At United Educators of San Francisco, members care about the usual union issues: salaries, benefits and working conditions. But the real heart of the organization is elsewhere, building strong schools for students-with all the necessary resources-and supporting kids and their families in whatever way is most needed.

That means addressing the impossible cost of housing in San Francisco. Many students there are unhoused-sleeping in local shelters, cars and bus shelters or couch surfing among friends and family. So UESF supports the Stay Over Program, where staff and families worked to establish an overnight shelter in a school gymnasium.

It is not perfect: Families sleep on mats on the floor and have to be out by 7 a.m., before the school day begins. And the need is overwhelming. Last year, there were more than 2,000 unhoused children in the San Francisco public school system, and even liminal spaces like these are having to turn people away. But they have helped.

This is the work of the union. "We don't exist singularly in this world or independent from the needs of others," says UESF President Cassondra Curiel. "There's no way for us as a union to be successful in our broader goals if our members' communities are not well."

"Teachers unions are such a source of hope in this moment," says Matt Alexander, a co-director and community organizer at Faith in Action Bay Area, an organization that works closely with UESF on a variety of community issues. "They have the infrastructure. They have thousands of people who are organized, who care about kids and about democratic principles." And they don't just speak up, he adds; they act.

When school staff learned that one of their students had no adult family member to attend an immigration court date with him, his classroom teacher, counselor and coach went with him. When two middle school girls had to go to court alone because their parents were at risk for deportation, two school social workers and a counselor accompanied them.

Parents take the lead in developing strategies to keep the community safe, so union members know they are on the right track with whatever support they offer. The result? Schools that are seen as safe havens, places where families can go when they need support and partnership.

Teachers' work is community work

Students can't succeed academically when they are preoccupied with where they might rest their heads at night, whether they'll get dinner, or if their siblings and parents are going to be all right. It's just one more reason teachers are committed to this work.

"If our students are unhoused in elementary school, they are sleepy, they're hungry, they can't regulate their behaviors," says Geri Almanza, a bilingual classroom teacher who is now UESF treasurer. Older kids often become quiet and reserved: "They're kind of like not there, going through the motions, but not engaged," says Almanza. "And they don't want to tell anybody that they only have two pairs of clothes, or they didn't get to sleep because they keep the lights on in the shelter, or there are crying babies there, or they have to get out of the shelter at 6 a.m."

In addition to helping provide dinner and a physical space for unhoused families, UESF joined a successful citywide movement to extend the 90-day limit on shelter stays. They also helped secure $30 million in rent subsidies designed to address homelessness. The changes are expected to make a big difference in the lives of homeless families.

Pivoting to immigrant protection

UESF focused first on housing because that's what members saw immediately as their students' greatest need. But many of the city's unhoused people are also immigrants facing more complex challenges.

About one-third of the students in San Francisco public schools are Latino. With President Trump's vow to conduct the biggest deportation action in the history of this country, and the intense crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, many students are so afraid they'll be snatched from the bus stop or outside school they are skipping school altogether. Students are also afraid of coming home to an empty house after family members have been taken away.

To support these families, UESF has developed a tool kit packed with resources like a guide for making an emergency plan, should a family member be detained; an explanation of what school staff and students can do if there is a school lockdown due to ICE presence; a description of a court accompaniment program that educators can participate in; and a survey to ensure resources are tailored to what families actually need.

An "adopt-a-school" program creates a web of support among community volunteers who show up, like a rapid response team, to warn people at risk if ICE is in the area. The union has also partnered with Faith in Action Bay Area to launch the Sanctuary Legal Defense Fund, pledging $50,000 in matching funds to help pay for legal support for immigration matters. To advance housing and sanctuary policies further, UESF is now fighting for a contract that includes measures regarding housing and sanctuary.

Direct support

In continuing work to support low-income families, UESF member and school social worker Bridget Early initiated a guaranteed basic income grant at Everett Middle School, where qualifying families get $1,000 a month to spend on what they need most. Though there is no target ethnicity for the grants, the school is majority Latino and the nine families that met the grant criteria are Latino as well. As reported by the Center for Health Journalism, one was finally able to afford a rented room for herself and her daughters. Another mother called the grant "a blessing" and said it helped pay for an asylum lawyer.

"Guaranteed basic income has been around forever, but it hadn't been done in schools," says Early. She found that school offerings such as therapy, mentors and gift cards were not enough to address problems that ultimately stem from extreme poverty. "It felt wrong to keep on doing the same thing. If we can give them the money, they can spend it on what they actually need."

As it turns out, nearly every family that has received funding is out of the shelter system. And the bonus is the relationships that have developed among the families and between families and educators. Parents are more engaged. For the first time, for example, the PTA president is a monolingual Spanish-speaking mom. "They feel connected, they feel a sense of belonging, they feel like we care about their children, we care about their lives," says Early.

"As teachers, we care about our students," agrees Almanza. And just as teachers adjust their lessons according to how students respond, the union tailors its work to its community. "We always pivot and support our students," she says. "Our students and our families are telling us, 'this is the help that we need.' As a union, we just create a space for that to happen. We invest our resources and our time."

[Virginia Myers]