An Oildale man contacted 17News after finding a blind homeless man at his church. Kenny Stubblefield said he took the man to two different homeless shelters in town and each turned the man away. Finally one of those shelters, the Bakersfield Rescue Mission, accepted him.
But hours later, Stubblefield says the Mission released the blind man and now he has no idea where he is or if he's safe.
”He's homeless and he can't see, so kick him out to the street, that’s what they want to do. Because no one has staffing, no one wants the problem,” Stubblefield said.
The Oildale man says that's what he learned after he tried to help the man he found roaming his church grounds Thursday night. Stubblefield said it quickly became clear the man could not care for himself, so he opened the doors to his home.
“I felt like he was really helpless. I felt like he was lost and couldn't get around. He’s just blind,” Stubblefield said.
The man stayed with Stubblefield over the weekend and said his name is Odis Bell. Stubblefield said Bell is about 60 and lost his sight and his trucking company about six months ago. To help the man, Stubblefield took Bell to the Bakersfield Rescue Mission on Monday.
Stubblefield says officials at the Mission told him they couldn't accept Bell because he's blind. But after threatening to call lawmakers, Stubblefield says the Mission finally took Bell in. Hours later the Oildale man says he called to check on Bell and an employee told him they could not keep a blind man at their shelter.
Ten minutes later, Stubblefield said, he called again and the same employee told him Bell's ex-father-in-law had picked him up.
Stubblefield drove to the Mission. Another employee told him Bell was dropped off at the Veteran's Assistance Foundation.
On Tuesday, officials at the Mission said there must have been a misunderstanding, and they did release Bell to an ex-family member. We asked Director Don Clark for that family member's name.
“From what I hear, we don't have that information,” Clark said.
Clark said he can't give us that information because of legal issues. He also says the Mission serves about 200 homeless people on average, but they are not equipped to handle people who are blind. Yet Clark said they tried to help Bell anyway.
Stubblefield said he wishes he had done more and hopes Bell is safe.
