Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
WATSONVILLE — Adding 72 new units to Watsonville’s housing stock — almost half of which are reserved for farmworker families — the city celebrated the grand opening of its new Sparrow Terrace apartment complex with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.
Located on a 3.7-acre site at 141 Miles Lane, Sparrow Terrace was constructed by Foster City-based nonprofit MidPen Housing which has built more than 10,000 homes in 139 communities throughout Northern California. Sparrow Terrace is aimed at people earning between 30 and 60% of the area median income — which currently ranges between $38,040 to $108,660 depending on household size, with 35 of its units set aside for farmworker families and six set aside for people who have experienced homelessness.
The new complex features a variety of amenities, including a learning center, community room, onsite laundry, secure bike storage, outdoor space with seating, a playground and community garden. Services offered include adult education, employment preparation, exercise and nutrition classes and case management.
Matthew Franklin, president and CEO of MidPen Housing, was happy to see the project come to fruition.
“It’s a really special moment when all the residents are in, when everything we’ve been thinking about, dreaming about in terms of building community is starting to happen, and it’s starting to happen in a very organic way,” he said.
Franklin highlighted the 35 farmworker homes as “the anchor of their community.”
“They are the backbone of what is really the best agricultural sector in the country, for sure, and I would argue to the world,” he said. “They are essential to that work. It does not happen without them. Here in the Pajaro Valley, in Central California generally, we are the envy of the world in terms of our ability to produce food.”
Yet, Franklin said farmworkers often struggle to find affordable housing.
“It’s a really special moment in their life when they are no longer doubled or tripled up or unsafe or in overcrowded housing,” he said. “They’re no longer spending 50, 60, 70% of their income towards housing at the expense of somebody’s health or somebody’s education.”
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas began his speech with what he deemed a hard truth: “California has the worst housing crisis in the nation.”
He continued, “It’s the No. 1 reason why too many of our most vulnerable families are trapped in poverty. It’s the biggest driver of our cost of living and affordability in California.”
Rivas said he grew up in a farmworker family that lived in a tiny housing tract.
“I know the sacrifices of our farmworkers,” he said. “I know how life changing it is when they finally have a safe, stable place to call home.”
The new project, Rivas said, would deliver exactly that.
“This grand opening of Sparrow Terrace, of this project, isn’t just about 72 new housing units,” he said. “This project is about hope, it’s about stability.”
One of the major funders for the project was the California Department of Housing and Community Development through its Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant and No Place Like Home programs. Jennifer Seeger, deputy director of financial assistance state programs for the department, said housing was a foundational component in people’s lives.
“Today is about more than cutting a ribbon,” she said. “It’s about welcoming people home to a place where they can heal, grow and thrive. … It’s projects just like this with 72 critically needed affordable housing units that will allow families to stop worrying about where they’ll sleep tomorrow, next week, next month and instead allow them to engage in the security of a place to call home.”
Attendees also got to hear from one of the farmworkers residing at the property. Eliazar Reséndiz told his story in Spanish with English translation provided. His family previously lived in a small space with two dogs on the patio area — one of whom was very aggressive — so his children were afraid to play near the patio.
“I personally can say that this has been a significant change for us,” he said. “We have much more freedom.”
Reséndiz said his kids particularly enjoy the playground.
“We’re very comfortable with where we live,” he said. “We have plenty of space, and my children are very happy with the security here.”
Reséndiz said his goals are to help with expenses for his children and setting up a family savings to enjoy what they have.
Carlos Jurado, MidPen’s senior associate project manager, thanked the new residents for choosing to start the next chapter of their lives at Sparrow Terrace.
“We hope that you like it here and that you thrive and that you make wonderful new memories to come,” he said.
Sparrow Terrace is not the only new development on Miles Lane. Encompass Community Services’ behavioral health center, Si Se Puede, is currently under construction next door with an expanded 10,000-plus square feet campus to replace its aging building at the corner of Miles Lane and Santa Clara Street.