ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
MEETING DATE: February 25, 2026 AGENDA CATEGORY: Consent - PSVS TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Jennifer M. Byers, Economic and Community Development Director DATE: January 12, 2026
SUBJECT: Agreement with The Open Door Network ($2,500,000) for Shelter Construction
(Ward 2)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the agreement
BACKGROUND:
The Open Door Network (TODN) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that serves community members whose lives have been, or could be, impacted by homelessness, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and/or human trafficking in the city of Bakersfield and the surrounding areas. TODN provides multiple services including, but not limited to operating a homeless shelter, providing victims’ services, housing services, childcare, aftercare case management, and workforce development. Within these services, TODN operates a homeless shelter with 232 beds that is the only homeless shelter in the city of Bakersfield that supports families with children. In 2025, the agency provided shelter services to 682 clients, including 402 children, and housed 80 single women.
In 2019, California’s High Speed Rail Authority purchased the current TODN campus (located at 1600 East Truxtun Ave.), which set the agency on the path for expansion at a new location. Due to the ongoing need for shelter beds, TODN proposed the construction of a new expanded shelter that would allow TODN to merge their functions into one location and serve more people with additional programs.
This expansion would assist in serving the 1,398 unsheltered individuals (including 53 veterans and 149 youth) in Kern County on any given day (2025 Point-In-Time Count).
TODN Shelter Project is currently under construction at 529 Dolores Street, consisting of four (4) separate buildings on 2.94 acres of land. Shelter bed capacity will increase by 100 beds for a total of over 350 shelter beds. The new building will provide space for on-site childcare with an after-school program, workforce development, educational certificate programs, medical and mental health support, housing services, dining hall, donation center, respite care, and children’s museum. Moreover, the new shelter is located near the Kern County Department of Human Services and several bus stops, which eliminates transportation barriers for accessing offsite resources.
On May 28, 2025, the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Proposed Budget Book was presented to City Council. It included an allocation of $2,500,000 in Public Safety/Vital Services Capital Improvement Project Reserves for TODN for the construction of a 350-bed shelter that includes beds for families with children. Councilmember Gonzales made a referral that staff allocate funding from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund from prior year allocations in the amount of $2,500,000 instead of PSVS Capital Improvement Project Reserves.
On June 15, 2025, the City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 25-26 budget with the proposed funding adjustment included.
At this time, staff recommends Council approve the Agreement with TODN to facilitate construction of the 350-bed shelter.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This agreement would be funded by the Affordable Housing Trust Fund allocated in prior fiscal years with PSVS funds.
COUNCIL GOAL:
Safety and Resilience
ATTACHMENTS:
Agreement