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Farmworker housing opens in Othello

Growers can rent beds for their workers, including H-2A workers.

The Othello Housing Authority unveiled its new seasonal farmworker housing development in Othello, Washington, on June 17.

The Lugar Seguro (Safe Place) development has 19 units designed to accommodate 96 farmworkers and family members. Each unit has two or three bedrooms, a bathroom, and fully-equipped kitchen. The development has an on-site manager.

The Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing, in Yakima, Washington, helped the Housing Authority to develop the project. ORFH Executive Director Marty Miller said the Washington Department of Health’s closure of an unsanitary and unlicensed housing camp in Othello a couple of years ago drew attention to the lack of decent, affordable housing for farmworkers. “It was in response to that that the Othello Housing Authority took action,” he related during an open house at Lugar Seguro on June 17.

Miller noted the positive and ongoing evolution in seasonal farmworker housing in Washington—from unlicensed camps, to tents, to converted cargo containers, and now to quality houses that are still affordable to workers. He said the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust has been the lynchpin in creating thousands of affordable housing units and beds in the state.

Lugar Seguro was constructed at a cost of $2.5 million with funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Housing Trust Fund and the Bank of Whitman. The Housing Authority acted as general contractor and used local services and materials where possible, creating a boost to the local economy. Total costs came in about $500,000 under budget.

Nancy Danko, project coordinator with the ORFH, said the units will be rented to farmworkers at a cost of about $8 to $9 a day, which covers the loan repayment and operating costs. The Housing Authority will allow growers to rent beds for their workers, although 10 percent of the beds must be available for walk-ins. It can be used for workers employed through the H-2A guest worker program.
Although the facility will be open year round, occupants must be seasonal workers and cannot stay for more than a year.