FLORIDA CITY, FLORIDA – APRIL 01: Farm workers harvest zucchini on the Sam Accursio & Son’s Farm on April 01, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Sergio Martinez, a harvest crew supervisor, said that the coronavirus pandemic has caused them “to have to throw crops away due to less demand for produce in stores and restaurants. The farm workers who are essential to providing food for homebound families are worried that if the restaurants stay closed and peoples changed grocery store habits continue they would be out of work with no work for the near future.” (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Cal State San Bernardino's Palm Desert campus and the local organization OneFuture Coachella Valley were awarded a five-year, $2.3 million grant to help migrant farmworkers, officials said today.
The U.S. Department of Education's College Assistance Migrant Program grant will focus on helping 50 students annually who are migrant/seasonal farmworkers, or their children stay in school through their first year of college starting July 1.
The grant will work out of CSUSB, its Palm Desert Campus, Palm Desert- based OneFuture Coachella Valley and the Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley - Mecca Club.
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"This historical investment in the Valley will transform lives by improving the educational and economic outcomes of the region,'' said Summer Steele, director of the CSUSB California Student Opportunity and Access Program.
"We see this as an excellent opportunity to support postsecondary attainment for migrant students from the Coachella Valley, said Sheila Thornton, president and CEO of One Future Coachella Valley.
"This grant will allow us to provide much needed support and resources to students who face significant barriers to enrolling and persisting in college and completing degrees,'' Thornton continued. ``The work helps advance the Coachella Valley's Regional Plan Goal of having 70% of students completing a degree or certificate within six years of graduation and will directly impact economic mobility among our most vulnerable community members.''
The grant will offer planning, progress tracking, advising, tutoring programs, workshops, scholarship assistance, employment connections and more to "increase their workforce readiness skills and provide opportunities for holistic student support and enrichment,'' according to a statement from the Palm Desert Campus.
CAMP projects that 86% of the participants will complete their first
year of college and 92% will continue into their second year of college.
