Then there was an issue with food access. We ended up refocusing that to the urgent needs of Helene. This week, we spent time at the Christmas tree farms [in the northern counties of western North Carolina] taking food to workers as well as gas burners and gas tanks. We took a generator out. We spent some time around Mouth of Wilson, on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, and Newland, North Carolina. We were in Boone and Jefferson and West Jefferson. We‘ve been visiting those workers.

We haven‘t been able to get to the workers near Asheville. We‘ve been talking to some of them and working with donation centers, but we haven‘t been able to get to them personally, because of the chaos and the accessibly to roads. We worked with an agency called Tierra Fértile, which had better access to workers we couldn’t get to. And other collection centers have been helping us, sending things to labor camps.

What is the current situation like for the farmworkers you work with?

Most of the workers we’ve worked with say it was a pretty scary situation. [Because they were not warned], it was something that caught them off guard. Most of them hadn’t been in a hurricane before, so it was very scary.

Some workers still don’t have electricity, and the growers are wanting them to stay, to help get the crop. They were expecting there to be damage to the crop and maybe being sent home early, but it’s actually reversed—a lot of the Christmas tree harvest was not damaged, so even though some workers still don’t have electricity, the growers are wanting them to stay to get the crop out.

What have you heard about the experience of farmworkers in the harder hit areas around Asheville?

That’s a scary part—we haven’t been able to connect with people in that area, so we don’t know. What I’ve heard from agencies [helping Latinx communities] is they’re just really overwhelmed. This is the time of year we normally get a lot of calls from workers in that area, because workers are being transferred out of tobacco to the Christmas trees. But we haven’t heard from them.

What type of aid is reaching farmworker communities from your organization and others like it? And what limitations do you run up against in trying to provide help?

The urgent need for water and food and things like that is being met [in the northern counties, by organizations that support farmworkers]. But we’re concerned about the long-term healing of the communities. There are people who have lost their jobs, and they can receive water and food for now, but what about being able to rebuild their homes?

We know that a lot of mobile homes were destroyed. What we’ve seen in the past is that in North Carolina, if you don’t have a driver’s license, you cannot own mobile homes. You cannot own vehicles. A lot of these mobile homes are still in the names of either the owner of the lot or somebody else. Getting access to FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Association] and explaining those kinds of things to agencies becomes difficult. There are issues with language.

There are also issues with transportation. Even if the roads aren’t blocked off, people lost their cars and so that is hard and complicated. We’re concerned about that.

As another example, it wasn’t like a big loss, but some of these H-2A workers had just bought a satellite so they could have internet access. Between the whole crew of 20 workers, it cost them like $600. It was knocked down and damaged by the hurricane. Where can they look to get that kind of like support and get that back?

H-2A workers do not qualify for FEMA disaster assistance. Undocumented workers don’t either. Can undocumented workers receive any type of help from the agency?

If they are undocumented, they may still be eligible for certain assistance. Like if there’s a family with mixed immigration status, even though you may not qualify, your children may, and that qualifies the family.

To receive assistance, people have to fill out a form. There are a couple agencies that serve farmworkers that have been helping them do it in Spanish. They can go to one of those places [for help]. They have to be able to document what was theirs. They can do that with photos or lists of things they lost.

Is government assistance effectively reaching farmworker communities?

We need more. It’s easy for government assistance to access people in the city or where a lot of people are congregated, but in the rural parts, it’s more difficult to get the news and information out. There’s more information needed out in the rural areas of North Carolina. 

One issue [that is arising] is if farmworkers don’t have papers, they’re less likely to seek out help they may be eligible for.

Also we heard from an organization that they were trying to recruit people who were affected by the hurricane to fill out FEMA applications so they could have a source of income and cover some of the needs. But the organization wasn’t getting the resources to be able to pay staff to help [with the forms], therefore farmworkers were not able to fill out the applications.

What would you advise a farmworker who needs help to do?

The first thing is make a list of the things you have lost and the things you need—analyze your situation, so you know when you knock on the doors of churches, immigrant organizations, and government agencies, you can ask for everything. If they have a good list of the things that they lost and the things that they need, then it makes it easier for organizations to work together and refer to each other.

The second is keep knocking on doors. There’s gonna be people that say, “No, you don’t qualify,” or, “We can’t do this for you.” Sometimes it’s because even FEMA staff isn’t trained adequately. So the first time somebody says, “No”—don’t accept that. Keep asking and keep knocking on doors.

The Farmworker Health Program has been active. They can call us [El Futuro Es Nuestro] and we can refer people, depending on where they are located, to different spaces. There’s a lot of immigrant organizations that are also working to provide help.

One thing to remember is there are always changes. There may be some services that open up within a couple weeks that are not available now. So be persistent.

What are the biggest needs in farmworker communities in the wake of the storm, and what can the public do to support them?

Right now, people are sending money, but after things kind of calm down, it stops. And what does that mean for families?

I feel like there’s going to be a big need for cash assistance for transition, like people who need to move or be relocated [to farms in different areas]. That’s where I’ve seen a lot of gaps with FEMA and other responses. El Futuro Es Nuestro is assessing those needs right now. It would require growers and us to work together. We are hoping if the need arises, we can help.

Farmworkers are often overlooked, especially at times of crisis. What do you wish that the public better understood, and how can the public best support them?

Farmworkers are hit first and most with natural disasters. I haven’t heard people talk about Debby and the impact it had. It flooded areas, and workers were going hungry. And nobody really found out about that. Another issue is the heat and how it affects us.

It’s really important to recognize that [farmworkers are] the ones that get hit the most, and it’s longer-term than other people. People who work in factories, they may be back to work a week or two after. But farmworkers, if the harvest was damaged, the harvest was damaged, and they don’t get to work until the next harvest comes.

We have a collective responsibility towards farmworkers, because we all depend on them on a daily basis. And it’s important that everybody learn what the conditions of farmworkers are in their communities and that they support the struggles that they workers are pushing. 

Is there anything else you’d like to add about how these workers are doing or feeling right now?

I did hear a nice positive story. We had one worker who said, “You know, we’ve been here together for seven or eight months, and by now we’re usually kind of tired [of each other]. But when the hurricane hit, we had to come together. And we ended up dividing up our chores. Some people went and collected firewood, and some people would bring water from the stream, and some people would prepare the meal. We kind of became a little united group again.”

(But) workers are being asked to stay despite not having electricity because of the need to meet the [H-2A] contracts. They have contracts that they need to meet, and if they don’t meet them, then they could not have a contract next year. They are essential workers. Even Christmas trees are considered essential. But how do you feel about workers having to stay without electricity so you can have a Christmas tree?

It’s a tough decision for workers to make: “Do I want to go back to Mexico empty handed, or risk it and stay?” It’s also tough for the growers. One grower I talked to really tried. She’s like, “Tell me what I need to do to get water and food to the guys, and I’ll do it.”

This is about balancing the needs of the business and industry but also the needs of the humans doing the work.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.