Early in 2009, PUCDC initiated a new model of community work that has, as a primary focus, the support for community driven projects and self-initiative towards building a healthy environment for families and children. PUCDC’s main assets are its strong and well-established community relationships, which constitute a long term commitment to improving the quality of life; technical expertise in proposing viable solutions; and a strong spirit of collaboration with other community based organizations.
The Eastern Coachella Valley (ECV) houses the largest population of farmworkers living in mobile home parks in California-a highly vulnerable at-risk population of 4,000 farmworker residents who live in over 100 small family-owned mobile home parks designated “Polanco parks” by the California legislature in 1991 to encourage the construction and proper maintenance of agricultural employee housing
Due to the severe lack of affordable housing in the Eastern Coachella Valley, farmworker families have been innovative, utilizing a cooperative model, investing in land acquisition and purchasing used mobile homes to address their affordable housing needs. Unlike a housing cooperative, Polanco Park residents own their homes and land.
Polanco community older mobile homes comprise most of the affordable housing in the ECV, but these 30- to 40-year-old metal structures are not climate-resilient. They leak during heavy rain, become ovens in heat waves, and air contaminants easily enter the homes; significant intersecting threats from heat, flood and wind events predicted to occur more frequently will inflict irreparable damage to these vulnerable structures. In 2015, The California Endowment released Affordable Housing in the Eastern Coachella Valley: Charting the Way Forward and a second report, Improving the Housing Conditions in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Nine years ago, these reports drew attention to the substandard housing conditions in rural Polanco communities that still exist today, and that have challenged the health of ECV farm worker families for over two decades.
In 2021, PUCDC actively engaged farmworker families to identify their affordable housing needs. Using their criteria, architectural plans for a demonstration affordable housing model were completed and a building site secured. Information collected during these community outreach initiatives identified three high priority structural dwelling needs.
1. Open floor plan and functional layout;
2. Cost-effective approach and energy efficiency;
3. Adequate design for household’s size and materials to adapt to climate change
In February 2024, Pueblo Unido celebrated completion of the first Polanco community-driven affordable housing demonstration for the nonprofit’s Rural Habitat: AgriHousing program for essential farmworkers at the Benitez Polanco Park in Thermal.
Features of the new climate-resilient 1,050 sq,. ft. affordable housing single family residence model include an open concept living room/kitchen/dining area, two full bathrooms, three bedrooms, point of entry reverse osmosis water filtration, photovoltaic solar system, and energy efficient home cooling utilizing natural green solutions including carbon sequestering native trees and drought-resistant plants.
Pueblo Unido CDC responds to the needs and concerns of underrepresented rural communities of the Eastern Coachella Valley through actively engaging and fostering collaborative efforts among residents and other stakeholders to find viable solutions, leverage critical resources, and bring new opportunities to improve the quality of life for its residents.