Hope celebrates farmworkers, as we’ve done for 50 years!

Fifty years ago, three Sisters of the Roman Catholic religious order Notre Dame de Namur came to Apopka to help the community create long-lasting change. During the first few years, Cathy Gorman, Gail Grimes, and Ann Kendrick took it upon themselves to learn as much as they could about the needs of the African American community of farmworkers and citrus pickers. Their goal was to provide this underserved community with the resources needed to move toward social and economic justice. That’s how Hope CommUnity Center was born.

Farmworkers are vital to the safe, efficient, and reliable delivery of our country’s produce. In addition, they are essential to food production since they are in charge of growing, picking, preparing, and sorting for many farms and agricultural businesses.

However, very few know that farmworkers are “migrants,” which means they leave their homes to travel a long distance for work, sometimes working for multiple agricultural businesses. Some travel within the United States, while others travel across borders.

Over fifty years, we’ve taken a stand to support farmworkers and immigrants through service and advocacy. Our goal has long been to assist and educate immigrant farmworkers on their rights and redirect them to organizations we support, such as Florida Farm Workers, dedicated to helping farmworkers comply with their status through the H-2A Visa. The H-2A visa program helps American farmers fill labor shortages by allowing them to hire employees from other countries to help our economy thrive.

Today, we honor and thank all farmworkers for their hard work and continue to serve them through our different programs at Hope CommUnity Center.