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A flower farm is pictured in Pescadero on the San Mateo coast. The closure of the flower market in San Francisco because of the pandemic forced one farm to lay off all its workers, with 16 families falling back on savings and the compassion of local aid groups. (Courtesy photo)
April 6, 2020
Lorena Rojas
San Francisco Católico
Jorge Guzmán celebrated 43 years as an employee of a flower farm in Pescadero on March 19. The same day, he lost his job to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His wife, Isabel Guzmán, with 42 years at the company, and all the farm workers, 16 families in all, also were laid off.
"The company came and told us that they were going to close because the
“marqueta” (the market where the flowers are sold) in San Francisco had also been closed,” Jorge said.
"When we were told that the farm was closed, people looked sad,” he said. The longtime co-workers went home “and haven't seen each other since.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reported in late March that the flower industry in the Bay Area, considered a nonessential business under shelter-in-place mandates, had to dispose of tons of withered product.
The Guzmáns have been without any income since the farm closed.
"We have already begun to fill out the paperwork to apply for unemployment insurance,” Jorge said. “But more than half of the families who lost their jobs don't have any papers; they can't receive that benefit."
He said some families were going through what little savings they have.
Since the mandatory shelter-in-place orders went into effect, the farm families have been collecting food from St. Anthony Church in Pescadero, a mission of Our Lady of the Pillar Parish in Half Moon Bay, where Jorge and Isabel are catechists. The food was donated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
According to César Sánchez, a social justice leader at Our Lady of Pillar, the parish has not been able to provide direct assistance to the needy yet because of the shelter-in-place orders.
"I haven't contacted father yet,” he said. “He's over 60 and we have to be very careful with this.”
Sánchez is sure that help will be on hand when parish facilities reopen. In the meantime, he relies on Vincentian volunteers and the nonprofit organization Puente, which is also responding to the COVID-19 crisis in the neighboring communities of La Honda, Loma Mar and San Gregorio.
However, Sánchez worries about not being able to afford health premiums, car insurance, utility payments and other expenses. "A check here, and a check there, and the money goes fast," he said.
Their former employer provides affordable housing for its farm workers. "We pay a low rent of $650 to $700 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. So far, they haven't told us anything, and I don't think they will pressure us with the rent," Guzman said.
Three of his colleagues managed to get a few hours of work at a nearby organic farm. "I didn't even try because those of us over 60 are afraid to leave the house," Guzmán said.
Despite the bleak picture, Guzmán speaks as a man of faith. "I think we also have to see the positive side of this crisis. The earth is going to be cleaned up and people are learning to live together,” he said.
Belinda Hernández Arriaga, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (Helping Latinos to Dream) in Half Moon Bay and an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco, says community aid agencies on the front lines of the crisis are in great need of donations.
Her group is coordinating with other local agencies such as Coastside Hope and Abundant Grace Coastside Worker to raise $500,000, enough to help as many as 300 families with rent. The effort will give priority to those who do not have legal documents and thus do not qualify for government aid.
The Coastside Crisis Fund, as the campaign is called, raised $6,000 in in the first six days. That amount will provide some help for the neediest families during Holy Week.