The Clovis Senior Activity Center hosted the debut of their tenant housing resource fair Wednesday, June 15.
The resource fair was held to provide current tenants, landlords, and apartment seekers in the Clovis and Fresno area a chance to connect with vendors like PG&E and other groups like CalFresh so that they could side step the wait time over phone calls and get direct help from representatives at the resource fair.
Mai Kou Yang, recreation specialist at the Clovis Senior Center, said the idea of having the resource fair originated from calls asking for information on affordable housing and different listings in the Clovis and Fresno area.
“They’re looking for apartment listings in the Clovis and Fresno areas and they’re looking for what the prices are because they’re looking to relocate. They’re also looking for food assistance and utility programs and what is out there to help them,” Yang said.
For Yang, this event was one that the community greatly needed. Originally anticipating less than 200 attendees to arrive at Wednesday’s resource fair, with Yang’s goal to reach at least 200, and within the first hour and a half the goal was nearly met with the senior center packed with vendors and attendees.
The main concern for many attendees at the resource fair revolved around keeping the cost of their bills as low as possible during the summer heat. This was also the goal of Lacey Gentry, service representative for PG&E who was one of the vendors at the resource fair Wednesday.
Gentry was sharing information about the medical baseline discount that PG&E offers. Which Gentry said is something that oftentimes gets overlooked by many customers and could help save them money.
“Obviously it’s based on the medical need, it’s not like the care discount where it’s based on the income. A lot of them don’t know that we offer the medical baseline and that’s another discount they could utilize on top of the care because sometimes [customers] don’t even have the care,” Gentry said.
Gentry said the most common question asked by attendees was how they could continue to save money on their bills. She added it circles back to being aware of what programs are available should they qualify for for it, such as the aforementioned medical baseline.
“The medical baseline their doctor has to fill that application out but that’s been the most common question today, ‘how can I save money’.” Gentry said.
To find out your eligibility or more about the medical baseline program you can visit PG&E’s website or visit PG&E’s energy savings program page.
Yang said that after seeing the large turnout to the resource fair she feels it is “evident” that this event is needed and will continue as an annual event to provide resources to the community.
“It’s a one stop shop to all our different government agencies, different local vendors who came out, and our partners who came out to provide the information to our seniors instead of our seniors going out and, you know, it’s frustrating, especially if you have a single or multiple issues going on and you’re not able to afford certain utilities,” Yang said.