housing after six months. The only problem: the housing he was matched with has had several delays.
- While he’s waiting for housing, just a few blocks away off the corner of 6th and N Streets, are 40 completed units. Unfortunately they haven't received their electrical components.
- Between three current affordable housing projects that have all faced delays due to supply chain issues there are nearly two hundred units.
There are many elements that play a role in housing availability in our community but for organizations looking to increase affordable housing options, one bump they’re still running into are supply chain issues.
Lloyd Cartagena was hoping to spend Thanksgiving with his daughter this year at his own place. Cartagena, a resident at the Brundage Lane Navigation Center, was ready to be moved into housing after six months. The only problem: the housing he was matched with has had several delays.
“Probably about 6 months, I heard that they were getting ready to get housed but they keep pushing it back, it got pushed back twice," Cartagena said. “I don't know, it’s something about the inspectors.”
Cartagena has now been waiting an additional five months for his housing unit to be completed.
“It’s heartbreaking," he said. "You know navigators just tell you what to do but you've got to do the legwork, shoot it took me six months to find my birth certificate."
While he’s waiting for housing, just a few blocks away off the corner of 6th and N Streets, are 40 completed units.
“The apartments have actually been completed since may, there’s 40 units and they’re just sitting vacant waiting for their electrical components to come in," said Jenni Byers, Interim Director for the City of Bakersfield’s Economic and Community Development.
Byers said while the city has been pouring funding into creating new low-income housing projects, they can’t seem to keep up with the demand, on top of residual supply chain impacts.
“We are talking about 124 units that nobody is able to move into, because we’ve been waiting on these electrical units," she said. "When you look at the number of homeless we have, there’s 748 people ready to move into housing with no housing units available.”
The Sixth Street apartments were approved by the city council in January of 2022. Funding cost nearly $1 million dollars with the project expected to be completed by the end of last year. Yet the apartments are still vacant.
Byers said another development that has struggled to get equipment in is the Renaissance at Baker, another affordable housing development that is barely beginning construction despite having been approved two year ago.
“Even though there’s money available, there’s still all of these factors that are slowing down construction," Byers said.
Between three current affordable housing projects that have all faced delays due to supply chain issues there are nearly two hundred units.
Like Sixth Street, Sagewood Apartments, an affordable housing project dedicated to families of farmworkers, also struggled to get it’s electrical components.
“It was going to be three month wait but we were able to work with PG&E so now the inspection will be middle of November," Byers said.
While Cartagena patiently awaits for his housing development to be move-in ready, he’s looking forward to hopefully spending thanksgiving with his daughter in a place of his own.
“That’d be good, put all that work into it you can be proud of yourself," he said.
Meanwhile Byers said the City was recently awarded $5.4 million in Home ARP funds, which will go towards providing technical assistance, support services, as well as construction of new affordable and low-income housing.
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