Ventura County’s farms and ranches employ nearly 23,000 men and women. These farm workers are the backbone of Ventura County’s $2 billion-a-year agricultural industry. Without them, crops would not be harvested, and the lush landscape of green fields and orchards would go untended. The average income of those workers is about $22,000 a year. Yet the average apartment rent in Ventura County is more
than $18,000 a year. This combination of low wages and high housing costs means farm workers often must pool their resources to live in overcrowded apartments, motel rooms or houses. Sometimes they live in garages or sheds neither intended nor fit for human habitation. Since 2004, HFW! and its partners have been working to change that. Thanks to these efforts, several such housing developments have been completed in Ventura County, giving new opportunities and new hope to hundreds of families. More than 1,000 rental units have been built or are under development. Our work is carried forward by a countywide task force and city committees in Camarillo, Fillmore, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Ventura and, most recently, Moorpark. During the past eight years, more than 300 volunteers, supported by one full-time staff person, have shown our films, Mi Casa Es Su Casa, A Home of Their Own, and From Harvest to Home, to over 5,000 people. These volunteers have also testified before city councils, and presented special events to raise awareness of the need and to support proposed projects and policies. Much more remains to be done. House Farm Workers! invites everyone who cares about farming and farm workers to join it in its mission to “support and promote the provision of safe, decent and affordable housing for all farm workers and their families.”
