Alma Sanchez knew that much of the housing available to low-wage workers in West Marin, many of them Latinos, was substandard. But she was shocked by what she found while interviewing participants in a sweeping new study of the region’s urgent housing needs. “Dignified housing in West Marin seems unreachable to many of our residents,” Ms. Sanchez said. “The houses are filled with mold. There are rusty pipes. Let’s not even talk about the quality of the water.” Ms. Sanchez was one of several survey team members who spoke last Thursday at the Dance Palace when the Committee on Housing Agricultural Workers and Their Families released the new study. The group, formed in 2018, includes county officials, farmworkers, ranchers, tenants, foundation donors and affordable housing advocates. “There are many things I saw that surprised me,” said Ms. Sanchez, program manager of a Latino community building team at West Marin Community Services. “I could never finish telling you all the things that I saw.” Seventy-eight percent of households interviewed for the report, “Growing Together: Advancing Housing Solutions for Workers in West Marin,” live in housing with major health and safety violations. Many live in homes without heat or plumbing. Eighty-five percent are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than a third of their income on housing. Many earn less than poverty wages and are forced to choose between paying rent and meeting basic needs such as food and medicine. “It’s very sad to see how few hours they have to sleep or how little time they have to spend with their children,” Ms. Sanchez said. “And sometimes those children can’t breathe properly due to mold or because the heater doesn’t work or because there is no heater at all.” The result for many is profound depression and anxiety. “These people don’t feel like they are part of the community, because a community doesn’t allow a part of it to suffer this way,” she said. The impact of living in such circumstances is long-lasting, said Santi Gomez, who grew up in ranch housing and was part of the survey team. He recalled watching his parents losing their home and struggling to find a new place. “I see families I’ve known for years going through this now,” he said. “It leaves behind emotional and psychological trauma that often doesn’t get recognized.” West Marin needs at least 1,000 units of new affordable housing to meet current needs, the report found, including shelter for 50 to 100 people who are at risk of losing their homes in the near future. The study recommended a wide array of potential solutions, including easing zoning and permitting requirements for upgrading existing substandard units, incentivizing owners of second homes to rent them to local workers, increasing tenant protections, building political will by strengthening Latino organizing and inspiring homeowners and officials to act. “We’ve had enough words,” said Rosa Rodriguez, a housing committee member who lives on a ranch in the Point Reyes National Seashore. “We want action.” The report was conducted over a 12-month period and is based on interviews, surveys and community listening sessions. It captured the perspectives of 150 people from households with more than 350 family residents who live or work in West Marin. Another housing committee member, Azucena Vazquez, described living in a Bolinas trailer without plumbing. She and her children had to use a porta-potty, which was especially difficult during winter. “Nobody deserves to live like that,” she said. Jasmine Bravo, another member of the survey team, said organizing Latino workers and educating renters about tenant rights is crucial. “This is a pivotal moment for our Latino community,” said Ms. Bravo, who grew up  on West Marin ranches and works as a community organizer in Bolinas. “Our people’s concerns have been overlooked for far too long, and it is my hope that this report will change that.”