CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

After taking a year off, Kern County Veterans Stand Down was back up Thursday

The Bakersfield Californian - 10/14/2021

Oct. 14—U.S. Coast Guard veteran Nacoyia Henry worked as a volunteer Thursday at the Kern County Veterans Stand Down at Stramler Park.

Five years ago, when she attended the event for the first time, she was in serious need of help — and Stand Down provided it.

"I was enrolled at Bakersfield College, divorced, with two children, and I was trying to get as much information as I could find," she said.

She found what she needed.

"I was able to get my disability rating here at Stand Down," she said.

It meant she was able to get help with a service-related healthcare issue.

"If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have been rated," she said. "They made it very easy."

Stand Down, she said, "is more than free coffee and pretty bags."

After canceling last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the California Veterans Assistance Foundation hosted the 22nd annual Stand Down on Thursday, offering a safe retreat for all veterans, including homeless vets, where they can receive supportive services to renew their health and overall well-being.

Conceived as a one-stop shop, the event brings more than 100 services to a single location, including free meals, clothing, hair cuts, legal assistance, employment assistance, Social Security and housing assistance, veterans court and more.

"We definitely knew we needed to bring Stand Down back this year," said Heather Kimmel, assistant executive director at the Housing Authority of the County of Kern.

"It was devastating to us to cancel it last year," she said. "It impacted the veteran community."

It was too early to tell Thursday morning exactly how far attendance was down from 2019, when Stand Down served 555 veterans, Kimmel said. But attendance did appear to be down.

At some booths Thursday, volunteers were handing out blankets and jackets and socks. An entire change of clothing was available for those in need.

All vets were welcome at the annual event, which was prepared to serve hundreds of hot meals — breakfast and lunch — to veterans and to the army of volunteers who help make the event possible each year.

One of the most vulnerable groups, historically, has been veterans age 54 to about 60. They may have aged out of highly physical jobs, developed a serious health problem, and can no longer work in construction, or as a commercial truck driver or heavy equipment operator. Yet they're too young to collect Social Security.

Ashley Reyes was managing a clothing distribution center at Thursday's event. The booth offered gently used donated clothing, as well as new socks, shoes and other items paid for through government grants.

"It strikes something in you," Reyes said, "when you see a guy who needs a new pair of shoes, who is basically walking on what's left of his shoes. Or someone who just needs a good winter jacket."

Guy Guinn, 63, was at Stand Down for the first time Thursday. The U.S. Marine veteran said the information and referrals provided to vets at Stand Down is terribly important.

"I never found out what the VA offered until four years ago," he said, referring to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Indeed, information is power. And Stand Down has it.

At the mobile unit for the Bakersfield Vet Center, Veteran Outreach Specialist Benny Rodriguez said the center specializes on providing mental health services, counseling and therapies for combat trauma, including for those who may have provided assistance to an individual who had been wounded.

PTSD, sexual trauma, family issues, drug and alcohol use, the Vet Center has what Rodriguez calls a "no wrong door" policy.

"Even if you need a service we don't provide," he said, "we will make the call, we will make the referral to make sure you find the help you need."

And with more than 300 Vet Centers in the United States, clients who move outside of Kern County should be able to receive a continuum of care, no matter where they go.

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.

___

(c)2021 The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.)

Visit The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) at www.bakersfield.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.