FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS

July 4, 2005

Migrants scramble as camp closes

Fort Myers labor housing shut over conditions

By ALISON KEPNER

Half a dozen migrant workers sat under a shady tree Sunday afternoon, spooning bowls of steaming rice and beans from two big pots as they ate their last meal together.

The men and women were among the few Antonia Longoria Migrant Farm Labor Camp residents left. Today, Fort Myers code officers will close down the camp off State Road 82 in east Fort Myers because of unsafe living conditions. They closed the adjacent Tomas Longoria Migrant Camp last week.

Those left Sunday said they still are struggling to find other affordable housing. The camps' rates were $35 per week for a single man to share a home with as many as five other workers. The median salary for a farm worker is about $7,500 per year; for families, it's about $10,000.

One hardship is the deposit required to rent most area apartments.

"I need a lot of money," said Alex Delgado, 38, who lived in the camp for two years.

Permits allowed the two camps to house 180 people, but because crops aren't in season now, fewer people were staying when city officials announced the closings last month. About 18 people were believed to be living at the camp that closed last week with about 20 at the Antonia Longoria site.

About 25 of the displaced residents found public housing through Fort Myers' housing authority, but others still are looking for homes.

Owner Antonia Longoria said she is trying to help her former tenants find homes. She would not say whether she plans to fix up the camp and eventually reopen. Longoria will aid with the deposits as best she can, too, she said.

"I feel bad. I don't want to abandon them," she said. "I still feel responsible for them."

Sunday's lunch was courtesy of The Bread of Life Mission in Punta Gorda, which is a nonprofit group that also is promising to find the camp residents homes.

Director Judy Jones helped about eight people move out Saturday. She found them beds in private homes — including her own — in Immokalee and Punta Gorda. But those are only temporary solutions.

She hopes community members will help the group find permanent homes.

"We need muscles and money," Jones said.

She is frustrated by those who prefer to look the other way or argue that the government and groups like hers shouldn't help them because some workers are in the country illegally.

"They're human beings," she said.

"What would Jesus do if he were here? Would he leave these people?" she asked. "When we see him face-to-face, he's not going to ask us for any ID."