Silicon Valley One - Summer 2008 - (Page 15) Day laborers wait for work at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View’s safe “hiring hall.” preparation and financial literacy sessions, a mobile health van, library services and summer school. In the region, Puente is known by the watchwords “Bicycles, Blankets, Beans and Rice.” One of Puente’s primary focuses is refurbishing mountain bikes and providing them, free, to migrants who live and work on ranches and farms nearby. With little public transportation on the San Mateo coast, the bikes give workers welcome mobility. The “beans and rice” portion of Puente’s mission refers to the twice-weekly La Sala “community living room” program in which ranch and farm workers eat dinner at Pescadero Community Church. More than just a meal, the dinner allows workers to meet with friends and relatives, to exchange news of home, family and work. At this Sunday’s La Sala, the church hall echoes with Tejano music, laughter and the clacking of domino tiles. Flores says a lot more than just socializing is taking place. “They come with legal documents, medical bills and work-related forms and applications,” he says, ticking off the typical order of business at La Sala. There is purpose in the meal itself: “I am trying to get them to cook more vegetables,” Flores says as he stirs a pot of tomato sauce in the church’s kitchen, “to use the produce they actually plant and harvest: fava beans, brussels sprouts and onions.” As spaghetti is served, Flores calls over Hipolito, one of the men playing dominoes. Hipolito’s face is etched by sun and wind, making him look older than his 48 years. He has a wife and children—eight in central Mexico and a son working in Utah. “I would like to go back,” he says, mentioning his wife’s illness. Increasingly, however, going home after the harvest and then returning to the United States has become harder, given the toughening of U.S. immigration policies. Ironically, these stricter policies mean that immigrants like Hipolito often now stay in the United States for years at a time. This puts an increasing strain on local services and creates a commensurate need for programs like Puente. Aside from immigration-related problems, Flores also gives workers information on other subjects, including pesticide-caused skin diseases. He regularly hands out first-aid kits to workers. Flores is intense about advocating for better living conditions, clean water and heat in the trailers, cottages and barracks that house immigrant workers. Yet, he understands the delicate balance that exists in the world of farm labor. “If we get the county to make an inspection,” he ruefully notes, “the owners might decide to close the place down, and 20 guys will be on the street.” What Flores sees as a balancing act, his boss, Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel, regards as an opportunity to live up to the organization’s name. In many ways, the Puente/bridge metaphor crystallizes everything that regional social service agencies strive to accomplish. Lobel’s recipe is as simple and profound as it is important to achieve: “To create a human bridge supporting communications and understanding,” she says, between two worlds that local philanthropy helps bring together as one. one More photos of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties’ immigrant communities at www.siliconvalleycf.org/ONE. www.siliconvalleycf.org innovation through philanthropy o n e 15 http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/ONE http://www.siliconvalleycf.org
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