Poverty 

Immokalee, Florida is arguably the poorest community in the United States.  With a population close to 40,000 residents during "the season", the various social services in town are hard pressed to meet even some of the needs of the poor.  "The season" is the time when the migrant workers, about half the population of Immokalee, return from their summer work up North picking the crops. 

Photo - Coalition of Immokalee Workers 

"The season" is about nine months long, and the workers rely on finding enough work in the fields of Florida, to sustain them for most of the year.  

Photo - CIW

At times work is scarce, and the people suffer - not having enough money to pay the rent, provide food for their families, or even to visit a doctor if sick. 

The image of Jesus on the cross is a centerpiece of the faith and prayerlife of the people in Immokalee.  A relationship with the suffering Jesus is important to a people who identify their own suffering with that of their crucified Lord.  This painting is hung in Sander's Hall, a small,
simple cement building on the Church property.  Sanders Hall was the original Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.

Many people from Immokalee come to the soup kitchen located on our Church property to eat lunch.  For many it will be their only meal of the day. 

Above is a photo of Eliodoro, a parishioner.  He is 84 years old, and still works picking tomatoes in the fields.

The Church is a meeting and greeting place for the migrant population of Immokalee. 

Often the young men who are not able to find work in the fields pass their day on the Church property, making plans for the following day.  Throughout the day and evening, young men can be found praying at the Mary shrine, or in the Church, asking for Divine assistance as they search for work.

Housing in Immokalee is miserable at best. 

Local landowners, build "camps" throughout the town, and charge obscenely high rents to poor migrant workers. 

They can charge these rents, because the workers do not have cars, and must walk to downtown Immokalee to catch the buses to work in the fields.  Hence they must live nearby in one of these camps.   

Photo below - CIW

The camps are made up of broken down trailers, shacks, or one or two room apartments in cinderblock buildings, in which large numbers of workers are housed. 

An old trailer, or shack might rent for as much as $600 a week.  

Therefore, The workers must bunk with as many as 12 workers to afford the monthly rent.  

Picture below - CIW

Most trailers do not have air-conditioning, and the workers sleep on bare mattresses on the plywood floors, and share one small bathroom. 

Because of the lack of bathrooms, and personal space in the homes and trailers, the Church has shower rooms on the property that the workers can use each day, if they want.  

You read this far, and so you get a reward.  Chickens - roosters and hens!  Though the town has grown, Immokalee still retains a country feel.  One expression of this is the many beautiful roosters which grace all parts of the town with their presence. 

In the opinion of many, "El Gallo" is the unofficial mascot of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the town of Immokalee.

Poverty For most of us poverty is an idea.  Something we hear about on the nightly news, or read statistics on in the paper.  Here in Immokalee, poverty is real.  Poverty has a face.

The face of poverty confronts you as you meet the people praying with you in the Church, and greeting you on the streets. 

The poor make up the majority of our community, and their needs are basic - food, clothes, shelter, and sometimes medicine. 

Most simply want to work - picking tomatoes, peppers, and citrus fruit.  When they can work, they are the best workers.  When there is work, the migrant laborer in Immokalee sometimes works 12-15 hours a day, six or seven days a week. 

Family and friendship are important in Immokalee.  In a place of great poverty there always seems to be the correlating problems of drug and alcohol use, crime, and violence.  The people of Immokalee struggle with these same issues. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church is a refuge for those who value a healthy, holy and devout Christian life; and it is a place where forgiveness, help and a fresh start are available for those who have lost their way.  It is a place where the bonds of friendship are formed and deepened. 

It is a place where culture and tradition are celebrated.

Many people come to Immokalee in dire straits.  They arrive here with dreams for their future and the future of their families and children.

Many live with tremendous anxiety and fear.  Most do not speak English, nor do they read or write in their own languages.  Many are taken advantage of by people who use these weaknesses against them. 

It is not uncommon for government officials to discover a camp outside of town where workers are kept in veritable slavery.

Children! As in other communities, children in Immokalee are important and valuable.  And there are many, many children here!  They seem to be everywhere!!  In fact, it seems as if there are more schools than anything else in Immokalee. 

During Mass this is most apparent, as the priests celebrate the Sacrament amidst the din of scores of babies and small children.  Below, the pastor, Fr. Ettore Rubin, poses for a picture with a gaggle of admirers.  Children are a special source of joy and happiness in Immokalee.  Their life, energy, and laughter make all the problems of poverty seemingly vanish. 

Work in the fields!  Below is one of the bus drivers who transports the workers to the tomato fields and orange groves each morning. 

The workers begin their day at 4 AM when they arrive at the parking lot in the hopes of being contracted for a day's labor. 

2 Photos below - CIW

They may or may not be hired. 

If hired they could drive as far as two or three hours in a bus, and then must wait until the morning dew has dried before picking the crops from the field.  Usually around 10 AM.

The workers only get paid for what they pick, not for the almost six hours spent getting to the job site and waiting.  The salary they recieve is small.  With a full day's labor, the best workers might make $50 a day.

Chickens!!!

It is not uncommon to be awakened, not by the crowing of one rooster, but by the loud cries of five or six roosters - just beneath your window.  The people of Immokalee have a special love for their roosters and their singing.  

 You will find roosters in yards, walking down the streets, in gas station parking lots, and yes - strutting around the Church grounds.  "Los Gallos" crow powerfully and joyfully beginning in the wee hours of the morning, and throughout the day. 

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