La Cooperativa Campesina de California received a grant award of $719,247 to provide a continuum of both permanent and temporary affordable housing for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in California, Oregon, and Washington in Program Year 2007. Their strategy for serving migrant farmworkers is to refer them to local housing authorities, public and privately-funded migrant camps, and, if necessary, to other private housing and/or local motels through the use of temporary housing vouchers. For seasonal farmworkers, the strategy is to provide stop-gap housing assistance while at the same time using established partnerships with public and private agencies such as local housing authorities that may offer housing and housing related assistance.

Peoples' Self-Help Housing Corporation, California

Peoples' Self-Help Housing Corporation (PSHH) will use its $68,284 grant award to perform predevelopment and construction work on over 100 housing units for farmworkers on California's Central Coast during Program Year 2007. PSHH currently operates 415 rental homes devoted to farmworker families. The current properties have waiting lists several years long. Agriculture is one of the top employers in the region, and housing has become unaffordable for this marginalized population. PSHH will forge relationships with the local one-stop centers, including the Center for Employment and Training in Santa Maria and the Private Industry Council in San Luis Obispo, in order to facilitate referrals and improve employment outcomes for farmworkers.

Self Help Enterprise, California

Self Help Enterprise (SHE) received a grant award of $133,824 in Program Year 2007 to develop 214 units of year-round rental housing for NFJP-eligible farmworkers and to pursue infrastructure (water and sewer) development for an additional 240 single family units. All told, SHE's programs will provide housing assistance to 1,306 NFJP farmworkers and 515 seasonal farmworkers. SHE will work in collaboration with Proteus, an NFJP grantee. The organization has become known as the flagship organization for permanent farmworker housing in the San Joaquin Valley, with a broad network of partners ranging from non-profit farmworker service providers, local public agencies, local boards and organizations, and the State government.

Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach, Florida

The Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County, Inc., (FWCC) serves over 30,000 farmworkers and their families in the county, providing a range of social services in two offices in Palm Beach County. The Council received a grant award of $227,364 for Program Year 2007 to provide temporary and emergency housing assistance services to seasonal and migrant farmworkers. It will do so by providing emergency rental and/or utility assistance to clients who are at risk of eviction and up to three months of rental and/or utility assistance to seasonal and migrant farmworkers who are receiving job training and by providing supportive services such as case management and referrals to job training programs, child care and other related services.

Michigan Department of Agriculture, Michigan

The Michigan Department of Agriculture received a grant award of $382,352 for Program Year 2007 to support the construction of migrant labor housing units. Sub-grants of up to $15,000 will be issued to up to 57 on-farm providers of farm labor housing. It is estimated that 45,000 migrant farmworkers are employed in Michigan each year. Key to ensuring the return of the migrant population each growing season is the MDA's Migrant Labor Housing Inspection and Licensing Program. Since inception, this program continues to strive for the improvement of migrant workers' health and productivity by ensuring their living quarters are not overcrowded and have safe water supplies, proper toilet facilities, adequate food preparation areas and convenient access to shower facilities.

Telamon Corporation, North Carolina

For Program Year 2007, Telamon Corporation received a grant award of $632,510 to provide a wide range of permanent and temporary housing programs to assist both migrant and seasonal farmworkers in obtaining safe and affordable housing. Housing assistance will include off-farm rental housing development for migrant and seasonal farmworkers, on-farm housing repair, housing counseling, referrals to partner organizations for permanent and emergency housing, and temporary housing assistance for individuals involved in NJFP job training and employment programs. This housing assistance will help provide the stability needed by individuals and families to become engaged in the full range of core, intensive and training activities available under the Workforce Investment Act.

ORO Development Corporation, Oklahoma

ORO Development Corporation (ORO) received a grant award of $39,641 in Program Year 2007 to provide temporary and emergency housing assistance to the NFJP-eligible population in the State of Oklahoma. ORO conducts Community Needs Assessment surveys on an on-going basis, and thus is able to ascertain what the housing needs are within the community. ORO will further improve the lives of farmworkers in transitional periods by using the already proven voucher system to pay for rent and utilities.

