Oregon
Federal funding to expand affordable farmworker housing reaches Oregon
Oregon farmworkers, many of them immigrants, face a housing market that is fraught with substandard living conditions or is financially out of reach. Through a round of $18 million in investments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one housing nonprofit in McMinnville will rehabilitate two dozen housing units to address some of those shortfalls.
The USDA’s Rural Development office will award McMinnville-based nonprofit Community Home Builders nearly $1 million to rehabilitate 24 apartments in Villa del Sol – a farmworker housing community near McMinnville. It’s part of an ongoing effort to tackle rural housing shortages, and more specifically to provide affordable housing for farmworkers.
Villa del Sol, a subsidized farmworker housing community just outside McMinnville, Ore., Oct. 21, 2024.
Alejandro Figueroa / OPB
“It’s important that we treat our farmworkers with dignity and make sure that their health and wellbeing is important. Why? Because they are the ones that work very hard at making sure that the food is processed, the food is picked, the food is brought to our table,” said Joaquin Altoro, the Rural Housing Services administrator for the USDA.
Teresa Smith, president of Community Home Builders, said there’s a shortage of affordable housing for all Oregonians, but it can be more dire for many agriculture workers.
The average farmworker family in Oregon earns between $20,000 and $25,000 per year, according to a 2023 report from Oregon Housing and Community Services. That can force many families into overcrowded or poor housing conditions. The report estimates there are 66,269 farmworker households in Oregon, most of whom need subsidized housing that currently does not exist.
Developments like Villa de Sol, which is being rehabilitated due to a mold problem, help, said Smith.
“Housing is so expensive, and wages have not gone up that much, so for them to afford a normal apartment or a house is almost impossible,” Smith said. “So this helps them do that.”
Advocates say more affordable or subsidized farmworker housing needs to be built, and pay also needs to go up. U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat who was touring Villa de Sol with Joaquin Altoro on Monday, said there also needs to be more safety nets for farmworkers.
U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, touring an apartment at Villa del Sol in McMinnville on Oct. 21, 2024.
Alejandro Figueroa / OPB
Salinas, one of two Oregon delegates in the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, is currently pitching a bill to Congress to provide financial relief to farmworkers if they lose earnings due to extreme weather or public health events.
“They don’t get paid [if they lose hours due to natural disasters], they don’t have access to unemployment insurance, they don’t have anything to keep them here,” Salinas said. “And it not only hurts the individual who is working on the farm and harvesting and growing the produce, but also the operation, the farmer themselves because that makes the labor uncertain as well.”
The USDA investment comes as farmworker and affordable housing groups have, for years, asked state regulators to update farmworker housing conditions they say are “alarmingly outdated.”
In August, Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, or Oregon OSHA, released a set of proposed changes to tighten health and safety standards for farmworker housing. The agency has not yet issued a final decision.
The Jets, with their 16th pick of Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, might have been tempted to move up to grab one of the set of hands that appealed to them in this draft class. But the Green & White remained patient and stayed put at 16 and were rewarded by being able to select Kenyon Sadiq, the draft’s top tight end out of Oregon.
“It’s unreal, man. Need to be the Jets. It’s special,” said Sadiq of being selected 16th overall and by the Green & White. “My sister currently lives in New York, so I’m happy to get down there. But great interactions with all the staff, in meetings and everything. So I’m beyond excited, super grateful.
“David Bailey said it already,” Sadiq added about Bailey, the Texas Tech edge taken second overall. “This organization is trending in the right direction. And I’m just a piece that can help and I’m ready to help. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Sadiq, known by some as “Sadiq the Freak,” put his athleticism and receiving skills on full display last season with an Oregon single-season tight ends record of 51 catches for 560 yards and 8 receiving touchdowns, which led all FBS tight ends. He was named a second-team All-American and the Big Ten TE of the Year and was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight.
After the season’s end, Sadiq went to the NFL Combine in February and demonstrated some of that freakishness in dominating his position. He turned in a 4.39-second 40, best among TEs not only this year but for the past 14 Combines. He also notched a 43.5-inch vertical leap, an 11-1 broad jump and 26 reps in the bench press, all second at his position.
“I’ve got all the attributes,” he told the Jets media Thursday. “I mean, the Combine showed that.”
Sadiq joins a tight ends room that is now brimming with talent. Mason Taylor, last year’s second-rounder (42nd overall) out of LSU and Jeremy Ruckert, their 2022 third-rounder (101st) are already there and the group will be helpful not only to new/old veteran starting QB Geno Smith but also the Breece Hall-lead running game.
What exactly will Sadiq add to the room, the offense and the ’26 Green & White?
“I think it’s versatility, speed and toughness, bro, seriously,” he said. “I think I can help in the running and passing game on top of that. I’m sure I’m on special teams as well. That’s what I did at Oregon, and that’s what I’ll continue to do. I can create separation, but I can also go hit someone. Obviously, the NFL is different. I’m going to have to clean some things up. But, man, I’m going to go hit somebody. I’m not going to be scared.”
Sadiq is only the fourth Oregon player to be drafted by the Jets and the first in 20 years, since QB Kellen Clemens came to the Green & White in 2006 in Round 2. Other Ducks to become Jets through the draft were DB Reggie Grant in Round 9 of the 1978 draft and TE Blake Spence in the fifth round in 1998.
And the choice may well extend the Green & White’s track record of taking good to very good TEs in Round 1. Johnny Mitchell got the ball rolling in 1992 and was followed by Kyle Brady in 1996, Anthony Becht in 2000 and Dustin Keller in 2008.
The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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