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Apopka | Fellsmere | Homestead | Immokalee | Pierson
Apopka | Headquarters
1264 Apopka Boulevard
Apopka, FL 32703
Phone: (407) 886-5151
Fax: (407) 884-6644
The headquarters of the Farmworker Association of Florida is located in Apopka, Florida, just north of Orlando.
The Apopka FWAF office works with farmworkers and community members in Orange, Seminole, and Lake counties, where the current agricultural crops include foliage, landscape and ornamental plants; citrus, vegetables, mushrooms and, blueberries. Most of the community members are seasonal workers and live in the area with extended family year-round.
While FWAF’s main mission is to work for and with and among farmworkers, the increasing urbanization of the area means an increasing number of community members work in other industries, including landscaping, construction, hospitality, retail, and health care.
Fellsmere
29 S. Maple Street, Unit A
Fellsmere, FL 32948
Phone (772) 571-0081
Fax (772) 571-9932
Hurricanes devastated the east coast of Florida in 2004. The little town of Fellsmere, west of Vero Beach on Florida’s east coast. The area is largely by farmworkers working in the vast citrus groves and was especially hard-hit. With few food, clothing and housing resources reaching the community and with many undocumented immigrants fearful of asking for assistance, FWAF staff traveled to Fellsmere to address the hardships faced by the farmworker community.
Today, Fellsmere is a success story of a farmworker community becoming empowered. The FWAF office is engaged in many aspects of community life. Programs include:
- Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health
- Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights
- Civic Engagement and Civic Participation
- Campesinos’ Gardens
Homestead
329 N. Flagler Avenue
Homestead, FL 33030
Phone: (305) 247-0072
Fax: (305) 247-0092
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated the town of Homestead, Florida south of Miami. While thousands of people were critically impacted by the devastation, farmworkers were the last to get assistance, if they received any at all. The Farmworker Association of Florida, traveled to the Homestead area to seek out, reach out to and assist the thousands of virtually “invisible” farmworkers to help them get the emergency housing, food, clothing, and other assistance they so desperately needed. Because of the nature and extent of the devastation and the needs in the community, the response and recovery efforts stretched into months and even years.
FWAF was instrumental in the development of Everglades Village, a farmworker housing community, and opened and operated an ethnic food store for the community.
Prior to Hurricane Andrew, the main crops in the Homestead area were vegetables and citrus. In the aftermath of the hurricane, these crops were re-established, but the community has seen increasing urbanization encroaching on the agricultural landscape, as growth has swept in from Miami to the south. Some of the vegetable fields and citrus groves have since been converted to ornamental plant nurseries that supply the ever-growing demand for landscape and indoor foliage plants. Programs in the Homestead office include:
- Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health
- Civic Engagement and Civic Participation
- Services – Assistance with service programs and immigration applications and referrals
- The Women’s Arts and Crafts Project
- La Farmacia Popular – the People’s Pharmacy
- Campesinos’ Gardens
Immokalee
415 Rose Avenue
Immokalee, FL 34142
Phone: (863) 885-9484
Fax: (407) 884-6644
In 1995, the largely farmworker town of Bonita Springs was hit with a devastating flood. Residing in the most vulnerable areas and with already inadequate housing, farmworkers in the area were seriously impacted by the natural disaster. While FWAF had already been organizing workers in the neighboring Immokalee, the disaster response efforts by FWAF to address the hardships of the Bonita Springs farmworkers led FWAF to establish a more permanent presence in the town of Immokalee, from which organizers could work also with the surrounding communities of LaBelle, Belle Glade and others.
A unique place, home to thousands of immigrant and migrant workers – Hispanic, Haitian, and African-American – Immokalee now has, various churches, health and service organizations to provide some of the needed services, assistance, informational and educational needs of the population.
Programs in the Immokalee office include:
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health
- Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights
- Civic Engagement and Civic Participation
Pierson
111 Fountain Drive
Pierson, FL 32180
Phone: (386) 749-9826
Fax: (386) 749-0477
The town of Pierson calls itself “The Fern Capitol of the World.” In fact, the main crop in the Volusia and Putnam County areas of Florida – where the FWAF Pierson office is located – is ferns that are grown as part of the ornamental plant industry. Ferns are hand-harvested by farmworkers and then shipped around the country and around the world to be used in popular flower and floral arrangements, making special holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ Day, among the busiest seasons for these workers. Located west of Daytona Beach and north of Deland, Pierson is a quiet town surrounded by small rural communities, such as Barberville, Seville, Emporia, Crescent City, DeLeon Springs, and others. The area is characterized by miles and miles of wooded areas, rural towns, and ferneries that employ thousands of mostly Hispanic farmworkers and is home to hard-working farmworker extended families.
Today, the Pierson area office is one of the busiest Farmworker Association of Florida offices in the state. Programs at the Pierson office include:
- Pesticide Safety, and Environmental Health
- Immigrants’ and Workers’ Rights
- Civic Engagement and Civic Participation
- Services – Assistance with service programs and immigration applications and referrals
- Campesinos’ Gardens
- Agricultural Coop in development