Breaking Ground on Coachella's Placita Dolores Huerta
Timelapse of photos taken daily of the Placita Dolores Huerta construction
Breaking Ground on Placita Dolores Huerta. Video by Conduit Studios
Placita Dolores Huerta dignitaries at the turning of the dirt. From left: CHOC Board Chair Ortensia Lopez, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, Dolores Huerta, Coachella Mayor Pro Tem Josie Gonzalez, Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez, Lift to Rise CEO Heather Vaikona. Photo courtesy of Noe Montes.
The Groundbreaking of Placita Dolores Huerta
“Every single human being on this planet should have shelter and decent housing where they can live and raise their children,” said Dolores Huerta, social justice icon and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. “It is such an important issue, and something that we really have to strive for.”
Huerta, who has fought for decades for fair labor and civil rights, was the guest of honor at the landmark groundbreaking of Placita Dolores Huerta at the Coachella Valley Apartments on April 29th. The new construction of the affordable housing apartments, as well as the overall property, will be renamed Placita Dolores Huerta to celebrate Huerta’s lifelong work advocating for farmworkers.
A sense of solidarity, compassion, and commitment could be felt throughout the crowd as government dignitaries took turns speaking to over 200 attendees.
The unanimous effort to build more affordable housing in the Coachella Valley has been collaborative—bridging between city and state governments, along with financing, construction and design partners, with CHOC as the nonprofit developer.
Video courtesy of Conduit Studios Media
Housing as a Human Right:
The Story Behind Placita Dolores Huerta
This new construction, as well as the overall property, will be renamed as Placita Dolores Huerta, in honor of Dolores Huerta, the American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with César E. Chávez. The city of Coachella is home to majority Hispanic families, including immigrants and first-generation individuals.
“To see a little girl always bringing a heavy backpack with her, filled with stuff… and you ask her – why do you carry a backpack with all those things in there? And she says: ‘Because I don't know if I'm going to have a home to go home to.’”
As a national leader and advocate for affordable housing, Ortensia Lopez describes a scene all too familiar to families in California, along with the entirety of the United States –– young children who don’t have the security of stable housing. Leading up to this Spring’s groundbreaking at the soon to be renamed Coachella Valley Apartments, Lopez speaks on the importance of bringing affordable housing to the working families of Coachella Valley and beyond…
Photograph of Dolores Huerta by Nolwen Cifuentes
Learn more about Placita Dolores Huerta
Renderings Courtesy of the Interactive Design Corporation