Housing and Development Newsletter
With about 14% of district students classified as homeless, access to Wi-Fi was important before the pandemic, but the need dramatically escalated during Covid, with more than half the 13,000 students in the district coming from low-income families.
SBEF mobilized quickly, raising more than $300,000 for students’ online and academic resources, in addition to procuring funding for art and music supplies, food security, and jackets to warm students attending school with open windows and outdoor classrooms.
“We were all focused on helping the children,” said Eryn Shugart, donor advisement officer for SBEF and a CTL alumna. “I certainly think it helped that many of our board members are graduates of a Leading From Within program (including Terri Allison, Eder Gaona-Macedo from Future Leaders of America, and Victoria Juarez).