Morgan Hill welcomes 73-units of affordable housing to help farmworkers, homeless residents

Amid a housing shortage that has contributed to desperate conditions for the county’s farmworkers and homelessness, a new 73-unit, 100% affordable housing complex is opening its doors in Morgan Hill.

The project, dubbed Royal Oak Village, features dedicated housing to help homeless residents transition to permanent homes and for farmworkers to find safe shelter.

“This provides much needed housing for our farmworkers and our most vulnerable community members,” said Mayor Mark Turner of Morgan Hill. “To ensure the future of our agricultural heritage, we must provide housing for our dedicated farm workers. Projects like Royal Oak Village are crucial in addressing the housing crisis faced by our farm … families.”

The residential community is located at Monterey and Watsonville Road in Morgan Hill. It features 30 units set aside for farmworker families and 18 units set aside for rapid rehousing of homeless individuals and families, which help move people from the streets into subsidized apartments  The rest of the units are reserved for those making between 30% and 50% of the median income for the county.

The community also offers a clubhouse, playground and dog park and will offer on-site support to help the formerly homeless residents and those who might benefit from social services or community events.

The opening comes during a dire housing shortage that has been especially acute for farmworkers and in the wake of a 2018 report showing that the county needed 2,100 more units for migrant and year-round farmworkers. The scarcity has led to desperate living conditions for farmworkers in Santa Clara County, with some facing overcrowding, living in abandoned sheds, or even  homelessness.

“We’ve fought so much to find a place to live,” said resident Abigail Teo in Spanish, who works picking berries in Watsonville and previously lived in a rat-infested studio with her husband and two children before being approved for housing at Royal Oaks Village. “Now, I have a dignified home for me and my family … I can finally say that I have a worthwhile place to live.”

While a law meant to encourage more farmworker housing passed in California this September, the county has only added some 262 housing units for farmers in recent years, according to August numbers provided by representatives from Santa Clara County.

“What we like to see is opportunities to actually grow … farm worker housing in a way that we haven’t seen it before,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who helped draft the agricultural housing law and has pushed for agricultural housing in the county. She says the last agricultural housing development approved by the county only featured three units for farmworkers. “If you want to make generational change, it starts with housing … To actually see (the effort) come to fruition is really amazing.”