The NC Farmworkers’ Project serves as the resource center, home base, and connection to care for more than 4,200 farmworkers across a 7-county region of southeastern North Carolina. We provide services throughout most of Harnett, Sampson, and Johnston Counties, as well as parts of Wake, Wayne, Duplin, and Cumberland counties. From our office in Dunn, NC, our team visits farmworkers where they live—assessing needs, offering health education, sharing resources, coordinating medical care, and fostering community.
North Carolina is home to an estimated 100,000 farmworkers, who work in a variety of crops, including tobacco, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, Christmas trees, blueberries, and other fruits and vegetables. Most farmworkers are exempt from minimum wage laws, and all are exempt from overtime provisions, despite long work days during peak harvest. Farm labor ranks as one of the top 3 most dangerous occupations in the United States. In addition to hazards in the fields, farmworkers and their families face unique burdens on their physical and mental health. North Carolina’s leading industry is agriculture, yet farmworkers are among the most underserved residents in the state. At the NC Farmworkers’ Project, we are committed to working alongside farmworkers to address these disparities and to build a better future for farmworkers and their families.