New farmworker housing opens in Castroville

A new affordable housing project for farmworkers is more than just a place to live in Castroville.

The Housing Development Corporation cut the ribbon on Monday on the Castroville Farm Labor Center, a $35 million project two years in the making.

“We couldn’t find any housing. You come here in March or April when the season starts, most rental units are taken, so you’re having to struggle. You end up in a garage or tripling up in a home,” said Simon Salinas, a retired Monterey County supervisor.

Salinas and his family used to be migrant farmworkers in the 1970s. Salinas has been spearheading affordable housing for agriculture workers ever since.

A building within the farm labor center is named after Simon, called the Villa Salinas.

“It’s very good to live here, it’s a very nice place,” said Arturo Vasquez, who lives at the farm labor center.

Crews demolished a 70s-era housing development several years ago to make way for this new 54-unit complex, which includes a community room and playgrounds for kids.

In order to live here, you have to meet the federal definition of working in agriculture, which includes picking crops in the fields or working in packaging.

The center is partly funded by the USDA Rural Development office.

“You get rental assistance. So it’s all based on the family’s income. We have targeted income levels. The lowest will be 30 percent of the area median income,” said Carolina Sahagun-Gomez, the HDC senior community development planner.

The center will not just be for living since there will be English as a Second Language and citizenship classes offered, and a computer lab and community forums.

While the center is a good start, farm workers say more still needs to be done.

“More housing needs to be built because many families still cram into housing,” said Vasquez.

“We’d have to open one of these every week for 206 weeks in order to meet the need, so you can imagine how long and how critical it is to build as many of these as many as we can not only in Castroville but throughout Monterey County,” said Salinas.

HDC does not have any more projects in the works in Castroville, but they are looking at other potential locations within Monterey County to build more housing.