Meeting the Needs of Farmworkers

Established in 1982, Episcopal Farmworker Ministry addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. Low-income immigrants throughout Sampson County and beyond know EFM and have come to rely upon its services as they struggle to establish themselves in this region and in this country. EFM received the Bishop's Medal Award from the NC Episcopal Diocese in 2009. Watch video.

EFM’s services include:

Immigration Assistance Program, accredited by the US Department of Justice’s Board of Immigration Appeals, it is one of only 3 sites east of Raleigh providing free immigration services, and it is by far the largest, serving over 6,000 clients a year.
English as a Second Language (ESL) classes
Food distribution program
Migrant outreach to over 30 migrant labor camps, providing clothing and supplies, ESL, religious services, emergency transportation, and advocacy in the presence of rights violations.
Adopt-a-Camp programs matching churches with individual camps
Farmworker Leadership Series, where participants gather weekly during summer to educate themselves on issues affecting their lives as migrant workers, develop strategies to address and solve common problems, and explore their role as community leaders.
Annual Farmworker Festival
Annual Christmas Gift Distribution

Established in 1982, Episcopal Farmworker Ministry supports migrant workers and their families.

- Episcopal Farmworker Ministry

Summary

The Episcopal Farmworker Ministry (EFM), a long-term partner of Resourceful Communities, provides much-needed services to the farmworker community of Sampson County and surrounding areas. EFM actively supports opportunities for farmworkers to become self-directed. EFM serves more than 6,000 farmworkers, providing food, clothing, transportation, counseling, pastoral care, ministry, English language classes, child care assistance and educational programming.

Challenge

The Latino population in North Carolina has increased over 500% in the last 10 years with a 1,000% increase in Sampson County alone. Sampson County has the highest farm cash income of all 100 North Carolina counties, and farming remains the primary occupation there. This has resulted in a large influx of migrant farmworkers to the area. Unfortunately, farmworkers face extreme challenges and hardships. They are routinely subjected to substandard housing, pesticide exposure, dangerous and exhausting work, inadequate wages, frequent housing and labor violations, intimidation, job loss if violations are reported, language and educational barriers, lack of transportation, and extreme isolation.

The poverty and injustice that farmworkers endure are not merely the problems of an invisible group of transient unknowns, but of individuals with names and identities who feed our nation through their toil.

Solution

Resourceful Communities has provided funding to support EFM programs, including pesticide safety education and support of a community garden. Through direct technical assistance, Resourceful Communities is providing guidance on fundraising and board development.