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Published on 07/31/1995 All articles from this issue

First grant received for day worker center in MV

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By Clyde Noel / Town Crier Staff Writer

The proposed St. Joseph the Worker Center for day laborers in Mountain View has received its first funding last week in the form of a $6,000 grant from the Campaign for Human Development (CHD), a program of the Catholic Diocese of San Jose.

Kate Wakerly, a member of the Day Worker Center Advisory Board, said the center was the only kind of program for day workers in Northern California. The program provides training, education and English instruction for the day workers.

The center, to operated by St. Joseph Church in Mountain View, would provide an office where day workers and prospective employers could meet and negotiate working arrangements, and would also provide a variety of job skills classes and referral to other human services.

Day laborers have been gathering for years along El Camino Real near the San Antonio Road intersection seeking employment. The laborers have continued to congregate along the road, despite the threat of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) raids and protests from nearby businesses.

As a group, day laborers are typically a low-income population, with many of the workers resorting to roadside solicitation to support their families, according to Job Lopez, chair of the Day Worker Center Advisory Board.

"We are encouraged by the CHD grant," Lopez said. Because the Mountain View center is a new program, the CHD has made the $6,000 grant contingent on obtaining matching funds.

"Even with that condition, it is a very good start," Lopez said. "We are already working to get the matching funds and hope service organizations and other groups in the Mountain View-Los Altos area will consider participating in this effort."

Wakerly said the goal of the center is to match 30-50 people per day to a job. "Our biggest job is to secure the matching funds from charitable foundations, businesses and corporations," she said.

The concept of a day worker center originated from recommendations by a regional task force with representatives from the cities of Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto, plus local business leaders and representatives of social service agencies. The task force has been meeting for several months to suggest solutions to the day laborer situation.

- Clyde Noel