Families Benefit When farm workers and their families live in safe, decent and affordable housing, their children are healthier and do better in school. Families experience less stress, and can devote more resources to food, clothing, health care and other needs. Agriculture Benefits Employees in secure housing provide a more stable and dependable work force for one of the county’s most important industries. Community Benefits Neighborhoods are improved when substandard, overcrowded housing is replaced by well-designed, properly maintained homes that provide adequate parking and dedicated play areas. Our Mission We promote affordable, safe and stable housing for Ventura County farm workers and their families through education and advocacy since 2004. Farm workers are the backbone of Ventura County agriculture. Ventura County’s farms and ranches employ approximately 42,000 men and women. These farm workers are critical to Ventura County’s $2 billion-a-year agricultural industry. Without them, crops would not be harvested, and the lush local landscape of green fields and orchards would go untended. This combination of low wages and high housing costs means farm workers often must pool their resources to live in overcrowded apartments, motel rooms or houses. Sometimes they live in garages or sheds neither intended nor fit for human habitation. Read more >> Making An Impact In Our Community Supporting Local Affordable Housing Projects House Farm Workers! staff and board members have dedicated their time to advocate for affordable housing projects. Since 2004, over 1,900 affordable housing units have been built or planned in Ventura County. Housing Element Advocacy House Farm Workers! is actively involved in the public participation of the Housing Element process for Ventura County cities and jurisdictions. Find out how you can part of this advocacy work HERE. Educating Young People House Farm Workers! and the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Center for Community Engagement have partners with Reiter Affiliated Companies and Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. to provide an immersion opportunity for CSUCI students focused on the farm worker experience, agriculture, and farm worker housing. Somis Ranch Farm Worker Housing Project House Farm Workers! recently advocated for the approval of the 360-unit farm worker housing project, the largest farm worker housing project in the County. Click HERE to learn more about this upcoming housing project that will benefit a huge number of farm worker families. Farm Worker Immersion Project The goal of the farm worker Immersion project is to deepen students’ understanding of farm worker issues by experiencing, if only for a day, the working and living conditions of some farm worker families in Ventura County. During the immersion, students have the opportunity to pick and pack produce in the fields, as well as tour a farm worker housing development and speak with farm worker families about what access to affordable, safe, and stable housing has meant for them. Check out a film made by our 2017 Farm Worker Immersion group. Farmworker Housing Study Supporting our future: Ellen Brokaw House Farm Workers! Scholarship We have awarded over $78,000 in total to 26 students whose parents are farm workers in Ventura County as part of our Ellen Brokaw House Farm Workers! Scholarship program. These students have gone on to attend UCs, CSUs, and community colleges to further their education. Click HERE to learn more about the Ellen Brokaw House Farm Workers!program.