Jupiter's El Sol center for day laborers celebrates first year
By Maria Herrera | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 7, 2007

Jupiter - A year after El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center overcame opposition and opened, its founders say it has exceeded expectations and helped the town address day labor issues.

Other cities are looking to it for lessons in creating their own.

The neighborhood center was founded as a response to safety concerns on Center Street in Jupiter, where for years mostly undocumented workers gathered by the dozens, to rush to passing trucks picking up cheap labor.

"Today, El Sol shines very bright," said Mike Richmond, chairman of the Friends of El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center.

Almost 100 workers gathered Thursday to celebrate the anniversary and listened to the stories of day laborers who experienced the hazards of Center Street — not getting paid, getting run over by cars, getting robbed.

"The Town Council had to take a very gutsy decision and the community has been miraculously in their support," said Town Manager Andy Lukasik. "It has been very successful, but it takes a lot of political courage and resources."

The center offers a haven where employers can solicit workers in an orderly way. Workers receive identification cards and are classified according to their skills and English proficiency. A lottery takes place several times a day, and five workers at a time are placed in a standby pool. It's from that pool that workers are assigned to employers.

"We are eternally grateful," said laborer Miguel Lopez Ezpinoza.

Volunteers started registering workers and employers before the center was officially opened last year, but when the town banned soliciting workers on the streets and added a $500 fine, the center filled up.

Now laborers sip hot coffee and sit through English and computer lessons in the main hall of the 10,000-square-foot former church building, which the town rents to Catholic Charities for $1 a year.

"We feel obligated to pass on our experience and knowledge to help other communities address many of the problems," Richmond said. "We want to lift the workers up economically, socially and civically in order to fully integrate them into our community."

But critics say the same conditions that made El Sol possible in Jupiter do not exist in other cities.

"The biggest thing is the place. They also had the cooperation of Catholic Charities and a city commission that was willing to go out on a limb and take an unpopular stance," said Mary Lindsey, president of the Tropical Ridge neighborhood association in Lake Worth. "We have none of those things in place."

Loxahatchee Groves is looking to El Sol as a model for a similar center.

"What we're most concerned with is the safety and health of our residents and the migrant workers themselves," said Marge Herzog, the town's vice mayor. "Several accidents have happened on Okeechobee Boulevard where people slow down to pick up workers."

West Palm Beach City Commissioner Molly Douglas said a group of businessmen and residents from the Northwood neighborhood approached her about revising an ordinance that prevents hiring halls from operating in the city.

Douglas, however, said the city would not provide a building as Jupiter did.

"It's a very noble cause," Douglas said. "There seems to be some support in this commission."

El Sol hasn't pleased all Jupiter residents.

"It's wrong for the city to facilitate illegal employment," said John Slattery, a resident who was a member of the defunct Jupiter Neighbors Against Illegal Laborers, or JNAIL. Slattery also worked with the Washington-based Federation of American Immigration Reform.

Opponents of the center contended it would attract day laborers from other cities.

"There were a lot of fears from the community that were not realized," Lukasik said. "A lot of the 'what ifs' have gone away."

Laborers said they feel safer at the center and that although there are days when they don't get jobs, they are learning about American customs and laws. They are also taught English."It was a great idea," said Rito Hernandez, a laborer who has been coming to the center since it opened. "We have all the important services and bathrooms, discipline, computers; and the most important thing is the language."That's the only way."

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Maria Herrera can be reached at meherrera

@sun-sentinel.com

or 561-243-6544.