Joaquin Altoro, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Rural Housing administrator, greets 79-year-old Salvador Salvantez and his wife outside the Riverland Apartment Complex in Reedley on a warm afternoon. Altoro has been touring rural communities to learn about housing challenges in the Central Valley. and this is the last stop on his 4-day tour.
Salvantez and his wife get rental assistance through the USDA. They qualify for the aid because their rent is more than 30% of their monthly income.
Before moving to Reedly, the couple lived in Dinuba, the neighboring city. Salvantez worked at a fruit packing facility for 40 years. When his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he became the sole provider. Then, two years ago, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. He says he struggled to keep up with the bills after that.
“I paid $850 in rent, plus the other bills,” Salvantez says in Spanish, “My total expenses came out to $1,500 every month.”
He says their Social Security benefits were not enough to cover the bills. So when his mother told him about the rental assistance program he applied right away. He says it’s been a huge relief.
Most of the people in this rural city work packing pomegranates in the summer and nectarines in the winter, according to Nicole Zieba, the Reedly city manager. She says 40% of the population makes less than the median income.
“We are considered under the California formula, a disadvantaged community,” she says. “So our demographic is unfortunately one where we're trying to bring people out of poverty.”
That’s why she says programs like the USDA’s rental assistance are desperately needed. At the Riverland Apartment complex, the tenants’ average income is just over $13,000.
Through his trip down the Central Valley, Alotoro says he’s learned that the need for these resources is prevalent. But he says it all starts with creating new housing and rehabbing existing housing.
“We haven't been participating as much and creating new supply,” he says. “And I'm learning more and more as I'm seeing firsthand that we have to participate in that new supply.”
He says infrastructure is another key component. That’s why he’s looking forward to going back to Washington, D.C. to collaborate with other USDA departments to better serve rural communities.
