If you hear the phrase “Christmas,” sure pictures could spring to thoughts: homes framed in twinkling lights, gingerbread males, sizzling chocolate, possibly a Mariah Carey tune, and, in fact, Christmas bushes.

However behind the tinsel and ornaments is one other Christmas story—one in every of a migrant farmworker placing in 14-hour days to chop down these bushes. That migrant employee could come from wherever on this planet, however out in Western North Carolina, he’s most certainly a Mexican man who has arrived alone on an H-2A visa to work throughout a grower’s busy season and ship a reimbursement residence.

His days are lengthy, so he depends on microwaved meals or quick meals to eat. He doesn’t converse English, so he isn’t conscious of useful group assets, and he labors below deeply ingrained stigmas round his bodily and psychological well being.

To prime it off, he’s most likely solely making round $11K a yr.

H-2A migrant employees journey again to their nations between seasons, however there are seasonal farmworkers—many undocumented—who reside right here completely with their households, harvesting watermelons and strawberries in the summertime, Christmas bushes within the winter, and filling the gaps in between by cleansing homes or working development jobs.

North Carolina depends on 150,000 of those farmworkers to hold out its agricultural operations, which account for one-sixth of its financial system. Lower than 20% have medical health insurance or employees’ compensation, which is alarming on condition that farm labor is one in every of the highest three most harmful occupations within the U.S., and the fatality price for farmworkers in North Carolina is larger than the nationwide common. Warmth, publicity to poisonous pesticides, unhealthy dietary habits, and poor dwelling situations are simply a number of the harmful challenges farmworkers and their households face.

That is what makes the work of organizations like Vecinos so important. Serving eight counties in western North Carolina, Vecinos presents built-in care providers to a inhabitants of about 800-1,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers, in addition to many extra uninsured, low-income adults inside these communities.

Govt Director Marianne Martinez says the well being care wants of the farming inhabitants in western North Carolina run the complete gamut, from dental work to power sicknesses like coronary heart illness and diabetes.

“There’s a necessity for well being training. There’s a necessity for entry to wholesome meals. There’s a necessity for bilingual, reasonably priced care,” she says.