Here in San Mateo County, it’s no secret that many farmworker families live in housing that’s leaky, vermin-infested and unsafe. Trailers with holes in the walls. Overcrowded communal barracks with families of four wedged into a single bedroom.

Less well known is the fact that “substandard housing,” in official parlance, can lead directly to a host of chronic health conditions, like asthma. Cockroaches, rodents, mold and dust mites are all major asthma triggers, not to mention the presence of pesticides. That may help explain why a disproportionate number of Latinos living in rural California have been diagnosed with asthma.

Puente will take a small bite out of the problem thanks to a recent “Healthy Homes” grant from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley obtained the $10,000 grant. “It’s to support the men and women who labor in our fields, to make their lives better,” he says.

In soliciting the funding, Horsley stated that “most of the housing farmworkers live in is subpar.”

The money, to be disbursed by Puente, will fund basic home improvements like dust mite-free mattress covers, dehumidifiers to counter the mold, insect traps and quick-fix expanding foam to fill holes and keep the vermin out.

Puente will also provide crucial supplies like smoke detectors, first aid kits, child-safe outlet plugs, dust mops and biodegradable cleaning products.

Karen Hackett, a San Mateo County Public Health Nurse who works with Puente, calls the grant “an important beginning.”

But she says the community needs more resources to address the underlying problems.

“We need to start talking about better housing, renovating and replacing housing structures that are deterioriating,” she says.

Hackett has witnessed the health effects of the farm labor lifestyle – the eczema and hand rashes from chemicals and harsh detergents; eye damage from spending days in field dust and fertilizers.

She’s seen how trash piles up next to housing because Pescadero has no pick-up service. The garbage breeds vermin and bacteria, and people end up living in close proximity to trash.

Other hazards lurk in farmworker housing. The Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health at UC Berkeley has found a troubling link between pesticides in house dust and the health of children living on poor-quality farm labor housing in Salinas.

For more information, contact Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x144.

Photo courtesy Christian Science Monitor

The Obama administration’s decision to stop deporting certain undocumented youth under the age of 30 is a life-changer for many young people Puente serves on the South Coast, says Kerry Lobel, executive director of Puente.

“People are totally overwhelmed with joy at the idea of it.”

While the announcement has yet to become official policy, parents have already come to Puente to ask what this could mean for their children’s lives. It can be hard to explain that this is not a path to citizenship, says Lobel; undocumented youth will be able to work legally, but they can’t vote or enjoy the many privileges and responsibilities that come with citizenship.

To explain the announcement and its implications, Puente has invited two attorneys — Rosa Gomez from Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and David Pasternak, Private Immigration Attorney and long time Puente supporter — to a community meeting on July 16 at 6 p.m., in the Pescadero Elementary School Multipurpose Room.

 Some South Coast students have already faced deportation. Other young people around the country have been sent back to their “home” countries, even if they’ve lived nearly all their lives in the U.S.

More than 700,000 undocumented students, including 150,000 high school students, could benefit from the new policy. Hector Martinez* is one of them. The 16-year-old has lived in Pescadero all his life. His mother brought him here from Mexico as a 1-year-old. Growing up, he realized he wouldn’t be able to get a legal job without a work permit. Getting a California driver’s license was also out of the question, since he’d need a valid Social Security number.

Someday, Martinez would like to be an auto mechanic.

“I don’t have a criminal record. I’ve been here my whole life,” says Martinez.

“It’s pretty much my goal to go to college and earn my citizenship.”

Lobel says she cried with relief when she heard the announcement.  It’s not a perfect solution – it doesn’t come close to the DREAM Act, for instance – but it does give local youth the chance to have productive lives without living in fear.

“Year after year, I see kids reaching that magic age of wanting to work and get driver’s licenses, and they’re completely left behind,” says Lobel. “Up until that point in high school there’s not difference – you’re just a kid. You reach that age and it’s like you’re becoming a criminal.”

 *Hector’s name has been changed. 

 For details about the community meeting, contact Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x144.

Laura & Courtney Cunneen

Laura and Courtney Cunneen were 12 years old when they heard that Puente was soliciting donated school supplies on behalf of dozens of South Coast families who couldn’t afford them on their own. The girls were moved by the idea of children their own age missing out on something as basic as pencils and notebooks, and they decided to do something about it.

“We felt bad to have what we have because Laura and I are so fortunate,” explains Courtney Cunneen. She and her twin sister, Laura, live in Pacifica and go to Terra Nova High School.

The girls are 16 now. It’s been four years since they founded a community-wide school supply donation program in Pacifica. Last year, they collected $3,000 in cash donations and enough school supplies to fill two entire minivans.

And the program keeps growing. The Cunneen’s backpack program has become so successful that their contributions, along with those of others, provide South Coast youth with enough school supplies to fill more than 250 backpacks.

The teens set up school supply “drop box” zones all over Pacifica and advertise their campaign at the local farmer’s market. Their congregation, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church of Pacifica, has also boosted the campaign with cash donations every year.

“Giving feels good,” says Laura Cunneen.

“We have people coming up to us all the time asking, ‘When are you going to start collecting again? What do you need more of?’ It makes us more motivated to do better every single year.”

The sisters received Puente’s volunteer appreciation awards in 2009 and on July 24, 2012 Supervisor Don Horsley will introduce a resolution to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors that will honor the sisters with a special proclamation for their efforts.

Puente’s backpack program also benefits from the generosity of many faith institutions, including the Community Congregational Church of Benicia, a United Church of Christ. The church forged a connection with Puente almost a decade ago when Puente founder Rev. Wendy Taylor came to the church to preach.

Now the congregation puts together an entire grade’s worth of backpacks each year. Last year they did 32. After buying the supplies, they assemble the bags themselves. And each backpack has a personal, handwritten note from a child in the congregation.

Congregants from Congregational Church of Benicia, along with Puente youth staff

“It’s just to let them know that it was personally sent, with love,” says Nora Gauger, chair of Mission and Outreach with the church.

Puente’s Team Backpack program needs your help!  Click here to check out Puente’s Amazon Wish list or School supplies list. To learn more, contact Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x144.