Silicon Valley One - Summer 2008 - (Page 12) opened in the City of San Mateo in 1993. The facilities run on a slightly different management model but with the same intent, according to Marroquin, of creating a hiring environment “that is safe, orderly and dignified.” The “hiring hall” at Trinity consists of church pews serving as benches, a television set, a full kitchen and Immigration Overview c The leading countries from which immigrants come to San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are Mexico, the Philippines, India, Vietnam and China. San José has more Vietnamese than any city outside Vietnam. 55 percent of Daly City residents are foreign-born. Nearly 800,000 of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties’ 2.7 million inhabitants are immigrants. Of California’s 58 counties, only Los Angeles and Orange counties have more immigrants than Santa Clara County. Sources: Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations, 2000, and U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 c c c c a first-come, first-hired system that normally finds employment for 30 workers every day. Each morning, Monday through Saturday, men and women arrive and wait to be hired; if they are not, they can participate in a number of center programs. These include English as a Second Language classes, CPR training and a leadership course. Each day, workers are encouraged to donate a dollar or two, which volunteers use to buy food and prepare lunch. Juan, one of the center’s loyal clients, appreciates the security of the hiring hall as opposed to the dicey process of waiting on a dirty street corner. He recalls that soon after arriving in Mountain View, he was picked up, worked for the day and was then told to wait on the same corner the following day, at which time he would be paid. He wasn’t—a common complaint. Working through the center, however, Juan has gained ongoing employment with a number of local residents as a gardener and landscaper. As his business blossomed, Juan was able to come to the center to hire workers of his own. Another client, Josefina, spoke no English when she arrived from Pueblo, Mexico, 16 years ago. She took a job cleaning hotel rooms for $5.75 an hour with no benefits. Keeping her job required cleaning 18 rooms in eight hours. She was forced to quit to take care of a sick child. A fierce worker, she now has seven steady house-cleaning jobs and a work ethic she has passed Ahmed Heban, second from left, has big ideas for programs that help San José’s Somali community. 12 o n e innovation through philanthropy www.siliconvalleycf.org
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