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Posted on Wed, Dec. 06, 2006

Manatee growers fund new housing

MAURA POSSLEY

Herald Staff Writer

WIMAUMA - Built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane and resist fire, a prototype migrant home that will be unveiled Friday to growers at the Florida Agriculture Expo aims to feed the growing need for affordable farmworker housing in the state.

Amidst a dismal housing market, growers are seeking a way to provide cheap but adequate and safe housing for their farmworkers.

The hope is this house, built at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, will be the answer to that need.

"We have a housing crisis in the state of Florida for professionals that only shows how difficult it truly is to come up with housing for the working poor like farmworkers," said Jay Taylor, co-owner of Taylor and Fulton Farms in Palmetto. "This may be a partial answer to the need. It's something that I think the grower community could embrace and afford."

Manatee County is home to approximately 18,000 farmworkers, many of whom live in sub-standard conditions. Manatee ranks eighth of 67 counties in Florida for its amount of agricultural activity.

The house, the majority of which was funded by an $85,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was built by Insulated Component Structures of Florida Inc. and Advanced Building Concepts, LLC.

It will be formally unveiled by an official from the federal housing agency 10:45 a.m. Friday at the Expo, which runs Friday and Saturday at the center, 14625 County Road 672 in Wimauma.

"In today's housing market, it's more and more difficult to find decent housing for farmworkers," said Bob Spencer, of West Coast Tomato Co. in Palmetto. "The worst thing is for them (farmworkers) to come into the area and have sub-standard housing and living conditions."

The two-bedroom prototype house was built using polyurethane and can hold up to five people. It has one bathroom, a combined kitchen-living room area and a laundry room, an important feature for workers who are exposed daily to pesticides sprayed in fields and often have little access to laundry facilities.

"It is a brand-new, state-of-the-art technology," said Jack Rechcigl, the research center's director.

The home saves up to 50 percent of energy costs and can be designed in a variety of ways. Encompassing approximately 900 square feet, it is mold- and mildew-resistant. The home costs about $100 per square foot, Rechcigl said.

"We have to look for new and innovative methods," said Taylor, who also donated $11,000 towards building the home. "This is one of those new and innovative methods for providing the need."

About 500 growers, workers, educators and industry aficionados are expected to attend the trade show, which features the latest research done by the center, educational lectures and a variety of industry vendors. It runs from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

"It's very expensive for us to grow these crops and have this fresh produce," Spencer said. "It doesn't do us any good to grow them and have no one to harvest them."

Maura Possley, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 2640, or at mpossley@HeraldToday.com.

of West Coast Tomato Co. in Palmetto

2225 C. R. 44 West, Eustis, FL 32726
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