Gilroy School District donated two modular buildings set to be
demolished to the Morgan Hill-based South County Dayworker Center,
which will provide shelter and services to dayworkers, who
congregate in the open air each morning seeking casual jobs.
GILROY – Gilroy School District donated two modular buildings set to be demolished to the Morgan Hill-based South County Dayworker Center, which will provide shelter and services to dayworkers, who congregate in the open air each morning seeking casual jobs.
“This is our first step, I guess,” said America Romero, director of the center. “It’s been in the works for about three years as an idea, and now we’re on the road to actually getting a building out there.”
St. Catherine’s Parish Dayworker Committee, which started the Morgan Hill program, broke ground on the center Dec. 1. The two buildings will provide about 3,000 square-feet of space, the first shelter available to the dayworkers at the center’s currently vacant East Main and Depot location.
Weston Miles Architects of Morgan Hill is leasing the land to the center for $1 per month.
Romero said the center hopes to get the buildings to the site by the first week of January, but the cost of transporting them from Eliot School will be three to four times what was anticipated.
“That’s been quite a shock for us,” Romero said. One mover gave a ballpark cost of $8,000, but that did not include actually removing the buildings from their Eliot location and installing them in Morgan Hill.
“Bids have been coming in at an average of $30,000 to $40,000, so we’ve been obviously scrambling to raise the money,” Romero said.
For details on donating to the center, contact 778-5513.
