It is 6:30 a.m. and 10 men stand shivering outside the Southside Presbyterian Church in the dark on a cold Tucson morning.
For many of them, this is a daily routine. Their only way to earn a little money is to join the Day Laborers Program at the church in hopes that someone will need to hire a few men for landscaping, construction or moving for the day.
But Rigoberto Polanco, a day laborer for five years, says that it has recently become a more difficult way for him and the others to earn a few dollars.
Polanco, originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, said that he has been a day laborer for so long because it's hard to find a full-time job.
"The economy is really hard," says Rigoberto Polanco in Spanish. "That is why we have to come here."
But as the economy tanked, new housing started to dry up and fewer homeowners started remodeling jobs, there became less demand for day laborers.
This was the case for Ramon Manuel, who lives in Tucson during the winter and in California the rest of the year. He said that every winter he comes back to Tucson with his family and tries to find a temporary job in the construction industry, but this year he has had no luck and has had to go to the church.
The Southside Church has been helping day laborers since the mid 1980s, but in September 2006, the church, at 317 W. 23rd St., formally began offering a day laborers program that allows the workers to stand on church property instead of in the streets. Also, on Mondays and Fridays the church offers free breakfast, hot showers and clothes for those who need it.
Coordinator Aaron Banas says that the program has evolved over the years. The workers enter a raffle each morning to determine the order in which they will be hired for the day – assuming anyone is looking for workers.
It's 7 a.m. and there are now 30 men waiting for the church doors to open so they can line up single file and place their numbers in a bowl. Then all they can do is wait for their number to be called.
But these days, most of the workers go home empty-handed.
Employers have not been showing up like before, Banas says. It used to be that every day about 10 laborers would be hired. Recently, the average number has gone down to two.
"The economy has definitely played a huge role in the day laborer field," he says. "It has been pretty difficult for a lot of the day laborers."
It is 8:30 a.m. and there is no sign of an employer.
The men, mostly from Mexico and Central America, can hang out on church property until 11 a.m., Monday through Friday, looking for work. Many are skilled and are ready to do just about anything.
Carlos Macias, 53, said that he has worked in landscaping, plumbing and carpet installation.
Originally from Aguas-calientes, in central Mexico, he lives alone "with his mother, La Virgen de Guadalupe." The rest of his family is in Mexico.
There is a large number of men like Macias, just trying to get by far from home.
"We come to see if we get some work, but we don't find it," says Oscar Vega, 34, who has been going to the church since 2000.
Vega, originally from Sinaloa, said that if things do not get better he will have to go back to Mexico, where he worked in agriculture.
"I'll go back to my land as soon as I save up for the ticket," he says. "There is more work there than here."
It is 11 a.m. and only two employers came by.
The situation for the day laborers is not good, but Banas hopes that now that the weather is nicer there will be more work.
"A lot of these guys are just family guys as well and are having a hard time in the economy too," Banas said. "It is good to support them while they support the community."
