As spring marches on, the pace picks up on Washington farms. Wendy López of Washington Growers' League Mattawa Slope Seasonal Farmworker Housing describes her work providing seasonal farmworkers and their families a safe, comfortable home away from home. Plus, check out recent highlights from EW social media!
Dozens of orchards tended by seasonal farmworkers ring the city of Mattawa in eastern Washington’s Grant County. In 2018, Washington Growers League opened Mattawa Slope Seasonal Farmworker Housing, designed by Environmental Works, to provide housing for 336 of those seasonal farmworkers and their families.
Wendy López, Resident Manager at Mattawa Slope, has lived in Mattawa since she was 7. She has served the local community in many roles, from working for the school district, a clinic, and an orchard, to serving on the Mattawa City Council. Wendy began working at Mattawa Slope in 2018. She spoke with EW in late March, as she was leading a team preparing for the spring season.
How is the facility working out?
Overall, I like Mattawa Slope’s design. The buildings and colors are nice. The wind is brutal around here, though, so some trees have died and we’ve had to modify some of the landscaping.
How has Covid affected Mattawa Slope?
We’ve made a lot of public health modifications: in 2020, we put barriers between the stoves and sinks, and housed 2-3 people in most rooms rather than 4. We usually host 336 farmworkers and family members. Last year, to comply with Covid occupancy limits, we only had about 160-190 residents, which put a big ding in our income for the year.
We’ve also had to place restrictions on residents’ behavior that aren’t always popular, such as requiring them to only play baseball or soccer with people from their floor and to wear masks.
A lot of H-2A workers who arrived earlier last spring did not have face masks. So I started partnering up with local clinics to make goody bags with face masks and hand sanitizer, which I give everyone on arrival. Once a month, I hand out new ones.
Tell us about your work.
I live in an apartment onsite, upstairs from the office and registration. My work includes supervising a staff of 5 (in non-pandemic times – 2 during 2020); assigning single men, couples, and families to units where they will feel safe and comfortable; maintaining a safe and healthy environment at Mattawa Slope; coordinating with the local community so that relations are positive and our residents receive needed services; and overseeing finances, cleaning (sanitizing and deep-cleaning during Covid), and maintenance.
I also organize clinics and other outreach events. I bring in the local medical clinic to check residents’ vision and blood pressure, and do other screenings. And I’ve brought in a volunteer dental team from Seattle to clean residents’ teeth and provide other care.
At first, the community had a negative impression of Mattawa Slope. I work with our residents to help them be good neighbors, while also educating the locals. For example, the locals blamed our residents for trash along the highway. To change that reputation, I made sure everyone picked up their garbage. I also pointed out to the neighbors that trash accumulated along the highway even during the winter, when no one was here. As another example, some H-2A workers aren’t familiar with crosswalks or what to do with grocery carts after shopping. We partner with the city of Mattawa to educate them on how to properly use crosswalks and grocery carts.
Most of the men here come from Mexico, and aren’t used to women telling them what to do. I have the advantage of being a little bossy, though they don’t always want to listen. Even so, I like working here: I like interacting with people, and the job is a great learning experience.
We work as a team to maintain positivity and network with everyone, with support from the WGL main office, other WGL housing facilities, Mattawa Slope staff, and the various agencies and entities we partner with. We look forward to continuing to provide our residents with safe living conditions: a home away from home.
