The Warwick Area Farmworker Organization serves farmworkers and their families living in Orange County. It focuses on social determinants of health and access to healthcare and human services through partnerships with healthcare providers and other community organizations. From a community center in Goshen that it shares with Sun River Health, it coordinates a community health worker program focusing on health and well-being, child farm safety, and entrepreneurship; food programs including a food pantry, community garden, nutrition education, and a demonstration kitchen; and youth activities including boys and girls empowerment groups, a homework club, and a summer program called Dulce Esperanza (“Sweet Hope”).
Dulce Esperanza serves Orange County farmworkers‘ children ages 6 to 13, and is a full-day summer program that meets Monday through Friday for seven weeks. Located in one of the local school district’s buildings, it engages kids in enriching activities including art, dance, music, literature, gardening, cooking, and outdoor recreation, as well as weekly field trips. In addition, children receive significant academic support. During registration, each child receives a reading assessment using an evidence-based assessment tool. The academic program, which encompasses the morning hours each day, includes small-group activities that involve writing, math, English, and science. The program’s staff and adult leaders include certified teachers, college interns, and numerous volunteers, some of whom are bilingual and from the farmworker community. The formal curriculum has a focus on health, fitness, and nutrition, and guests from numerous nonprofits and local businesses offer presentations and activities. Parents are welcomed in the program when they can participate, and they attend a special evening each summer that serves as an enrichment opportunity for them and a celebration of their children. The summer program serves about 80 students, along with about ten teenagers who gain leadership skills as they work with younger children.
The Dyson Foundation has supported children’s summer programs and camps for many years, and these have been especially important in recent years, providing kids and families with social and emotional supports, community, and enrichment. In 2022, the Warwick Area Farmworker Organization received program support from the Foundation towards the Dulce Esperanza summer program.