MENDOTA, Calif. (KFSN) -- The impact of the ongoing and extreme drought is still not exactly clear. But so far, agencies providing assistance to out-of-work farm laborers say the need is great.
The extreme drought conditions are leaving a lot of fields dried up, producing no crop at all. A lot of farm workers are either finding themselves under-employed or unemployed all together. The biggest problem as a result of all of that is figuring out what type of assistance they need.
The hot summer breeze now blows over what used to be fertile fields -- Ag land that not only grew fruits and vegetables, but also produced jobs. Friday's resource fair was set up to show farmworkers there's help available.
Because of the drought, Alexandra Flores lost all of her day labor work with three separate farms. She says she's frustrated because she's two months behind on rent and struggling to provide for her two children. Flores has never before faced unemployment and struggles like this.
Ricardo Gonzalez with the Economic Development Department says the need is great but largely misunderstood, and all of the agencies at the fair were trying to find ways to help.
"Not just with the rental or PG&E, maybe they need (help with) substance abuse, family counseling, other maybe more personal services," said Gonzalez.
Proteus also sponsored the event. The agency secured $3.4 million to provide temporary housing and utility assistance to drought-impacted families.
"A lot of them are also migrant, so they do bounce around to different areas but they're not finding work in the other areas, or very little work," said Amy Gonzalez with Proteus.
Proteus even has a mobile office that they will be driving around to different small and rural communities where farmworkers don't otherwise have transportation to reach out for help on their own. That will be happening over the next couple of weeks.