Grant will maintain services for ag workers

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima-based Opportunities Industrial Center of Washington will receive about $3 million through the National Farmworker Jobs Program for training and employment services for migrant and seasonal workers.

The grant will be available Thursday and is part of the $78.4 million in grants announced by U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis last week. Yakima's OIC center has been receiving the grant for the past 10 years.

The program is aimed at addressing the poverty and homelessness experienced by workers who depend primarily on agricultural labor jobs.

OIC's $3 million grant will be used for employment training, housing assistance, transportation, clothing for a job, and anything migrant seasonal workers might need to gain employment, said Gilbert Alaniz, program state director of OIC. People enrolled in the program must have a legal work permit.

He credited Washington state's two Democratic senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, for their political support of OIC, saying "there is great need to serve migrant workers in our state."

The OIC is now serving 750 clients and their families. In all, Alaniz said, that amounts to about 10,000 people.

Over the past few years, the troubled economy prompted the OIC to reduce its client list from 900 to 750 so it can focus more on quality rather than quantity of services.

Alaniz said OIC opted to serve a small portion of people with quality employment and academic training.

Some participants are immigrants who don't know English or have a high school diploma. OIC helps them enroll in English as a Second Language and GED classes, either through the center or outside programs, Alaniz said.

Because of the seasonal nature of agriculture, the program tries to help migrant workers transition into more stable jobs within the industry by improving their work and communication skills.

An average migrant worker earns about $10 an hour at job placement.

"We have ongoing suffering throughout the state for farm workers," said Alaniz. "They are the hardest workers. Sometimes they get good pay and benefits and sometimes they don't."

The $3 million grant will be disbursed for services in six regions: Yakima, Sunnyside, Pasco, Wenatchee, Mount Vernon and Omak. There are additional OIC offices in Ellensburg and Roslyn.

In addition to OIC, Oregon Human Development Corp. of Tigard, Ore., will get nearly $2 million from the federal farmworker job program, and the Community Council of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho, will receive $1 million to support its services.

* Viviana Buzo can be reached at 509-577-7675 or vbuzo@yakimaherald.com.