Voice march 2014

FA R M L A B O R I N F O R M AT I O N B U L L E T I N

Voice of the Fields California

March 2014

FREE

How to Get Help Paying for College

T

he cost of higher education in America may seem overwhelming, but there are resources available to help students get the aid they need. Attending college can appear to be impossible to the average working family, with tuition prices steadily on the rise, the high cost of room and board, books and other necessary expenses, but don’t lose heart. Although it is a major financial obligation to tackle alone, there are steps you can take to get financial assistance to send yourself or members of your family to college. Through applying for Federal Student Aid, and programs like the College Assistance Migrant Program, affording higher education can be within reach.

By applying for Federal Student Aid, prospective students have the opportunity to receive financial help to pay for their college education. To apply, one must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or FAFSA) form. This form asks the future student questions regarding their (or their parents’) income, assets, and other tax information to determine their eligibility for financial assistance.

Over 15 million students are able to attend college with financial aid because each year there is more than $150 billion available through federal grants, loans and work-study programs. The U.S. Department of Education uses the information you provide on your FAFSA application to determine the type of aid you are eligible to receive.

Many prospective students won-

der if their legal status in this country affects their chances of receiving financial aid. Although you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to qualify for aid, if you are a non-U.S. citizen, your status must fall under one of the following categories: n You are a U.S. permanent resident with a Form I-551, I-151, or I-551C (Permanent Resident Card, Resident Alien Card, or Alien Registration Receipt Card), also known as a green card. n You have an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing: • “Refugee,” • “Asylum Granted,” • “Cuban-Haitian Entrant (Status Pending),”

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• “Conditional Entrant” (valid only if issued before April 1, 1980), or • “Parolee” (you must be paroled for at least one year, and you must be able to provide evidence from the USCIS that you are not in the United States for a temporary purpose and that you intend to become a U.S. citizen or permanent resident). n You are a “battered immigrantqualified alien” who is a victim of abuse by your citizen or permanent resident spouse, or you are the child of a person designated as such under the Violence Against Women Act. If you fall under one of the above categories, but the expiration date on your documents has passed, this does not necessarily mean that you are ineligible for aid. You may just need to renew your document, or apply for a new one. You will need to check with the appropriate issuer of your specific document.

Applying for FAFSA is free and can be completed quickly. The easiest way to complete your application is by going online to www.studentaid.ed.gov/ fafsa and clicking the appropriate link that reads: “Fill out the FAFSA, now.” There are also many links on the Continued on next page

How to Get Help Paying for College Continued from previous page

page to answer any additional questions you may have. If you prefer to complete your application in person, there are many locations in which you can pick one up. Any local college or community college will have a financial aid office with people trained to help you through the process. Most local high schools also have guidance counselors who are available to help you get the information and paperwork you need to apply.

If you would like to reach someone by phone to learn more about the FAFSA application, you can call the Federal Aid Information Center (FAIC) at 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800433-3243). Both English and Spanish speaking options are available for assistance. Calls must be made between 8:00am and 11:00pm Eastern, Monday-Friday, or 8:00am and 5:00pm Eastern, Saturday.

College Assistance Migrant Program It is important to remember there are many other means in which to receive financial aid for both U.S. citizens, and non-citizens alike. Some programs work independently of the FAFSA program, or join with FAFSA to provide additional aid. Make sure to search online, where you pick up your application, or over the phone as new aid sources are announced often.

One such program, is specifically for migrant and seasonal farmworkers, or their families, called the College Assistance Migrant Program (or CAMP).

CAMP is a unique federally-funded educational support and scholarship program that helps more than 2,000 students from migrant and seasonal farm-working backgrounds to attend college, per year. Once accepted, participants receive between $750 to $4,000 of financial support during their first year of college and continued educational support until their graduation.

The CAMP program uses information gathered from FAFSA applications to determine the need of its applicants. In order to receive the additional assistance CAMP provides, applicants must have or meet the following criteria: n High school diploma or GED n Migrant or seasonal farm-working background n U.S. Citizenship or U.S. Permanent Legal Residency n Seeking 4 year academic degree n

CAMP must determine one’s need for the services and support they provide 38 colleges nationwide provide the CAMP program as a service on their campuses. In order to receive the support that this program provides, an applicant must be eligible to enroll or already enrolled in one of these schools. Finding the schools that offer CAMP can be found online at: www. migrantStudents.org/campcolleges. html.

Applying for the CAMP program

can also be done online through the above address. Students can scroll through a list of colleges that offer the program, and request applications for CAMP from 1–3 schools at a time.

Once the application is received online, a CAMP recruiter will contact the applicant by phone within 72 hours to assist them with further enrollment.

If an applicant prefers to apply in person, one can seek help at a local college by visiting the financial aid office, and speaking to an assistant.

To speak to someone over the phone, applicants can call the Office of Migrant Education at (202) 260-1164.

Normal hours are 8am to 5pm, Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish.

