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Slow progress made on new farmworker housing two years after Half Moon Bay mass shooting

Two years after Half Moon Bay mass shooting, progress made on farmworker housing
Two years after Half Moon Bay mass shooting, progress made on farmworker housing 04:32

The Half Moon Bay community on Thursday marked two years since a gunman killed seven people at two mushroom farms, a mass shooting that also put a spotlight on the horrific living conditions many farmworkers are forced to endure.

Last February, 67-year-old Chunli Zhao -- the man accused in the mass shooting -- pleaded not guilty to multiple charges and denied all allegations against him.

Javier Torres has been working at farms in Half Moon Bay for nearly 50 years. He remembers living with five to ten other workers in single rooms, and sleeping on cardboard beds.  

"That disrupts the families. It puts a lot of stress on the families, on the couples, on the children," Torres said through a translator. 

That translator is Sandra Sencion, who is also an advocate for farmworkers with the grassroots nonprofit ALAS (Ayudando Latinos A Soñar)

Torres now has housing for his family after decades in the fields, but is sharing his early struggles in the hopes his story will help other field workers find homes too. 

"They've worked so hard their whole lives that they deserve to have a space to call their own," explained Sencion. 

Construction is underway at 880 Stone Pine Rd. to create a mobile housing community for 47 farmworker families. Those displaced after the mass shooting two years ago will get first priority. 

"There was a lot of work to be done to improve the living conditions, and we're undertaking that now," said San Mateo County District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller. 

A second project yet to get underway is a five-story affordable housing development for senior farmworkers closer to the center of Half Moon Bay at 555 Kelly Ave.

The city council finally approved it in May after some pushback and criticism from the Governor to get the ball moving. 

"The feedback that I've heard is there are some merchants who are worried about parking. Any time you do something close to a city center, you tend to hear more objections," said Mueller. 

"When our community says, 'Yes, you belong here. Yes, you are worthy of dignified housing,' that creates an inclusive community," said Sencion. 

For Torres, any housing dedicated to farmworkers will help families who are desperately in need.  

"He's excited for the stability it's going to bring several hard-working families here on the coast side, seniors that have dedicated their lives to work in the fields, just like he has," said Sencion. 

Mueller said there's also a $2 million grant that will soon be announced to improve existing farmworker housing.  

The first move-in date for families at the mobile home project is expected sometime in May. 

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