An interview with...

Antonio Pizano
Executive Director, San Joaquin County Housing Authority

What does your organization do?

Well, the housing authority of the County of San Joaquin is an agency that provides housing for low-income people. Farm workers fall in the category of low income, for sure. Their average income is anywhere from $11,000 to $20,000 per year, which is about a third of our median income in the county. We provide housing in the form of vouchers, rental assistance, and we also own and operate housing such as the housing that you see here. This happens to be a migrant housing center that's assisted by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, to cover the administrative expenses.

Could you tell us about the housing projects your agency operates?

We operate three migrant centers similar to the one here, and every year we see first hand how many families we turn away. There are 300 units that we operate. We have to turn away at least 100 families per year. Now those are only the families that are taking the chance to see if there is a vacancy. There are many more that we just don't hear about. There are families that continue to come back and work in the fields, and there's no housing for them to live in -- both permanent and temporary housing. You know, the real problem is that the families that we serve here, those are only a small percentage of all the families that need this housing. Now it's important to note that the families that come to this center have been doing so for the last 20 years -- 24 years! -- year after year. We're now looking at second-generation families that are now the children that are applying for this housing. Because this housing has taken some form of priority, or people know that this housing will be available for them next year, it leaves many, many families out there that they don't even bother trying, or look for this housing. Because they know it's already taken -- and it's the truth. There's a priority that's given to the families that live here so they can come back next year. The word is out, people know, so they don't even bother coming to sign up for this housing.

So where are they going if they can't get in here?

They usually double up with another family, friend… They're living in a garage somewhere, or unfortunately sometimes they're living in their car, their vans, or who knows where.

Can you give us an overview of the Harney Lane development?

Well, Harney Lane is a migrant housing center for families. The average size of the family is 2 ½-3 per house, so you at any one time have 300-400 people living in this particular center. Of those you have at least 200 that are children, ages 2 to 17-18 years old. They live here for 6 months out of the year, until the last two years we've extended that to 9 months out of the year. And what that has done for many families frankly for the first time in their history of living here, given them an option to keep their children 9 months out of the year -- which is a typical school year -- in the local schools. So that's a big change from the past.

What other benefits and programs do you offer the residents here?

In addition to the housing, we have a childcare center, and that's usually for the small children -- infant to pre-kindergarten. And we also have regular meetings with some of the other agencies that are in the county that provide assistance in terms of employment opportunities, parenting, medical, counseling for various types of problems. We try to bring as many services or agencies to the site as possible, to help people access those facilities since as you can see, there is nothing around here.

What other housing programs does your agency oversee?

The three centers that we operate are one here and two down in the French camp, south Stockton area. Besides that, we operate a public housing development program, which houses about 1,200 families. There are about 1,200 units throughout the county. And then the major program that we operate is called the Section 8 rent subsidy program.

What are some potential partners or funding sources that could help improve housing for migrant workers?

Definitely the county has a source of funds that could be targeted towards improvement, or additional construction of more of this type of housing. So they are definitely an important member of this partnership. The private sector wants to help. I'm aware of many owners of where the people work in the fields; they want to provide housing for their workers. However, some of the regulations unfortunately that the government sometimes imposes on them sometimes makes them not want to get into the housing field. And we're happy to then step in and help out in that area. But certainly growers, ranchers, ranch owners, must play an important role in helping us provide more affordable housing.

What are some things you're considering for the future?

The county is actually looking at the possibility of finding some land which perhaps we can look at to provide maybe additional housing -- if not migrant housing, maybe some other type of housing for farm workers. Housing for single people; it's a very important and unattended area that we have not been successful at filling the need.

Why is that, if the need is so great?

I think it's just this concept that people have that if you have a single man out there that's working, what is that man going to do at night, or that person going to do later on? And they have a fear that perhaps they're going to do something out there after hours, not knowing that most of the time they're very tired to do anything but get some rest. So it's a stereotype of the farm worker, single person that's going to be out there drinking, and causing problems, and it's a terrible stereotype. And I'm sure there are people out there that do that, but that happens in all of our society.

What future developments do you see for farm worker housing in the Valley?

The state department of housing and community development, I think, will continue to play an important role, and they have been very supportive. They, in fact, provide the funding for the operation and administration of this center, and the interest is there. The administration is very sensitive to the need for farm worker housing in this day and age. The county board of supervisors has acknowledged the fact that there is a need for housing, and they developed a report in which they actually indicate a number of strategies, objectives, and goals that they expect agencies like us to pursue. So we're going to continue to work both with the county, with our state counterparts -- and the federal government has also offered some assistance in terms of some potential funding.

People seem to have a lot of preconceptions about the lives that farm workers lead. What is the most important thing you'd like to get across to the public at large?

To me the most important part that people need to know about farm workers is that there is one thing that farm workers have in common. That is, they're here to work. They work. They come here and they work. They work very hard. They work seven days a week, six days a week, and all they're looking for is a place to stay. Something that's maybe a little bit comfortable, something that they can get some rest so they can get up in the morning and go to work again. So they are, in their very own way, contributing not only to the food that you and I eat that's fresh and it's cheap, but they're also contributing to the economy, I believe, in many ways. So that's my message that people need to know: that the families that we house are here to help us with our economy and help us stay healthy with the food that we eat, and the least we can do is provide some decent housing.

Presentation also made possible by a grant from
the Great Valley Center