WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — About a year after I rode along with Wasco Code Enforcement to see how the city works with unhoused individuals to connect them to resources. Earlier this year, the City of Wasco took efforts further by dedicating a full-time staff position to the work.
Mandy Bega started with the city of Wasco in February and over the last six months has worked to connect the city, providers for those experiencing homelessness or substance abuse, and residents who are going through these scenarios.
For Bega, it's the human element of her job that helps her push through, knowing the people on the streets of Wasco are somebody's someone.
"What we're seeing is they have very close ties to the community. These are people's sons, somebody's dad, somebody's brother, and I look at these individuals in that way, and knowing that they have family that loves them and wants them to come home. So helping them figure out the root of their why, why they're out here is so important to me," Bega said.
According to data provided by the city, over the last three months, of the 66 people they identified as homeless, 54 accepted help to find services. The city hopes to continue to see growth and keep connected with individuals they serve to ensure the work they're doing is helping community residents.
"A lot of our individuals, they have, I don't know if it's you know me, but they have been pretty warm to at least hearing me out," Bega said. "For me, the goal is connecting everybody to as many resources as they need. There's so many people out there with different different needs. We can't address all of them, but if we can at least link them to resources to get, you know, to get that son back home, to get that dad back to his family, or the mom back to her children, that's the goal to me."
During my interview with Bega, two unhoused individuals stopped by. After I left, Bega sat down with them and was able to help connect them with Teen Challenge to get services.
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