Black Hills Special Services Cooperative, South Dakota

For PY 2007, Black Hills Special Services Corporation received a grant award for $108,754 to offer a service mix of both permanent and temporary housing assistance activities in South Dakota. This program will be operated in areas of the state where growers do not provide housing or labor camps, and none of the partner agencies within the One-Stop system or faith-based organizations provide housing assistance. Both permanent and temporary housing assistance will be confined to deposit and rental assistance, as well as down payment assistance for those farmworkers eligible for the First Time Home Buyer's Program in South Dakota.

Tennessee Opportunity Programs, Tennessee

Tennessee Opportunity Programs, Inc. (TOPS) received a grant award of $38,235 for Program Year 2007. TOPS will provide assistance to eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers through direct support payments for emergency housing assistance, and through indirect services such as increasing or maintaining the housing stock available for farmworkers. Housing assistance will be related to promoting a strategy that supports the housing needs of families of farmworkers who are employed in agricultural labor or receiving intensive, training and employment services. TOPS has partnered effectively with faith-based and community organizations to provide its clients with a comprehensive plan of services. In addition to providing housing assistance, TOPS, in collaboration with the One-Stop centers and other organizations, provides child care, health care, transportation, nutrition and other needed services to the farmworker population.

Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) received $110,678 for Program Year 2007 to provide both temporary and permanent housing to farmworkers. With the help of The Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association (CHISPA), Mercy Housing Corporation (MHC), and South County Housing (SCH), RCAC will produce or preserve 414 units of permanent housing for farmworkers and their families in California. It will also use the new grant funds to produce an estimated 50 units of temporary housing in Hawaii.

Florida Non-Profit Housing, Inc. is the grantee-lead agency for the Southeast Housing Consortium (SEHC) for the NFJP program. For Program Year 2007, they received $570,168 to provide decent, affordable housing and related services to a total of 5,008 eligible farmworkers and their families in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia. The SEHC proposes to work closely with the NFJP program in each state, refer clients to the One-Stop system in each service area, and provide emergency housing assistance payments to enable farmworkers to retain employment and/or improve their housing conditions.

Rural Opportunities, Inc. (ROI) received a grant award of $752,600 to provide a mix of permanent and emergency housing assistance as a supportive service component of its NFJP job training program in the states of Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico in Program Year 2007. Eligible farmworkers will be identified by referrals from the NFJP program or grantee, One-Stop partners, faith-based and community-based organizations, by direct outreach to growers, and by other ROI programs including Migrant Head Start and farmworker health and safety. ROI case managers will work directly with the farmworkers to develop short-term and long-term housing goals.

Motivation Education and Training, Inc. (MET, Inc.) received a grant in the amount of $561,310 to provide housing assistance that blends both permanent and temporary housing strategies to assist farmworkers in meeting their employment objectives. Program operation will be closely aligned with the One-Stop network and utilize the strength that local faith-based and community organizations have demonstrated during the four decades of partnership. Staff will work within the local workforce network where MET is already an established service provider of the NFJP, and execute a housing assistance program that improves farmworker ability to secure or retain employment in high-growth industries or stabilizes their agricultural employment.

The Office of Rural & Farmworker Housing's (ORFH) grant award of $191,177 for PY 2007 will provide farmworkers in Oregon and Washington with permanent housing. It will produce a total of 382 units, serving over 1,600 farmworkers and their families. ORFH is a member of The Northwest Farmworker Housing Consortium, a new organization comprised of highly experienced producers of affordable housing, and will work with its consortium partners when administering the grant. All of the organizations will provide rental, emergency housing payments, and energy assistance to farmworkers. Additionally, some will provide comprehensive services to residents of their developments, ranging from notification of job opportunities to credit counseling to first-time home-buyer education classes.

United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc. (UMOS) received a grant award of $413,316 to provide a mix of permanent and temporary assistance housing services in Program Year 2007. Specifically, UMOS' services include housing education and counseling, advocacy, direct housing assistance (vouchers), and housing development. Housing services will be provided for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota. UMOS has been operating in these states for the past nine years. As a NFJP program operator, One-Stop operator, and partner with NFJP providers region-wide, UMOS' connections with the workforce investment system are strong and long-standing.