Media Contact: Andrew Kauders, (202) 720-4623
andrew.kauders@usda.gov
Public Contact: Brenda Morton, (202) 720-2367
bmorton@rdmail.rural.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 1999 -- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced that USDA will provide $20 million in grants to provide emergency services to low-income migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Grants will be made available in areas experiencing a local emergency or a state or national disaster declaration.
On Monday, Glickman designated the state of West Virginia as a disaster area, which makes low interest loans and other assistance available to farmers in that state and contiguous counties in surrounding states.
"USDA has a long history of responding to farm owners who have seen their crops and farmland suffer from natural disasters and local emergencies," said Glickman. "With this funding, USDA now will be able to bring relief to the many migrant and seasonal farmworkers who have lost their sole source of income because there are few or no crops left to harvest."
In California alone, between 20,000 and 30,000 farmworkers lost their jobs when freezing temperatures devastated the citrus industry. Workers who had previously picked crops, processed produce or shipped commodities felt the negative effects of the disaster. USDA grants will benefit not only the farmworkers, but also their families and surrounding communities.
Grants will be given to tax-exempt public agencies or private organizations that have experience in providing emergency services to low-income migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The type of service could include payment assistance for: rent or mortgage, utility bills, child care, transportation, school supplies, food, construction of new farmworker housing units, repair or rehabilitation of farmworker housing and construction of facilities related to farmworker housing, such as health clinics or child care facilities.
"Farmworkers and their families are among those hardest hit by the depressed farm economy," said Jill Long Thompson, under secretary for USDA Rural Development. "Americans who work hard to ensure food is available to the rest of us are finding it difficult to feed or house their own families."
USDA will accept proposals for grant assistance from interested state and local non-profit community development organizations. Procedures for submission were published in the Aug. 2 Federal Register. Proposals must be sent to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service by 5 p.m., Aug. 15, 1999.
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to finance affordable rental housing for farm workers and are the only national source for farm labor housing construction funds. Rural Development also provides funding to finance essential community services, such as child care centers and health care facilities.
For more information about Rural Development programs, visit your local USDA Rural Development office or USDA Service Center, or call the Rural Development national office at (202) 720-4323.
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