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Resource Fair at Labor Camp a Success: Model for Public Education Events in Rural Settings
By Leticia Martinez, Central Coast Center for Independent Living, Salinas, CA |
Last June, representatives of service agencies in and around Hollister, CA organized a resource fair for residents of this rural community. Nearly 100 migrant farm workers and their family members attended the evening event. Service providers collaborated to convert the childcare center of the San Benito County Adult Labor Camp into a space for educational exchange. Practitioners from San Benito County’s Family Resource Center, Migrant Education Office and Mental Health Service agencies distributed information and responded to questions from attendees alongside community partners including the Central Coast Center for Independent Living (CCCIL), the Community Pantry food bank and the San Benito County One Stop Career Center. Each attendee received a complimentary raffle ticket for a chance to win items donated by the organizing agencies. Prizes included vouchers for movie theaters, family food baskets and school supplies. The event locale – the San Benito County Adult Labor Camp – is known as “El Campo San Benito” among farm workers. It is open each year during the harvest season, for 180 days starting June 1. San Benito is the sole county-owned labor camp. In addition to hosting events such as the June 2006 resource fair, the facility offers adult dormitory-style shared rooms for singles, as well as family housing units. Housing and meals are available at discounted rates. Many workers do not know who to turn to for assistance or what resources are available. Events like this resource fair have proven effective at communicating with farm workers and other groups in the community that are hard to reach. Farm worker and mother Margarita Baeza said, “Me dio mucho gusto haber venido a este evento porque me inscribí para recibir comida gratuita una vez por semana (I am very happy that I came to this event, as it allowed me to register to get free food once a week).” The staff at CCCIL recently advised a man who lives at the labor camp. At the time of the resource fair he did not know he had a disability. He has since been diagnosed with a brain tumor. A CCCIL staffer connected him to a service that provides free transportation to and from medical appointments and helped him apply to receive Medi-Cal and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This event was sponsored by the San Benito County Public Health Division http://www.sanbenitoco.org/. |
