MULBERRY, Fla. — Mulberry city officials are volunteering their time to improve the living conditions of migrant farmworkers.
As city manager for the City of Mulberry, Rick Johnson typically spends his day planning, organizing and managing the activities of the city.
“I always tell everybody, I'm not the city hall manager, I'm the city manager so there’s a lot of facets,” Johnson said.
What’s not typical is how Johnson spends his time while off the clock.
“We take a ride out there on our own usually during the equivalent of our lunch hour, and we go out there and we have to rebuild the frame for the window, and we install these window air conditioners out there,” said Johnson.
Johnson is out in this migrant community replacing and installing air conditioners for families at no cost. Mulberry is home to a large population of migrant farmworkers and most live in older trailers without working HVAC systems.
“We just decided whatever we could do for practical means to make their living conditions a little bit more tolerable,” said Johnson.
The Home Depot gave the city grants to buy the AC units. Rosa Castillo cares for children while their parents are in the fields. She is very appreciative to have her AC replaced.
“I’m really happy, very thankful that I got one,” Castillo said.
The city manager says they have installed about 100 units so far. Cristina Crispin grew up in a farmworking household and knows firsthand what this means for families.
“Majority of them come from low-income homes so this is big for them,” said Cristina Crispin.
It’s a labor of love for city officials who pitch in, to install the AC units several times a year.
“We have a little team and we cut, measure everything, cut everything, screw the things into the walls, test everything and make sure everything is working. You can really see a sense of relief when that cold air starts blowing into the home,” Johnson said.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
