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  1. #1
    Senior Member reptile09's Avatar
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    Carlsbad, CA:Farmworker shelter project gets partial funding

    NORTH COUNTY TIMES:
    Farmworker shelter project gets partial funding

    Group to seek architectural drawings

    CARLSBAD -- For the first time in five years, proponents of a farmworker housing project now have both a place to put a shelter and part of the money to make the project a reality.

    Carlsbad's City Council agreed Tuesday to give Catholic Charities $108,500 in seed money to get the effort started. The money will come from a fund that developers pay into when they turn agricultural land into homes or commercial space.

    It's just the first installment of what could be a total of $2 million from the fund. The remainder will be set aside, but not distributed until the nonprofit organization has a better handle on how much the project will cost, council members said.

    After Tuesday's council vote, project proponents said that they would contact their architect immediately and that they might have plans ready by the end of the year.

    They said that construction could cost more than the $2 million the city is willing to commit and that, subsequently, they are looking for other funding sources, said Sister RayMonda Duvall, executive director of the Catholic Charities program, which runs the La Posada de Guadalupe homeless shelter in Carlsbad.

    Plans call for the 1-acre La Posada shelter site to contain the farmworker project. The shelter, which houses 50 homeless men, is on Impala Drive near El Camino Real ---- roughly two miles east of the strawberry and flower-growing lands along Cannon Road where many farmworkers toil.

    The shelter's existing collection of aging portable buildings would be removed to make way for a two-story, Spanish-style structure, proponents have said. The second floor of the new building would house up to 72 farmworkers, while the downstairs would contain 50 beds for clients the shelter serves.

    Holding up paperwork dating from 2003, project proponent Tom Maddox said it had taken them an incredibly long time just to get to this point.

    In 2004, farmworker housing advocates attempted to buy a warehouse near Palomar Airport Road, but that plan fell through after neighboring businesspeople said they would fight it. Other proposals over the years have included building a shelter along Cannon Road and arranging short-term hotel rentals.

    One complicating factor has been that city officials see farming as a temporary condition in Carlsbad. In fact, one of the conditions on the project's new city funding will be that the farmworker portion of the new shelter may eventually become quarters for homeless women and children.

    Initially, the shelter plans called for simply adding a portable building to the Posada site, but now the organization is dreaming big, Duvall said. They're even talking about putting in a large kitchen that could offer food service training for the shelter residents and meals for the community, she said.

    Above all, they want the place to feel like a real home, said Eddie Preciado, who directs the shelter operation.

    COMMENTS:

    Unavoidable wrote on Feb 20, 2008 1:32 PM:ell its really unavoidable, I don't like the fact that tax payers will have to pay for this rather then the farmers, but what other way are we going to keep these farm workers out of our local canyons. The environmental impact of farm workers living in the canyons is far worse than giving them a place to live on the farm properties. I have fought this for years. but the fact of the matter is we have no other choice. Maybe we could get some American homeless people out there to pick our fruits and veggies, if we reach out to them. Maybe this is a small compromise.

    Ridiculous wrote on Feb 21, 2008 6:13 PM:Aren't they planning to "move" the flower and strawberry fields and develop that land? WHY build a famworker housing unit that accomodates only 72 people when they complain that there are 700 living in the canyons? This is just more lunacy with YOUR taxpayer dollars. The farm owners need frequent visits from ICE and need to be taxed and fined for all back taxes and every dime of social services their employees AND their families receive. These people are illegal aliens, you know, in this country ILLEGALLY!!! Why doesn't Carlsbad give that $2 million to the Border Patrol for prosecution and deportation expenses, as TAXPAYERS want, and not further entice illegal aliens into this country?

    Canadian Migrant! wrote on Feb 21, 2008 6:43 PM:Hey, rent is expensive, I'd really rather spend my money on beer and send $1000 per month home to my family in Canada. I'm moving to Carlsbad, I want some of this free housing on your taxpayer dime! What a country! Reminds me of my youth in the Soviet Union. Viva Communism!
    [b][i][size=117]"Leave like beaten rats. You old white people. It is your duty to die. Through love of having children, we are going to take over.â€

  2. #2
    Senior Member MyAmerica's Avatar
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    Carlsbad's City Council agreed Tuesday to give Catholic Charities $108,500 in seed money to get the effort started. The money will come from a fund that developers pay into when they turn agricultural land into homes or commercial space.
    Carlsbad and Catholic Charities are enablers of illegal immigrates and breaking federal law for which they should be held accountable.
    If Catholic Charities wanted to obey the law and really wanted to aid these men, they would buy them a bus ticket to their native country.
    I thought the farmers had to provide housing for temporary ag workers.

    In fact, one of the conditions on the project's new city funding will be that the farmworker portion of the new shelter may eventually become quarters for homeless women and children.
    Plans for bringing the entire family into the U.S. and feeding and housing them too.

    If these homeless individuals get government funding, does it go to Catholic Charities?

    "When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
    Sinclair Lewis
    "Distrust and caution are the parents of security."
    Benjamin Franklin

    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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