Semillas del Cambio: Advancing Dignified Housing for Farmworkers on the San Mateo County Coast

Farmworkers in San Mateo County provide tens of thousands of Californians with produce, dairy, eggs, meat, and flowers, but these communities are facing dire housing circumstances.

Our new report, Semillas del Cambio: Advancing Dignified Housing for Farmworkers on the San Mateo County Coast, documents this crisis and provides an actionable framework for policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders to advance strong protections, prevent displacement, and advance truly affordable housing with dignity for farmworkers.

In partnership with Coastside Hope and Puente de la Costa Sur, we interviewed 22 San Mateo County farmworkers who shared how difficult it is to find permanently affordable and habitable housing on the Coastside. Farmworkers reported enduring a wide range of indignities to stay housed, such as sleeping in the kitchen and facing continual harassment.

These eye-opening interviews can be read in full in our companion report, La Vida en el Campo: Farmworker Stories from the San Mateo County Coast.

Despite all the challenges, farmworkers take immense pride in their work and are steadily organizing to change their conditions. From fighting for clean water to acquiring and preserving affordable housing, farmworkers are taking their future into their own hands and are calling for urgent action. Semillas del Cambio offers concrete and proven policy recommendations that directly address the continued farmworker housing crisis on the Coastside.

Lea en español aquí.