In an ideal world, all U.S. citizens - including migrant-seasonal workers - would live in housing at least as nice as the home of Alfredo Hernandez and his family.
Hernandez, his wife, Elma, and their four children have lived in a modest and well-kept apartment in Spring Lake for more than a year. He pays $180 per month for the three-bedroom apartment, which includes a full bathroom, living room and kitchen/dining room.However, Hernandez says many of his fellow farm workers and their families are residing in near-poverty conditions - including some living in their own vehicles - throughout Utah County.
"They haven't been as lucky as us," Hernandez said. "We're very fortunate to have what we have here."
Local officials would like to use the Hernandezes and other migrant-seasonal families who live in the same 13-unit apartment building as a model for the more than 7,000 migrant farm workers living in Utah Valley.
Utah County Commissioners Gary Herbert and Richard Johnson and Housing Authority of Utah County Director Gene Carly joined Utah County Health Department officials and local Hispanic leaders in touring the Hernandez's apartment and a contrasting complex in Santaquin to gauge the extent of the housing shortage for the migrants.
According to a Utah County housing market analysis performed by James A. Wood in 1991, less than 5 percent of Utah fruit growers provide housing for their workers. Despite the fact that weather damage has led to leaner growing seasons, the valley's migrant population is again swelling toward an all-time high, and the housing problem is worsening, said Utah Latinos Organization President Tony Yapias.
"Hopefully, we'll begin to open some eyes as to the severity of this problem," Yapias said. "Maybe this will be the beginning of something significant - where we'll be able to work with (Utah County leaders) to find or provide more housing for these people."
The resident manager of the Hernandez's apartment complex said there is a waiting list of 18 families hoping to find room in the building, which includes several one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Many others are accidentally turned away because they cannot read the applications.
"Unfortunately, we just don't have rooms for all of them," said Jody Montano. "But there's a great demand just waiting for the one vacancy we usually have each year."
Montano manages the apartments - which were built with loans from Farmer's Home Administration - for Sellers Management, a nonprofit organization in Salt Lake City. Families living in the complex pay rent on a sliding scale, based on their monthly income. She and others are hoping for funding to built four more units to be located nearby.
"It's really tragic when you hear some of these people's stories," she said. "One of my tenants came from really terrible conditions. In some cases, people were sleeping 15 or 16 in one-room apartments."
Yapias said many such workers throughout the United States live in structures on farms and ranches that do not have running water, heating or insulation - even windows in some cases.
"There's still a lot to be done," Yapias said. "But perhaps we're breaking ground for the future and at the same time making people aware of the problem."