Community Action Partnership of Kern

Community Action changes people’s lives, embodies the spirit of hope, improves communities and makes America a better place to live. We care about the entire community, and are dedicated to helping people help themselves and each other.

Established in 1965 as one out of a 1,000-strong network of Community Action agencies that fight poverty and provide financial empowerment across the nation, Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) administers more than a dozen programs aimed at meeting children, families and individuals at their point of need, to help them attain self-sufficiency and tap into the American Dream.

The work of CAPK touches the lives of more than 150,000 of your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends annually, by:

• Distributing mpre than 13.5 million pounds of food to the hungry and food insecure through the CAPK Food Bank and its 100-strong distribution partner network;
• Delivering nutrition to 20,000 low-to-moderate-income families in Kern and San Bernardino counties through our Women, Infants and Children Program;
• Delivering early childhood education and preschool to some 3,000 children through our Head Start programs in Kern and San Joaquin counties;
• Serving more than 900,000 meals annually to Head Start and Summer Meals Program children in Kern;
• Providing utility assistance to close to 10,000 Kern families yearly;
• Offering after-school and summer programs for some 400 at-risk youth through our Friendship House Community Center in Southeast Bakersfield and Shafter Youth Center in Shafter;
• Answering more than 100,000 calls for human and social services referrals through our 2-1-1 Kern Information & Referral Program.

We partner with many other non- and for-profit organizations in the community by participating in such efforts as the Kern County Homeless Collaborative, Kern County Network for Children, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Delano Community Allliance, Kern County Veterans Stand Down, Kern County Hispanic and Black Chambers of Commerce, Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield Downtown Business Association, California Community Action Partnership Association, Alliance of Information and Referral Specialists, and others.