Employers in Michigan’s $104 billion food and agriculture sector are increasingly looking beyond U.S. borders for workers, as evidenced by the number of H-2A visa applications in the state increasing 157% in the past five years and quadrupling in the past decade.

Part of that agreement, nationwide, includes providing housing for those workers, which is not readily available. It’s a growing problem for Michigan, New York and 10 other states that the U.S. Department of Labor has identified with the highest estimated number of eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

The labor department recently responded with a $6.5 million commitment to award grants — without requiring matching dollars — to help organizations improve their delivery of safe and sanitary housing solutions for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents in those 12 states, which also include Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas and Washington

Applications must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time June 28.

The program is administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, and the National Farmworker Jobs Program expects to fund eight awards from $500,000 to $1.5 million each.

To be eligible, an entity must have:

Authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the funding will connect eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents to permanent and temporary housing. At least 70% of the funds will go toward permanent housing. The period of performance is 51 months and starts July 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2028.

Successful applicants must understand farmworkers’ needs, enabling them to propose projects that improve access to safe and sanitary housing services that help workers and their dependents achieve their educational and career goals and promote economic mobility.

Learn more about the National Farmworker Jobs Program Housing Services funding opportunity and apply.