Puente de la Costa Sur, a Community Resource Center, builds a human bridge where strangers really can become friends and become a community. The organization provides a single point of entry for men, women, and children to have access to safety net services, health and wellness services, leadership development, and community engagement and action. Puente also works with farms, ranches, and nurseries to promote a sustainable agricultural economy on the South Coast.
Our
community
Puente's service area covers about 160 mostly undeveloped square miles on the south coast of San Mateo County, including the unincorporated areas of Pescadero, San Gregorio, La Honda, and Loma Mar. Isolated from the San Francisco Peninsula by the Santa Cruz Mountains, the South Coast's closest town with services is Half Moon Bay, located 14 winding miles north of Pescadero. Public transportation is almost nonexistent and the four communities have no dental offices, pharmacies, laundromats, department or hardware stores, libraries, or supermarkets.
Populated by nearly 5,000 residents, 39% earn less than $15,000 per year. Many Pescadero residents are low-income, monolingual, Spanish-speaking families and single men who work in local agricultural and services industries. La Honda is the second hub of the South Coast, hosting about 2,000 residents who are primarily white. San Gregorio and Loma Mar are the two smallest and most isolated communities, each home to about 250 residents (2000 Census).
Pescadero, San Gregorio, La Honda, and Loma Mar are small towns. At the heart of our economy are nurseries, farms, and ranches, and because of this our friends and neighbors are directly affected by the global economy and national domestic policies.
Over the last several months, we have all been aware of the news about the worsening economic situation in Mexico and the increasing hostility and violence directed toward men, women, and children crossing into the US in search of work and a decent life. As lawmakers discuss immigration reform, we see how our community may suffer under poorly planned decisions and the ways that domestic and global developments can shatter family life on both sides of the border.
Puente provides broad access to services supporting the people affected by these wide-ranging policies, as well as our community's seniors and others who may need help with their health and wellness care.
