NORTH COUNTY (California) TIMES

March 25, 2009

Farmworker shelter advocates finding financing

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer

CARLSBAD ---- A new sense of hope is rising among advocates of a farmworker housing project after many years of unsuccessful attempts to bring their plans to reality.

"I think we've made significant progress," said Tom Maddox, a member of the Caring Residents of Carlsbad group, as he discussed recent developments Tuesday night.

Maddox gave his upbeat assessment during a break in a Carlsbad City Council meeting, where city officials discussed giving $205,000 to a proposal to renovate and expand La Posada de Guadalupe homeless shelter. Part of that project calls for adding farmworker housing to the shelter, which is on a 1-acre site along Impala Drive in the city's business park region.

The grant is not the only good news of late, Maddox said. Project organizers received word last month that they will get $150,000 from a private family foundation, he said. Combine that with the $2 million the city has previously agreed to give, and things are finally starting to look up, he said.

Rough construction cost estimates for the project put the total expense at $3.5 million, he said.

For years, Maddox and other farmworker housing advocates have been trying to improve the living conditions for the people who toil in the city's flower and strawberry fields. Some of these workers sleep in makeshift, tarp-covered sleeping platforms in canyons near the fields.

The migrant farmworker shelter proposal has faced opposition from people who want the U.S. government to better enforce its immigration laws. Some of them have argued that the farmworkers are mostly illegal immigrants who shouldn't have jobs in North County. In the past, they have said the city should not give grant money to the project. None of the opponents spoke at Tuesday's meeting.

In 2004, farmworker housing advocates thought they were close to having a shelter¦nbsp;---- they had signed a purchase agreement for a warehouse near Palomar Airport Road. However, neighboring business owners fought those plans and the deal was later dropped. The next proposal was to rent motel rooms, but that idea didn't appear to be cost-effective.

In 2006, housing advocates linked up with the La Posada shelter, which is run by the nonprofit organization Catholic Charities. The latest plans call for replacing La Posada's aging portable buildings with one structure to house farmworkers and La Posada's general homeless population. One wing of the building could be devoted to one group and one wing to the other, Maddox said.

The council heard Tuesday from a series of shelter supporters as it reviewed plans to distribute this year's allotment of federal money for its Community Development Block Grant and Home Investment Partnership programs. A decision on the distribution is expected later this year.

The city had 23 applicants for the grant money, and recommendations call for funding 15 of them. Many of the successful applicants thanked the council Tuesday, while the unsuccessful groups asked the city to reconsider.

Stan Miller, executive director of the North County Community Services program, thanked the city for its plans to give his organization $5,000, and also put in a plug for La Posada.

"They do an amazing job with very little, and I think it would do all our hearts good to see them get their building," he said.