Day Worker Center of Mountain View
Community: City of Mountain View and the surrounding area
Population: (from 2010 Census)
- Mountain View (population: 74,066)
- Los Altos (population: 28,976)
- Sunnyvale (population: 140,081)
Summary
The Day Worker Center of Mountain View (Day Worker Center) provides job-matching services for day workers with hundreds of local homeowners and businesses annually. In addition to employment opportunities, day workers can benefit from English as a second language classes, job skills training, and community involvement activities. A group of community leaders, representing faith, nonprofit and community organizations along with local agencies and journalists, worked together to establish a permanent location for the center, which opened fall, 2010.
Program Highlights
- Community leaders convened four large meetings, with subgroups meeting held in between, to establish a plan of action that eventually resulted in the acquisition of a permanent location for the Day Worker Center.
- Day Worker Center workers contribute to the local community by volunteering their time to improve the grounds of local public schools, donate blood and help build a community garden for senior citizens.
- The Day Worker Center calls all of the employers for feedback after the jobs are finished.
Lessons Learned
- Establishing strong relationships with community leaders created financial and grassroots support and played an important role in obtaining the resources necessary to obtain a permanent day worker center location.
- Maintaining strong collaborative working relationships with law enforcement can be an important way to sustain day worker center programs and reduce conflict between police and workers.
- Developing a formal way to identify, develop and recognize new leaders among the day laborers can create and sustain successful day worker centers.
Resources to Learn More
Day Worker Center of Mountain View website: http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/aboutus/facility.php
Institute for Local Government website: http://www.ca-ilg.org/daylaborcenters
The Rest of the Story…
Since its inception in 1996, the Day Worker Center of Mountain View has been connecting workers and employers in a safe and supportive environment. After over a decade of operating out of a local church, faith, business and other local community leaders joined together to secure a permanent facility location which opened in the fall of 2010.
Fundraising for the permanent center building began in 2008 with
donations from individuals, private donations and local city
governments. Additionally, workers donated and raised about
$10,000 toward the cost of a new building to house the center.
The Day Worker Center purchased and renovated the building at 113
Escuela Avenue, with the City of Mountain View issuing the
conditional use permit to allow occupancy. At the same time, the
City of Mountain View leased the adjacent parking lot, (103
Escuela Ave), at no charge for 20 years as a show of support for
the Center.
The workers at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View remain
active, along with paid staff, in operating and supporting the
center. Many take active leadership roles at the center and
contribute to the local community by volunteering their time to
improve the grounds of local public schools, donate blood and
help build a community garden for senior citizens.