Valerie Delgadillo
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Valerie Delgadillo published Flooding and Climate Disaster in Organizing & Advocacy 2024-04-05 14:15:52 -0700
Flooding and Climate Disaster
Stand with the UFW Foundation in demanding government support for farm workers affected by climate disasters.
Climate disasters have intensified due to climate change and are impacting farm working communities all over the country. From droughts to heavy rainfall to floods, farm workers who live paycheck to paycheck are losing more than just money: they are also losing their homes and communities.
Heavy rainfall may be good for drought-stricken areas, but because of drought conditions, rain can negatively affect the lives of farm workers in farming communities, especially in California. In California, extreme rain after years of drought conditions has caused severe damage and flooding of agricultural communities. Fields were flooded, which caused crops to fail, which then causes a shortage in the need for workers. Not only did the floods affect farm workers’ working conditions, they also affected their living conditions, with flooding damaging and even destroying farm worker homes.
Additionally, intense rains caused by climate change also may force farm workers to move out of their communities to seek work elsewhere, making their lives less routine and uncertain. Changes in rainfall patterns and temperatures have led to a shift in crop production to the north, forcing farm workers to face an increased likelihood of severe winter conditions, such as blizzards and snow freezes. While companies have their corps insured, farm workers are not and don’t get paid leave when crops fail.
Immediate action is needed to help farm workers continue to provide for their families, their community and the global food chain.
Will you join us in demanding lawmakers create social safety nets for farm workers affected by climate disasters?
Sign our petition today!
Sign to receive the latest updates and opportunities to join our fight! Si Se Puede!
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Demand that the Biden Administration Investigate H-2A Program
Temporary farm workers that come to the U.S. with H-2A guestworker visas are highly likely to be human trafficked. They face dangerous conditions and abusive work on a regular basis and the UFW Foundation, joined by other organizations, is fighting to make sure that farm workers throughout the nation are protected from the cruelty and exploitation of greedy individuals. It is with this in mind that we call on the Biden Administration to conduct a thorough investigation into the H-2A Program and implement much-needed reforms to the program after the discovery of human trafficking, slavery, and money laundering by South Georgia growers and farm labor contractors in the “Operation Blooming Onion” investigation.
The findings of “Operation Blooming Onion,” resulted in the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia indicting two dozen individuals with multiple charges, including forcing H-2A workers from Mexico and Central America to work in brutal and inhumane conditions, threatening workers with gun violence, and sexual assault. Two people died as a result of these abuses. Workers had to pay unlawful fees for transportation, food, and housing while illegally withholding their travel and identification documents, and subjected the workers to perform physically demanding work for little or no pay, housing them in crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions, and by threatening them with deportation and violence.
The UFW Foundation, joined by a coalition of labor, civil, and immigrant rights organizations sent a letter to Vice President Harris and the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security demanding a thorough audit and investigation into the H-2A agricultural guest worker program. The letter highlights urgently needed reforms, including more oversight, increased transparency, and greater accountability and enforcement.
We are asking you to join this fight by signing this petition and letting the Biden Administration know that they need to ensure that workers in the H-2A program are protected from predatory employers.
Demand that the Biden Administration Investigate H-2A Program
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Impact Report (2020-2022)
"Farm workers are always essential."
—Diana Tellefson Torres
Chief Executive Officer
2023
Dear Friends,
We reach out to you with our inaugural Impact Report, having experienced and responded to a historic moment in time with record assistance and advocacy. What has been accomplished—and the momentum it has set forth—deserves being shared and recognized broadly. We also wish to thank all who have supported us—individual donors, our members, foundations, government agencies, stakeholders—for fueling the entirety of our work and these important outcomes.
Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and beyond, the UW Foundation responded to the enormous need for health, financial, and economic assistance among farm worker and low-income worker communities.
Diana Tellefson Torres
Chief Executive Officer -
Valerie Delgadillo published Storm Assistance for Immigrants (SAI) Program in Get Help 2023-06-06 16:29:42 -0700
Storm Assistance for Immigrants (SAI) Program Provided by UFW Foundation
Updated 06/06/2023
Program Overview
As a result of the storms that impacted California’s communities from December 2022 through April 2023, the UFW Foundation was selected by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to provide direct assistance to immigrant families in the Kern, Tulare and Ventura Counties who were affected by the storms and who are unable to access federal assistance. Qualifying adults will receive a $1,500 and children (under 18-years-old) will receive $500, with a maximum of $4,500 per household. The funds are to help storm impacted individuals and households cover certain necessary costs including housing, food, and transportation costs. This program is separate and different than the Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) Program, and those who already applied for FFWR can also apply for this assistance if they are eligible.
Application Process
- The application process will be in person only, starting in the month of June.
- The program will be available through May 31, 2024, or until all funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. It is anticipated that funds will exhaust before the program closing date.
- UFW Foundation will be accepting applications in the following counties ONLY: Kern, Tulare, Ventura.
- There is no charge to apply for this program and services are completely free.
- DO NOT USE A THIRD PARTY TO APPLY FOR THIS ASSISTANCE.
- Applications will be considered on a first come, first served basis.
Applicants may contact the UFW Foundation SAI assistance team through email and the phone numbers for their respective counties. When calling or emailing, ensure to include your full name, telephone number and best time to contact you.
- Email: [email protected]
- Kern County: (661) 546-9303
- Tulare County: (559) 366-0099
- Ventura County: (805) 853-5055
Hours of operation: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. PST. Assistance in other languages will be available.
Eligibility Information
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To be eligible for storm recovery services, an individual must be able to provide information that they:
- lived and/or worked in an impacted county, in this case, Kern, Tulare and/or Ventura County;
- are an adult (person over the age of 18);
- are not eligible for federal disaster assistance; and
- have experienced a hardship resulting from the storms that occurred in December 2022 through April 2023, which includes loss of housing, loss of work, loss of property, etc.
- For a full list of service providers, please visit CDSS: Storm Assistance for Immigrants (SAI)
As of April 2024, the UFW Foundation's Storm Assistance for Immigrants Program has ended for Tulare Co residents.
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Valerie Delgadillo 15sc