On the outside it looks like a normal family home, but on the inside resides an ambitious group of Black men mapping out lesson plans and comparing notes about caring for young children.
Welcome to the Teacher Village, America’s first-ever affordable housing program for Black male teachers in training.
The housing is provided in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles by Peter and Didi Watts, co-founders of the Watts of Power Foundation, who are on a mission to “multiply the 2%” of America’s teachers that are Black men.
Their strategy for doing so is a two-year fellowship program that helps address several factors that can prevent Black men from pursuing teaching such as isolation on campus, stereotypes about teaching, expense of getting credentialed and insufficient training.
“When I come to schools a lot of times I may be the only male (teacher). And if I’m not, then I’m the only African American male,” said fellow Christopher Sullivan. “It’s great to be around other people like myself, to be able to relate to the experiences they are going through and share advice.”
There are 15 fellows enrolled in the program, which provides mentoring, a community of support, additional teacher training modules, lessons in personal finance, a stipend to defray the costs of getting a teaching credential and assistance finding classroom placements.
The recent addition of an option for affordable housing during the fellowship represents the latest step in the Watts’ mission to multiply the 2%, by eliminating another barrier — the high cost of housing in Los Angeles.
The couple is repurposing their family home to house fellows this fall and are in the process of raising funds to develop a five-unit housing project on an adjacent 4,000 square foot plot of land.
“Having a housing component is really important, because Los Angeles is extremely expensive,” said fellow Leodes Van Buren, who lives in the home. “Financially it’s a good…
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