YORK (Pennsylvania) DAILY RECORD May 14, 2006
Migrants gain new space for living Aspers complex helps out seasonal farmworkers in Adams County
By TIM PRATT
Many people who travel to Adams County to do seasonal farm work can't afford their own apartment because they don't make enough money and end up crowding into an apartment or even a small hotel room. A new housing complex in Aspers, which opened last week, was built to help some workers find a decent place to live. Jonathan Court Apartments has seven duplexes intended to house as many as 52 migrant farmworkers. People will pay about $50 per week, including utilities, to live there, officials said. Currently, Adams County has more than 1,000 people who come into the county for the growing and harvesting season, said Michael Johnson, deputy for housing administration at Rural Opportunities Inc. Johnson's organization, along with the Farmworker Housing Corp. of Pennsylvania, sponsored the project. "The industry is changing; we know that from a labor perspective," said Stuart Mitchell, president and chief executive officer of Rural Opportunities. "We know the immigration debate that is going on in our country right now is witnessed right here today because this is where workers come to work and where employers need workers to work." The project is one of the first of its kind in the Northeast, he said. Mitchell said that migrant workers will be housed in the development for roughly seven months of the year. He expects migrant workers to begin moving into the complex immediately. "It would be easy to fill it up with people that live here year-round," Mitchell said. "But part of our goal is to provide decent, safe, affordable housing for people who are up here doing seasonal farm work." Mitchell said that Aspers was chosen as the development's location because it is in the heart of the agricultural community. Kay Washington, senior executive director of Rural Opportunities, said the complex has been in the works for more than a decade. She felt the opening is a major step forward for migrant farmworkers in upper Adams County. "It will represent a home away from home for many of our migrant farmworkers that come into the area," Washington said. "It will benefit not just the farmworkers, but the growers and the community as a whole." U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, attended an open house and spoke of the importance migrant farmworkers have on the local economy. |