This story about students experiencing homelessness was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

On a Friday evening in the fall of 2019, Maria Flores stood waiting with her “crazy heavy” duffel bag and her teenage son outside the office of a man whose home she cleaned.

After being evicted, “every single day I was looking for a place to live”, Flores said.

The man had offered two air mattresses, keys to his office, and permission to sleep there on weekends. But on this Friday, someone was working late. If Flores and her son went to a motel, they’d have no money for food, but she didn’t want to go to a shelter.

“Everything that I heard [about shelters], it was something about drugs, it was something about people being in a quarrel,” said Flores, who asked to use one of her two surnames to protect her privacy.

When Maria Flores was looking for shelter for her and her son, the Stay Over program at Buena Vista Horace Mann school in San Francisco was the answer. Photograph: Marissa Leshnov/Courtesy the Hechinger Report

There was one other option. A few months earlier, she’d heard about a family shelter inside an elementary school gym. Every evening, after the students and teachers left, partitions were snugged to the back wall, creating three-sided squares for kids and caregivers to set sleeping pads on the floor. Cafeteria-style tables in a connected room hosted dinner and, later, homework. Only families with a child enrolled in San Francisco Unified School District could be admitted. Flores’s son, who asked to go by Mateo, his middle name, was a high school junior at the time.

“I didn’t want to,” Flores said of calling the shelter that Friday night, “but I was so tired.” Standing on the sidewalk in a neighborhood known for open-air drug dealing, with the sky growing darker, she decided she and Mateo didn’t have a better option. She took out her phone.

A shelter in a school: ‘We were the folks willing to do it’

The idea of optimizing school district property for evening and weekend use isn’t new, but Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 Community school (BVHM, for short) appears to be the first modern public elementary school to have hosted a long-term, overnight family shelter.

“As far as our knowledge in the entire country, we are the first people to do it,” said Hillary Ronen, San Francisco city supervisor, who was instrumental in advocating for the program.

Some objected: shelter should not be the responsibility of a school, they argued.

And yet, “we were the folks that were willing to do it”, said Nick Chandler, the BVHM community school coordinator.

In the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, three blocks from the exclusive Adda Clevenger school and across the street from a restaurant serving a $16 roasted octopus appetizer, BVHM serves approximately 600 students. Just under 60% of them are English language learners, and just over 60% have been deemed socioeconomically disadvantaged. Many of the families are also undocumented or under-documented, according to the school’s staff.

Claudia DeLarios Morán, the principal at BVHM, stands with Jacqui Portillo, the Stay Over program director from from Dolores Street Community Services. Photograph: Marissa Leshnov/Courtesy the Hechinger Report

One night in 2017, a desperate parent talking to Chandler in the front lobby asked: “Can we stay here?”

The answer that night was no, but the question hung in the air. The school’s wellness team had noticed more and more families in crisis. They’d try to make referrals to the city and nonprofits, but said often nothing would come of it. Sometimes the waitlists were too long and sometimes it wasn’t clear what list a family should even be on.

“The process is so intense and it requires so much documentation and follow-through and systemic understanding,” said Claudia DeLarios Morán, the principal at BVHM. “So, it was a frustrated group of social workers and counselors and teachers saying, ‘What happened to this child?’”

BVHM’s staff had been trained in trauma-informed care, but they wanted to help kids not just to overcome, but to avoid altogether the experience of sleeping in a car, living in an overcrowded apartment, or having a parent stay in an abusive relationship to keep a roof over their heads. They knew housing families in the gym wouldn’t solve everything, but maybe it would solve something.

This is a Band-Aid. This is not a root-cause fix of the problem of childhood homelessnessHillary Ronen

“This is a Band-Aid,” said Ronen. “This is not a root-cause fix of the problem of childhood homelessness in this country.”

A vocal minority worried that a shelter would draw an unsavory crowd to the neighborhood, that the gym would be left smelling like urine, the playground littered with needles and cigarette butts.

To address these concerns, school administrators created an online FAQ document using questions submitted during and after in-person meetings.

“How will the administration guarantee … that no drugs, alcohol, or weapons will come on to the premises?”

“Will people with a criminal record … [or] mental illness be allowed to sleep in our school?”

Much of the pushback centered around, “Why us?”

For DeLarios Morán, a different question loomed: “How could we not?” the principal asked. “We have the space that’s not being used at night, a warm, dry, big enough space that would allow service, but it’s also a space that’s known and trusted by students.”

