Free Teacher Housing - Allyx Schiavone, Friends Center for Children and Kathy Szenda Wilson, Pulse

TUESDAY, June 23 Free Teacher Housing for Early Educators: An Innovative Approach to Addressing the Childcare Crisis - Across the country, early childhood educators are paid less than nearly every other profession and housing costs are rising faster than wages. The result is a workforce in crisis and a childcare system under strain. In 2020, Friends Center for Children established the Free Teacher Housing Initiative in New Haven, Conn., becoming the first organization in the country to provide free housing as a salaried benefit for early childhood educators. Six years later, communities across the county are looking to Friends Center as a resource to customize the model to match the needs of the local population. In Battle Creek, Mich., Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute earlier this month celebrated the move-in of first two teachers into its First Home, First Teacher program, which it is scaling with a goal of 100 units across the city. Join Allyx Schiavone, CEO of Friends Center for Children and Kathy Szenda Wilson, Co-Executive Director of Pulse will tell that story together — from the initial spark of the idea to the keys in an educator's hand. They will share the model, what it means to build this at a city scale, and what early lessons Battle Creek is already carrying forward. How to join these calls? Visit www.strategiesforchildren.org/930call, click the orange registration button, and complete the form. You will receive an email with the Zoom link. We use the same Zoom link for all 9:30 calls.