When our community partner came to us for help supplying children in Baker with important educational materials and other supplies, CCRC’s Resource and Referral Division sprang into action.
Many families in Baker are sharing trailers and are living in the defunct local prison. CAHELP reached out to CCRC in October to partner with them because of the disparity in Baker.
“Medical, housing, and food insecurity. To go to a local grocery store, it’s not too local. You either have to go an hour north to Barstow, or an hour south to Vegas,” said CCRC Resource and Referral Manager Niki VonHundley. “To buy local, they have to go to a [bodega] and it’s a higher price.”
Once we committed to partnering for a resource fair, many other organizations joined in. CCRC contributed backpacks including school supplies, new clothes, blankets and so much more to help families there. CCRC Facilities Supervisor Pete Chavez picked up the boxes that the Communications team put together in Chatsworth and drove the items 190 miles away to Baker, where he unloaded much of the supplies.
Many of the children shared that this was a special time for them to receive brand new clothes and shoes.
“We had the resource fair inside the gym at the school and the school is preschool through 12, one school and one campus. The high schoolers were setting up and looking at all the blankets, clothes and backpacks filled with supplies and the food – they were overwhelmed,” shared VonHundley. “People were coming from the community and the students said ‘You can grab another bag or blanket.’ And they’d reply ‘No, there are other people who live here, we want to make sure they’re ok.’ So, there’s a need but that need brings kindness. There were other kids who said this is my first time in a long time that they received brand new clothes.”
Thanks to our support and the joint effort with partner agencies, children and families in Baker received important supplies that they may have otherwise gone without.
“It was a great time for us to come together as a community and provide these resources. We are here for everyone in our county, not just the inner-city areas, but those outlying areas too,” said VonHundley. “We want to make sure we’re noticing and being intentional about these communities to help them have stability and support and resources.
