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Farmworker advocates urge sustained funding after temporary grants expand services
Summary
Irene of Lideres Campesinas said CME funds allowed the group to grow its policy team and maintain outreach, but warned that ‘when a grant ends, the work ends’ and that fear of immigration enforcement reduces participation in legal clinics.
Irene, director of policy and communications at Lideres Campesinas, told the committee that CME funding allowed her organization to expand staffing and pursue worker‑led cooperative projects and specialty labeling initiatives that promote fair labor standards. She said the wine label initiative now includes seven participating wines and is intended to evolve into a worker‑led certification program.
She warned that short funding horizons imperil sustained progress: “When a grant ends, the work ends.” Irene also described barriers farmworker women face—including fear of immigration enforcement—which depresses participation in legal clinics and other services even when programs exist. She urged permanent funding streams for outreach, legal support and workforce initiatives targeted to immigrant and farmworker communities.
Committee members asked how statewide programs could be designed to protect participation and to braid Cal OES and other support to maintain services between grant cycles.
