House Farm Workers
Top: Due to the limited space, this farm worker family has moved their living room outside to accommodate for more sleeping quarters inside of the home. Bottom: On the farm worker housing tour, participants were able to go inside a small two bedroom home of a farm worker family of six.House Farm Workers! is a project of the Vetura County AFA Farm Worker Housing Task Force founded in 2004 to promote and support the development of decent, safe, sanitary and affordable housing for farm workers through community education, dialogue and advocacy. Its accomplishments include:
- Facilitating the development of 357 farm worker housing units underway or being planned and considered in the cities of Camarillo, Fillmore, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Ventura and the unincorporated area.
Two successful projects. We are making a difference! - Growing the task force membership and building an e-mail network of 800 supporters throughout the county. The network is utilized to mobilize members to speak at County Board of Supervisors meetings and City Council meetings when policies affecting housing for farm workers are considered.
- Facilitating the development of five farm worker housing groups in the cities of Camarillo, Fillmore, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Ventura and helping launch a work force housing group in Thousand Oaks. The city groups have become actively involved in supporting the development of farm worker housing by meeting with city council members, landowners and funders, and identifying potential sites. See city group meeting schedule for dates, times and places of meetings.
The Challenge
Of the more than 20,000 farm workers who cultivate and harvest Ventura County crops, two thirds are permanent county residents. Like all families, they need access to services, schools, recreation and shopping. Ventura County’s housing market is among the least affordable in the United States. The annual income needed to rent a 3 bedroom apartment in Ventura County in 2005 was $85,080 (National Low Income Housing Coalition). Farm workers face this market with low agricultural wages and few other resources. A recent report on agriculture by the Work Force Investment Board in Ventura County estimated a farm worker’s annual wages average approximately $17,000. As a result, farm workers must pool their resources to live in over-crowded apartments or houses, and sometimes live in garages or sheds not intended for human habitation.
Save the Date: Field to Fork, July 19
Mark your calendars for the second annual Field to Fork fundraiser for House Farm Workers!
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