Feds provide $1 million to rehab farmworker housing
Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas announced the award of $956,333 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office last week.
“Housing is a human right, and farmworkers in Oregon deserve affordable and secure living options,” Wyden said. “I’m gratified this McMinnville housing complex has earned nearly $1 million in federal funds to provide that housing for farmworkers and their families. And I’ll continue pressing for similar investments in housing for agricultural workers and every person statewide.”
The funding comes from the USDA’s Off-Farm Labor Housing Program and was part of an $18 million allocation for nine projects across five states. The award to Community Home Builders was the only allocation in Oregon.
The program helps property owners make repairs, accessibility improvements and energy upgrades to benefit tenants, according to the USDA.
USDA Rural Housing Administrator Joaquin Altoro said the Biden administration has invested over $1 billion in affordable housing options in Oregon.
“We are proud of our partnership with Community Home Builders and it is an honor to see these investments increase the health and well-being of Oregon’s farm workers,” Altoro said.
A 2023 Oregon Housing and Community Services study of farmworker housing, including Yamhill County, found that 32% of agricultural worker households are in poverty and the average salary state-wide averages between $20,000 and $25,000 annually.
Salinas lamented that farmworkers often can’t find affordable housing despite being the “backbone of our agricultural economy,” and said the grant funding is a step in the right direction.
“These dollars will be used to deliver safe, affordable housing for farmworkers and their families here in the mid-valley,” Salinas said. “It’s a critical step in the right direction, and I’ll keep fighting for investments just like this one that will help us make housing more accessible and affordable for Oregonians.”
The funding will be used to rehabilitate eight two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units and four four-bedroom units in the Villa del Sol apartments, located on May Lane near the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, just west of the Evergreen Air & Space Museum complex.
Rent on the units ranges from $1,013 for two-bedrooms to $1,304 for a four-bedroom unit, according to the property manager Cascade Management.
Villa del Sol offers housing for agricultural workers at 30-60% area median income.
Comments
BC
Someone posted on FB that they think this is a political move designed to get more votes. I say that if an election year is what it takes to get this kind of help, then raise the cheers that it's an election year.
Now let's hope that bureaucracy, red tape, governmental wages (you know, to manage the money), and mishandling the $$ doesn't use everything up before these renters see the benefits.
Yeah. Color me skeptical of governmental help, no partisanship needed.