Voice of the Fields California Circulation: 45,000 copies www.LaCooperativa.org Published monthly by: La Cooperativa Campesina de California 1107 9th Street, Suite 420, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone 916.388.2220 Fax 916.388.2425 This product was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

The opinions expressed in this product are exclusive of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor.

This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.

Jose Hernandez: Shooting for the Stars

J

ose Hernandez is an engineer and retired astronaut who spent his summers in the 1960’s and 70’s picking fruit and vegetables with his family throughout California’s Central Valley. His is the ultimate success story, having overcome significant barriers to become one of the few Latino astronauts for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Hernandez was born August 7, 1962 in French Camp, California, but considers Stockton, California his hometown. His family is originally from La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico with indigenous Purépecha roots.

As a child, his family lived six months in Mexico and the other six in the United States. During his time in the U.S., Jose worked alongside his family and other farmworkers in the fields of California. Jose spent much of his childhood traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then migrating northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers in farms along the route.

When the harvest season ended, they returned to Mexico, and repeated the cycle the following spring. During his childhood, Jose attended numerous schools and did not speak English until he was 12 years old.

Jose’s parents, despite only having a third-grade education, were committed to their children’s success in school, and made sure they attended as much as possible. While giving a recent speech at Pacific Union College, Jose said about his parents: “They were master motivators. After a long day of work, my dad would look

each of us in the eye and say, ‘You have the privilege of living your future now.

If you don’t want to go to school, you can come back and work with me in the fields seven days a week.’”

When Jose was dusty, sweaty and tired in the back seat of the family’s car after a hard day of labor, his father would look back at his children and tell them, “Remember this feeling, because if you guys don’t do well in school, this is your future.”

Jose and his siblings took their father’s advice seriously, as each graduated from high school and went on to college.

Jose focused hard on his studies, and in doing so, realized he was very interested in science and math. At the age of nine, Hernandez discovered his dream of becoming an astronaut when he watched the final Apollo lunar mission on television.

When he shared his sky high dream with his parents, they sat him down at the kitchen table and told him that he needed to have what they called the “ingredients to succeed:” n a clear goal; n an understanding of the steps to get from where you are to where you want to be;

n

hard work; n education; n and corazón—heart.

At the urging of a concerned teacher, the Hernandez family decided to live permanently in Stockton, in order for the children to have a better opportunity for educational success.

During high school, Jose participated in Upward Bound, a Federal program that prepares students for college. After graduating from Franklin High School in Stockton with good grades, Hernandez enrolled at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Continued on next page

Agricultural Jobs available to U.S. workers under H-2A contract You may apply for these jobs by phone or in person at your nearest Employment Development Department (EDD) field office Active

CalJobs Number

Job Title

Pay Rates

Contract Dates

Positions

City of Job

Employer’s County (for ECMS)

EDD Workforce Service Site Office

1

14075854

Strawberry Machine Harvest Workers

11.01/Hour

06/01/14-07/15/14

120

Santa Maria

Santa Barbara

Santa Maria WS (805) 614-1550

2

14068943

Farm Workers, Tomatoes

11.01/Hour

5/12/14 - 11/30/15

150

Oceanside

San Diego

Oceanside WS (760) 414-3583

3

14071988

Farm Workers, Squash

11.01/Hour

5/12/14 - 10/31/14

21

Los Alamos

Santa Barbara

Santa Maria WS (805) 614-1550

4

14075015

Field Sack Loader Crew

11.01/Hour

6/1/14-9/1/14

30

Firebaugh

Fresno

Fresno WS (559) 445-5249

5

13898523

Farm Workers, Sheepherder

$1422.52 Mo

on-going

206

California and Western States

California and Western States

Selected EDD WSB Offices

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. The H-2A employers must demonstrate that qualified U.S. workers are not available for the job and the employment of temporary foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. Preference in hiring will be given to qualified U.S. workers before employers are allowed to bring in foreign workers under the program.

Jose Hernandez: Shooting for the Stars Continued from prevvious page

the University of the Pacific in 1984.

In 1986, Hernández earned a Master’s of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

After earning his master’s degree, Hernandez began applying for a career with NASA. He also learned Russian, became a certified pilot, and took SCUBA training.

After years of applying, Jose was eventually accepted into the NASA program at the age of 41, and moved

his family to Houston, Texas to accept a job as a research engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In 2009 his dream became a reality when he was assigned to be the flight engineer on mission STS-128 aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

After retiring as an astronaut, Hernandez was urged by President Obama to run for Congress representing a part of California’s Central Valley. Unfortunately, he did not win the election.

Hernández is married and has five

children. For several years, his wife, Adela, ran a Mexican restaurant just outside the Johnson Space Center gates, called Tierra Luna Grill, which is Spanish for Earth Moon Grill.

Jose believes that all children, especially those who come from a similar background as himself, should have the same educational opportunities he did, despite whatever challenges they may face. He hopes more children will be inspired to learn about math and science.