After a full day of working at Raymond J. Fisher Middle School, sixth-grade teacher Elizabeth Sharkey would make the hourlong drive from Los Gatos to a small room she rented in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
That room was more of a closet, Sharkey said, and did not have a kitchen, yet it cost half her monthly income.
Now, Sharkey lives in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Los Gatos—just minutes from the school where she works—at a fraction of the rent. She is one of four teachers and school staff who moved into a below-market-rate housing development made possible by Sarah Chaffin and the SupportTeacherHousing.org team.
“What I could afford was