BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- The government shutdown is affecting some of Kern's most vulnerable population.

Public assistance programs like Cal-Works and Cal-Fresh are in jeopardy.

Over 200,000 people in the county use Cal-Fresh or food stamps to pay for groceries and feed their families. That's nearly a quarter of Kern's population.

"I'm on public assistance, I get food stamps and medical and I hope they don't cut it because it's a lot of poor people in our neighborhood," said Betsy Powell, who was at the DHS building on Wednesday, she says her family relies on the food stamps.

"We rely on that because that's the only way we can survive and if not then all we gonna be able to do is go to food banks," said Powell.

The federal government provides money to keep these programs going, a

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