"Cultivating Our Communities," the fourth of five Statewide Practitioners Conferences, was recently held in Salinas as part of Secretary Martinez's commitment to sponsor community and faith-based events in the Southwest border region and in states with large numbers of under-served rural migrant farmworkers.

Left to right: Maria Ortiz, Coordinator of HUD's Southwest Border Region; Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero; Frank Davis, Office of the Deputy Secretary; and Jackie Mitchell, Director of Rural Housing and Economic Development

Region IX Director Richard Rainey and Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero welcomed more than 250 practitioners who attended workshops that included sessions on fair housing, homeownership and grant programs.

Attendees came from federal, state, and local governments, and nonprofit, grassroots, faith - based and community organizations that serve colonias and migrant farmworker communities. Partnering with HUD to sponsor the conference were the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Economic Opportunities Commission of San Luis Obispo County Inc., the Housing Assistance Council and the City of Salinas.

Salinas is located about 60 miles south of San Jose. The final conference will be held in August in the state of Washington.

Conference participants in the "Lideres Campesinas" workshop - developing leadership among women migrant workers.	Left to right: Eduardo Cabrera, San Francisco Field Office, and Jose Padilla, Executive Director, California Rural Legal Assistance.