The Board of Supervisors of the San Mateo County will seek a $5 million grant in state funds to help provide housing for local farmworkers.
The action was taken by a unanimous decision of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, with 5 votes in favor to authorize staff to apply for support that would finance the purchase of manufactured homes, possibly in partnership with the City of Half Moon Bay.
These houses would be located in an as yet unidentified area of the coast. Local farm workers, including families and people displaced by the January mass shooting, would be eligible to live in and buy the homes.
“The Joe Serna grant program represents a tremendous opportunity for the county,” said Supervisor Dave Pine, Chairman of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. "If state funds are awarded, we can begin to address the chronic housing shortage among our essential agricultural workforce."
In addition, the County is seeking funding from the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, a competitive funding opportunity from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
The state is expected to announce the grant recipients in June 2023. For now, the county is already working with the city of Half Moon Bay to identify potential sites.
The state's grant program is designed to "assist low-income farm employees and their families to become or remain homeowners."
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