Fresno Unified is proposing using Community Schools funding to subsidize rents for 10 families. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)
- FUSD trustees are considering a contract to providing housing for 10 families for two years.
- The district would subsidize units at Crossroads Village, a state-supported development that targets the chronically homeless.
- FUSD families would receive social services in addition to housing if they are seltected for one of the units.
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Fresno Unified trustees will consider approving a contract to provide housing in central Fresno for as many as 10 FUSD families.
The agenda for Wednesday’s board meeting includes a $156,370 contract with Crossroads Village to rent 10 two-bedroom rental units over a two-year period. The district’s funding would cover rent and security deposits.
Crossroads Village, at the corner of Blackstone and Dakota avenues, is a 143-unit supportive housing project for the chronically homeless that is funded through the Project Homekey program, Housing for a Healthy California, No Place Like Home, and the California Housing Accelerator Program.
To qualify for district assistance, families must already have children enrolled in a Fresno Unified school. They will be evaluated on factors in addition to their homelessness, including whether they are living in a motel or shelter or are transient, are fleeing domestic violence, are earning 30% or less of the area median income, or whether adults or children in the family have severe mental or emotional disorders.
The district would finance the apartments’ rent through its Community Schools program, which provides health clinic and social service outreach to families at select schools in the district.
More Than Housing
According to the district, families selected for the district-subsidized Crossroads Village housing will also be provided “a range of wraparound services designed to reduce chronic absenteeism, improve academic performance, and promote social-emotional well-being.”
The project would provide housing for only a tiny portion of the district’s unhoused students. The district reported that more than 800 students in the 2023-24 school year lacked housing, and 707 were still actively enrolled.
Students who lack stable housing are more likely to be chronically absent or be suspended, and less likely to graduate from high school than peers whose families have homes.
The Project Homekey partnership will work with Fresno Unified to share data about the tenant students’ education, wellness, and the family’s financial outcome to evaluate the program’s success.
The public portion of Wednesday’s board meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be in the second-floor board room of the Education Center at M and Tulare streets in downtown Fresno.
Related Story: Fresno Homeless Housing Conversion a Model for the State, Mayor Says
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