“Housing and…” is CHFA’s ongoing interview series that explores how housing intersects with and influences key sectors that shape our communities, including health, education, economic opportunity, and more. Each installment features insights from thought leaders, highlighting the critical role housing plays in shaping broader societal outcomes.
In this installment, we turn our attention to early childhood education as we talk with Allyx Schiavone, Executive Director of Friends Center for Children in New Haven. Allyx has been a leading advocate for holistic early education and workforce development. In this conversation, we’ll explore the connection between housing and school readiness, parental engagement, and teacher well-being, as well as the role the Teacher Housing Initiative is playing in promoting financial security and intergenerational wealth-building.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Marcus Smith: Was there a particular moment in your experience as an early childhood educator when you realized housing was a critical factor, not only for the children you serve but also for the adults in their lives, including teachers?
That’s the overarching premise that led us to housing, but there’s a more specific story behind how we got there.
We made a commitment: We are not going to pay women to live in poverty. The first step was to raise salaries. But raising salaries means increasing our budget, and that money has to come from somewhere. We looked at our options:
So we got stuck. And when we got stuck, we asked a different question: If we can’t find more money, can we remove an expense? We surveyed our teachers and found that rent was, by far, their largest financial burden. Only one of our 29 educators owned a home. Some were couch-surfing to save money. That was the moment we decided to focus on housing.