Galilee Center celebrates opening of shelter for migrant workers.
Migrant farm workers in the eastern Coachella Valley now have a safe place to sleep overnight thanks to a local non-profit. The Galilee Center celebrated the grand opening of its new emergency shelter in Mecca.
The new ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’ shelter in Mecca has the capacity for up to 100 farm workers to sleep on mats on the floor, with clean sheets and pillows.
Staff at the Galilee Center says there is a lack of housing options for workers who come to the area for the harvest season, and the shelter is working to help fill that gap. They will also offer breakfast in the morning before the workday begins.
The shelter is funded by the Galilee Center, which received two large donations last December from philanthropist, Mary Ingebrand-Pohlad, and Father Howard Lincoln of Sacred Heart Parish in Palm Desert.
“This population, from what I’ve seen, is faith-based, family-oriented, hard-working,” Ingebrand-Pohlad said. “They’re an invisible population, yet indispensable to our economy. These are the people that are fueling our economy and putting food on our tables.”
According to staff, the shelter is already paying dividends for migrant workers.
“Well it’s been wonderful,” Gloria Gomez, founder of the Galilee Center, said. “We have about between 5 to 15 people each day staying in our shelter. The people are happy and this is the first kind of shelter that is here in Mecca.
