Farm Workers Begin Applying for Disaster Relief

Left financially devastated after the harsh pre-Christmas freeze, Francisca San Elias on Monday became Ventura County’s first agricultural worker to apply for federal aid.

Four days after federal officials extended emergency assistance to local agricultural workers, Ventura County opened a disaster relief station for field hands at the nonprofit Center for Employment Training in Oxnard.

At the center, agricultural workers can apply for grants for temporary housing, mortgage or rental assistance, free food programs, extended unemployment benefits, crisis counseling and help in paying electric bills.

After hearing on a Spanish-language radio station that the relief center would open its doors Monday, San Elias was the first in line to seek federal relief.

“It’s been very difficult for me and my daughter over the past few months,” said San Elias, a single mother from Port Hueneme who has packed lemons at the Oxnard Lemon Co. for eight years.

Each year beginning in December, San Elias typically works 50 hours a week packing lemons. But after four consecutive nights of below-freezing temperatures in late December, there were no lemons arriving from the Central Valley, she said.

San Elias was out of work until February, and once she returned, she said, her hours were reduced to 14 a week. Earning $7.75 an hour, she saw her salary drop to slightly more than $100 a week.

“I’m not working the hours I used to work,” San Elias said. “I would really welcome the help.”

After the severe cold snap, California’s citrus industry was hit with a $657-million loss, including $74.3 million in damage to Ventura County’s lemon, orange and avocado crops.

Weeks after the freeze, the seven hardest-hit counties--Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey and Tulare--were declared disaster areas by state and federal officials. Ventura County officials initially believed there was no need to apply for federal aid, but that created an outcry from farm-worker advocates, who argued that field workers had suffered as a result of the cold spell.

Supervisor John Flynn--whose district is home to nearly half of the county’s approximately 20,000 field workers--responded by pushing to declare Ventura County a disaster area and secure federal aid.

On Monday, Flynn, Sheriff Bob Brooks, Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail and several other local leaders and nonprofit agency officials held a news conference with state and Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives at the Oxnard center in English and Spanish to get out the word about the assistance.

“The important thing is that we want to let the affected people know where to come for help,” said Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard, Silver Strand, El Rio and surrounding areas. “We also want to have a good community outreach program, where we’ll be going out and talking to people.”

Representatives estimated that roughly 15% to 25% of agricultural workers--including citrus packers--were affected by the freeze, either through job losses or reduced hours. That is as many as 5,000 workers.

The 18 citrus packinghouses countywide have sustained a roughly 40% decrease in production, said Lonnie Miramontes, regional director of the Center for Employment Training.

Officials also expected that fruit delivery truck drivers would seek federal assistance.

In order to seek assistance, applicants must be willing to sign a document declaring that they are living in the county legally. They also must prove that their losses occurred after Dec. 20, the day the cold snap began, and that they were current with their housing payments before losing work.

The last requirement concerned Santos Gomez, lead attorney for Oxnard-based Rural Legal Assistance, the legal aid group that initially criticized county officials about dragging its feet on seeking federal aid for agricultural workers.

Gomez worried that workers who may have been late in rent for valid reasons might not be eligible for aid.

“It’s a major, major obstacle,” Gomez said. “What if they made arrangements with their landlords to become current?”

But he was pleased that the federal assistance had been secured in Ventura County, although it came several weeks after other counties had gained such funding.

“At least we don’t have to reinvent the wheel and we can learn from other counties,” Gomez said.

In addition to the Center for Employment Training at 761 C St., people may seek information about federal aid at the Rural Legal Assistance Center, at 445 South B St. in Oxnard, and at Flynn’s office at 2900 Saviers Road in Oxnard.

People seeking aid may also call FEMA at (800) 745-0243.

The hearing impaired may call (800) 600-8005 or fax (800) 422-0789.