Community: Pajaro

Host Agency: Pajaro Valley Housing Corporation

Community Profile: This community of less than 4,000 persons situated at the northernmost end of Monterey County is a rural community that is essentially surrounded by strawberry fields with one end connected by bridge to Watsonville in Santa Cruz County. Ninety percent of the population is Latino; 70% of the total population is low-income.

Before welfare reform, the residents of Pajaro were well aware of their need for childcare, healthcare, transportation, housing and recreational facilities. They had come together after the 1995 flood and created a committee, called the Pajaro Model Partnership, to deal with these issues. Over a period of several months a community-wide strategic plan was developed by the Partnership. With welfare reform came intense magnification of these concerns, which were the topics of discussion at the meetings that took place in the community.

In the first two meetings there were representatives from several agencies including Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Pajaro Healthy Start Program, Monterey County Department of Social Services (DSS), Healthy Start for Pajaro Middle Schools, Casa de la Cultura, Pajaro Valley Housing Corporation, Salud Para la Gente and City of Watsonville Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services. The Institute for Community Collaborative Studies introduced the welfare reform project. The Pajaro Valley Housing Corporation was selected as host agency because some other community organizations were in competition with each other. The agreed upon plan was to build leadership with community members and move the Pajaro Model Partnership Plan forward into implementation. The Welfare Reform Project served as catalyst to move The Model Partnership's community plan forward while addressing the concerns of the residents and agencies regarding welfare reform.

To implement the strategy, the planning group invited residents to a community meeting at Pajaro Middle School. A student from the Institute's Collaborative Human Services major developed bilingual invitation flyers that were distributed by participating agencies. 35 residents and their children attended the meeting. The Department of Social Services presented information on the changes forthcoming with welfare reform. Three students from the Institute facilitated discussion groups In Spanish where questions, prepared by a welfare reform consultant to the Institute, were addressed regarding the five key issues of the Partnership plan.

In the meeting that followed this event, the group reflected on what had transpired in the community meeting. They agreed the discussion groups went well. They also acknowledged the resident's difficulty in comprehending the changes related to welfare reform. It was decided to shift the primary focus from welfare reform and integrate these issues into the implementation of the Model Partnership Plan as initially agreed. This process began by reactivating the Partnership's plan utilizing information from the community meeting as a place to begin. Three working groups addressing health care, childcare, and recreation. At that point, the welfare reform group had now become the coordinating committee for the Model Partnership Plan.

A combination of community and agency participants met in their work teams on the issues that had been identified earlier by the residents. There were 18 representative in attendance at the subsequent meetings of the coordinating committee; 14 members from the Model Partnership and four community residents.

In the healthcare area Casa de la Cultura expanded their clinic and conducted a summer meals program, and worked on obtaining a mobile unit to provide greater access to healthcare. Healthy Start has linked dental care services for all junior high students. Salud Para la Gente offered to provide a doctor. Par la Gente has become the health care provider to the community and by 2000 will open a satellite clinic from Watsonville.

Together in Pajaro (TIP) collaborated with the Pajaro School District and Salvation Army to provide a summer recreation program for 89 children. The recreation group worked with the probation department to secure use of their van for transportation to recreational activities. A Truancy and Family Preservation grant was secured by TIP to connect children to afterschool recreation programs. Tot-lots have been created on vacant lots in Pajaro.

Pajaro Valley Housing Corporation has conducted a survey to determine the availability of low-income rental housing properties. The coordinating committee is seeking a partnership between the Redevelopment Agency and the Model Partnership.

Residents met with the County Traffic Commission in Pajaro and presented their concerns regarding transportation to the Board of Supervisors. They are negotiating new routes to serve residents from Salinas to Watsonville.

A direct result of the welfare reform project was the reactivation of the Model Partnership Plan and the collaboration of agencies and community members through working groups to achieve ongoing results. The goal of implementing the Pajaro Model Partnership plan is on its way, and the continuing leadership role for residents is the next issue that needs to be addressed. ICCS is planning to include Pajaro in the proposed Community Leader program.

 

Accomplishments:

• Community members and representatives brought together through the Pajaro Model Partnership (PMP) have continued to meet
• Community-wide meeting was held to present concepts of welfare reform
• The "Pajaro Community Plan" developed by PMP was adopted as foundation for Pajaro'd welfare reform
• Three "working teams", Child Care, Health Care and Recreation, have remained active and have moved forward with their team plans
• The following activities were underway, The Welfare Reform meetings provided a joint forum for the working groups as they worked on implementation of their plans.
• Feasibility analysis for a multi-purpose community center in the Granite Construction site
• Child Care Working Team:
  • A child care facility is feasible in the Granite Construction Bidg.
  • Children's Services International (CSI) will be child care provider at the facility
  • Other child care services will be provided, i.e. licensing and subsidy information, parenting education, family counseling, toy lending library
• Health Care Working Team:
  • Weekly health clinic at Casa de le Cultura has expanded its services
  • Healthy Start has accessed dental care for all junior high school students
  • Determination has been made to include health services in Granite Construction community building
  • Salud Para la Gente has agreed to provide a doctor or health care provider daily to the community of Pajaro
• Recreation Working Team:
  • TIP (Together in Pajaro), in collaboration with Pajaro Valley School District and Salvation Army, provided afterschool and summer recreation program for 89 children, including weekly field trips, swimming at YMCA 2 times a week, sports clinics (soccer, volleyball, softball)
  • A Truancy and Family Preservation grant was secured by TIP to funnel kids into after-school recreation program
  • Tot-lots have been created on vacant lots in several locations around Pajaro

Challenges: "The community is not ready to cope with welfare reform."

• Needs of rural communities are different that urban communities
• Welfare reform information is not readily available in Pajaro
• No public or private agency in Pajaro provides welfare reform education or assistance
• Public transportation is limited
• Many women don't drive and/or don't have cars
• Unemployment rate is always high; jobs are not available, even after training
• No new child care facilities have been added to the community as yet
• English skills are limited, as is availability of ESL classes

Next Steps:

• Complete Master Plan for Granite Community Building
• Child Care Working Team will stay focused on expanding child care opportunities
• Health care services will be expanded as soon as site can be secured
• Welfare reform will happen- ready or not