HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- Governor Gavin Newsom announced five counties in California will receive grant money to help farmworkers become homeowners. The total grant money is $16 million.
The state awarded San Mateo County $5 million, and officials say most of the money will go to housing those displaced following the Half Moon Bay mass shooting earlier this year. County Supervisor Ray Mueller says the county already identified a 28-unit housing complex in Half Moon Bay.
"We already put $1 million into it," he said. "What this money is going to allow us to do is start planning and purchase marginal homes for 18, the 18 families affected by the shooting."
He went on to mention the remaining 10 units will go to extremely low-income residents. Part of the grant money from the state will support five programs statewide to build or purchase homes for lower-income farmworkers. It will also set aside money to help them with mortgage assistance so they remain homeowners. Representatives with Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, a Half Moon Bay nonprofit advocating for immigrant workers' rights, say this will be a big step for those farmworkers.
"We in the Bay Area have seen what home ownership can do to transform a family," said Dr. Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, the Executive Director. "It changes our lives. It goes from having a narrative of poverty for decades and generations to have sustainability."