Please join us this Thursday, November 11, 2021 for what is sure to be an epic conversation between Damon Harris and Rodney Robinson. They are going to talk about how affordable housing impacts teacher retention. This is a valuable message for all to hear so please share this with friends, family, teachers, administrators, and staff. We are really excited to hear from these two accomplished and inspiring individuals and we hope you can make it!

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Too many teachers can’t afford to live near their schools
Many kids grow up thinking their teachers live at school. Children become stupefied at the sight of their teacher at a grocery store or a restaurant. They can’t fathom their teachers having lives outside of the schoolhouse. Kids’ parents, on the other hand, may be shocked to learn that many teachers can’t afford to live near the schools in which they teach.

Can Affordable Housing Ease Teacher Turnover?
As home prices and rents have skyrocketed, teachers have increasingly been unable to live in the communities they serve and are saddled with long commutes that add to the stress of the job. According to a Learning Policy Institute analysis, nearly 25 percent of former teachers said housing incentives might entice them to return to the field.

$176 million Atlanta development project targets teacher housing
Only 27% of APS’ 3,000 teachers live within the city, according to a 2019 district report. Those who live in the neighborhoods where they teach “are more committed, stay employed longer and have better attendance,” according to the report.

STAY RVA

Supporting Together Area Youth RVA (STAY RVA) is a movement comprised of parents and neighbors who want to help Richmond’s local public schools thrive. We are a positive-minded, solution-oriented, action-based organization. We want you to be a part of STAY… STAY in the city, STAY committed, STAY open-minded. We want to build communities of support around every school and engage in honest conversations about why schools have not had the resources they need. We want to BECOME genuine community members who work to form relationships with all people.

Richmond is a dynamic city loved by many who call it home. We want to encourage people to STAY, put down roots, and get involved in their community by coming together in support of local schools. In order to be a first-class city, we must provide a first-class education for ALL students.

At the heart of who we are as a movement is a LOVE for humanity. There is a foundational belief that TOGETHER we can and should create a better way forward by supporting our local public schools.

What We Believe

• We believe in the power of education and the limitless possibilities and potential for ALL children.
• We know that the expertise and resources necessary to build a world-class school system exist in our community.
• We recognize that racism plays a powerful part in the historic failure of our system to offer opportunity to children of color and that through building relationships in our communities and in our schools we can begin to dismantle the structural racism that continues to plague our community’s school system.
• If a school is not “good enough” for my child then it is not good enough for anyone’s child and we are going to work to make sure that ALL schools are great for ALL of our kids.