The Cortez Day Labor Center, a program of the Bridge Emergency Shelter, is starting our second season, and the atmosphere is encouraging and hopeful. Our center is a community of skilled and semi-skilled folks, mostly from our local area. We connect folks who need work with community members who need workers for small and large jobs. A big thank you for helping us to establish a working relationship with you that is rewarding and generous. We are also grateful for all the donations of boots, coats, work clothing, equipment and lunch supplies. Especially, thank you for the trust you have placed in us.
Workers come from many walks of life and bring varied experiences. They are also ready to learn new information, job requirements, and skills. I have arranged on-going workshops to assure workers have the abilities, confidence and skills.
For instance, a generous community member taught our workers how to build and run a gated pipe irrigation system. Another community member has taught several of our workers how to manage side roll irrigation as well as an orchard watering system. With these skills, our workers have confidence they can do the job for farmers and ranchers; likewise, people who utilize our workers know that those who work for them understand the job.
Other types of work our folks can do include interior and exterior construction, flooring, dry wall, stucco, concrete, light and heavy yard work, moving small and large items, and digging ditches. Basically, almost any job that needs to be done can be accomplished by someone from our Day Labor Center.
To give you an idea of our numbers, here are some interesting figures. The number of folks looking for work is up approximately 25 percent compared to last year at this time. This signifies that workers have learned about the center and are comfortable coming here to look for work. The amount of new jobs coming into the Center rose by 50 percent in the same timeframe, indicating that community members are gaining awareness of our services.The excellent news is that we are placing about 20 percent more folks in jobs than at this time last year. And, this is during an economic downturn. Our mission is being realized in that our Day Labor Center is contributing to poverty prevention.
A recent success story is about the two-man team on a remodel job. They finished one day early, and it was a job done well. Different teams go out almost daily and yet work together cohesively, which is essential to the success of these projects. We have many success stories of folks getting permanent and semi-permanent work in our community as the result of their relationship with the Day Labor Center.
Our Day Labor Enterprise Garden consists of seven very large raised beds where we grow potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, summer and winter squash, beans, peas and more. Community volunteers built the raised beds, donated soil, manure, straw, mulch and seeds. We have started many seedlings inside for this years garden. We collaborated with a local chef to have a salsa-making workshop using produce from the garden; all those participating were able to take containers of fresh salsa home.We also have four smaller raised beds with strawberries and flowers.
Our center is a reflection of the larger community. You are invited to spend time here and see that we depend on each other for accountability, teamwork, safety and ethical work practices. Our system is a work in progress; great effort is made to be fair for employees and employers. Feedback from the community has been very positive and constructive. Our folks are your friends and neighbors from diverse backgrounds and cultures. We look forward to our continued partnership.
We are located at 2405 East Empire, the southeast corner of Highway 145 and Empire. Summer hours are Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. and Saturdays from 8 to 11 a.m. Call us at (970) 565-9109 or e-mail daylaborcentercortez@hotmail.com.
Anna Bousquet is manager of the Day Labor Center.
