{"id":8733,"date":"2021-10-22T16:11:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T16:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayflowernaples.com\/?p=8733"},"modified":"2021-10-22T16:13:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T16:13:12","slug":"farmworker-housing-in-immokalee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayflowernaples.com\/?p=8733","title":{"rendered":"Farmworker Housing in Immokalee"},"content":{"rendered":"

November groundbreaking set for farmworker housing in Immokalee<\/h1>\n
by Connie Larkman<\/a> <\/span>|<\/span> published on Oct 20, 2021<\/span><\/div>\n
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A safe and storm-resistant place to live and raise a family. That\u2019s been a longtime dream for many of our nation\u2019s farmworkers.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 10, in Immokalee, Fla., that dream begins to be realized, with the groundbreaking for the first building of what will become a neighborhood of 128 safe, affordable apartments.<\/p>\n

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An artist\u2019s layout shows the community of new housing planned for farmworkers in Immokalee, Fla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On 10 acres of land purchased in 2019, the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance<\/a> plans to construct a complex of two- and three-bedroom, hurricane-resistant homes to replace the substandard housing farmworker families have been forced to live in for so long. <\/p>\n

Hurricane exposes injustice<\/h3>\n

The community, four years in the making, was first envisioned after Hurricane Irma decimated the area in 2017, damaging the trailers and other limited housing stock that field laborers have been living in \u2014 structures that are often unsafe, expensive and packed with people. <\/p>\n

\u201cHurricane Irma, like any disaster, exposed things we knew were there but brought them to the surface. Poverty, greed, racism, injustice and very substandard housing were brought to the forefront,\u201d said the Rev. Alan Coe, pastor of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ<\/a> in Naples, Fla. \u201cThe farmworkers have no means to recover, no voice in the community and if their dwelling was damaged, nowhere to live. <\/p>\n

\u201cOften people would move in with others, making for overcrowded conditions. All those issues are what prompted IFHA to form and begin to change not just the condition of housing for farmworker families, but to change the culture of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCC helps buy land<\/h3>\n

After Irma, Coe, disaster coordinator for the UCC Florida Conference<\/a>, surveyed the area and met Arol Buntzman for coffee. The retired executive, co-founder of the We Can\u2019t Have That Foundation<\/a>, brings experience in real estate development and property management to his role as chair of the IFHA Board.<\/p>\n

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\"ImmokaleeAptBldgJan21\"
This rendering shows a future 16-unit building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe UCC disaster response ministry at the time of Irma felt this was a very worthwhile project to use disaster response funds,\u201d Coe said. \u201cFarmworkers are essential workers, and, whether documented or not, citizens of the community. They deserve a safe, secure, decent place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United Church of Christ helped buy the land in November 2019<\/a>, providing IFHA a $200,000 gift \u2014 $100,000 from the Florida Conference Board, $50,000 from Justice and Local Church Ministries<\/a>, and $50,000 from 22 churches and 25 individuals in the Conference.<\/p>\n

COVID slows work<\/h3>\n

The initial plan called for site development planning and permit work in early 2020. The IFHA hoped to begin constructing roads, adding utilities and doing water and sewer work that summer, with building construction beginning in November that year. COVID-19 changed all that.<\/p>\n

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\"Immokalee3BRplanJan21\"
An artist\u2019s drawing shows a three-bedroom layout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAs is the case for so many initiatives, the pandemic has slowed down development of the project,\u201d Buntzman said. \u201cEverything from infrastructure engineering and permitting, building plans and specifications, and fundraising were impacted. But the very good news is that the project is proceeding and gaining momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Collier County Planning Department and the Board of County Commissioners have signed off on the master plan. Boral Engineering and Design, Inc., has the permits for site development and infrastructure construction work to get water, sewers, electricity, roads and building pads in place before the structures go up. And preliminary site preparation is already underway.<\/p>\n

The site and infrastructure work is expected to be completed by March 2022. Construction of eight 16-unit multifamily buildings, a community center and support facilities will follow as funding permits.<\/p>\n

Pushing ahead with construction<\/h3>\n

Toward that spring goal, the UCC\u2019s Global H.O.P.E.<\/a> team has provided IFHA a $95,000 construction grant. And the Florida Conference, according Conference Minister John Vertigan, is gifting the project $6,000 at groundbreaking.<\/p>\n

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\"Immokalee2BRplanJan21\"
A sample layout of a two-bedroom unit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMuch in the same way that the earlier funding from UCC pushed us over the top in terms of the funding needed to purchase the land, the latest $95,000 construction grant helped make it possible for IFHA to award a construction contract to Heatherwood Construction for the site development and infrastructure construction,\u201d Buntzman said. <\/p>\n

\u201cUCC\u2019s support and generous financial assistance has been, and continues to be, a crucial component of the progress that IFHA has made to date in our mutual goal to provide safe, affordable, hurricane-resistant housing for farmworker families and other low-income families in Immokalee,\u201d Buntzman said.<\/p>\n

Tradition of UCC support<\/h3>\n

It all continues a longtime pattern<\/a> of UCC support for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers<\/a> and their campaign for better wages and working conditions. Among other actions over the years:<\/p>\n