Two photos are paired together. In the photo at left, a girl is dragging a sleeping bag through a storage room filled with tables and upturned chairs at a school. In the photo at right, a child’s bear and backpack sit next to a plastic bag filled with clothes on a shelf in the gym.

The idea that schools can act as resource hubs for students and their families is known broadly as “community schooling” and has proven successful in schools across the country.

“A vast body of research shows that schools and communities can mitigate the effects of poverty by providing support to children and families to address basic needs such as housing instability,” said Pedro Noguera, dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Students experiencing homelessness are more likely to display symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression – even behaviors that look like ADHD, according to a report by the Learning Policy Institute.

Students without a safe and reliable place to sleep at night are more likely to be referred for discipline, including suspension. They are more likely to attend schools with concentrated poverty, and they score significantly lower on state testing than other economically disadvantaged students. Students experiencing homelessness are also less likely to graduate high school and less likely to attend college. They are more likely to change schools and be chronically absent.

“For English language learners experiencing homelessness,” the report concludes, “fewer than 9% met or achieved state standards in mathematics.”

A 2020 report from UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools, funded in part by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, found that several indicators of educational distress – including suspensions and absenteeism rates – are, on average, worse for Black, American Indian, Pacific Islander, and multiracial students experiencing homelessness. Thanks to a racial knowledge gap in the data, it’s unclear whether that pattern extends to Latino students, said UCLA’s Edwin Rivera, co-author of the 2020 study.

Maribel Chávez, a first-grade teacher at BVHM, noticed an improvement in one of her students after starting the Stay Over program. Photograph: Marissa Leshnov/Courtesy the Hechinger Report

Maribel Chávez, a first-grade teacher at BVHM, said that before one of her students started sleeping in the gym, he usually arrived late to her class and with no breakfast in his stomach. He would routinely miss the class’s opening song and the preview of the day’s schedule. She’d try to give him a quick recap and “scrounge up some snack”, but it wasn’t enough. He threw objects, tried to leave the classroom, and hit other students.

After the boy landed in the Stay Over program, with its 9 pm lights-out policy and easy access to the school’s before-care program, his teacher said, the 6-year-old had breakfast every morning and she found him “in my line and ready to go”.

Chávez noticed a shift in his demeanor (“happier”) and behavior (“so much calmer”). And soon the benefit of small group instruction and literacy interventions kicked in.

“The other day we were reading together,” Chávez said, “and I was like, ‘Wait! Wait. Wait. Did you just read that?’”

More than just a temporary home: ‘We had community’

A joint use agreement allows a Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing program to be operated on school district property by Dolores Street Community Services, an independent nonprofit. The city foots the bill.

Nationally, public schools are required to offer a handful of services to students who are experiencing homelessness by federal legislation known as the McKinney-Vento Act, after two US congressmen who championed the legislation. But the funding that comes with the mandates has long been grossly inadequate and cannot be used for housing.

We have the space that’s not being used at night, a warm, dry, big enough space that would allow service, but it’s also a space that’s known and trusted by studentsClaudia DeLarios Morán

That said, other federal funding streams are available to support a district-city partnership like this one, including money from Fema and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. State dollars are often at hand. And in San Francisco, a business tax passed in 2018, a 2020 health and recovery bond, and private donations together provide hundreds of millions more.

Ronen, the city supervisor, said other prerequisites for a Stay Over program include having a principal and staff who aren’t scared of innovation, maintain a problem-solving mindset, and see basic needs as part of their mission. But none of that is specific to BVHM, she said.

There’s a caveat for others wishing to replicate the program though: “It should only happen if that is what your community is asking for,” Ronen said, “If this was top down, if I have this idea and impose it upon the school and the school district, it would not have worked. But is San Francisco a unicorn? I don’t think so.”

DeLarios Morán was more bullish: “They just have to follow the blueprint,” she said. “We’ve done it now. So, it’s not like they have to create the wheel.”

The Stay Over program has several features that make it especially appealing to families with school age children. There is no limit on the number of nights families can stay, absence for a night or two doesn’t result in removal, and families can reserve spots rather than needing to line up for first-come, first-served entry each night.

These policies might be responsible for the program’s unusual continuity. A January 2020 evaluation by the San Francisco controller’s office found that families stayed a median of 20 days, more than six times longer than those at San Francisco’s most comparable shelter. But it could be the site. Of the families surveyed by the evaluators, 79% said it was “very important” to be able to stay somewhere familiar, like their child’s school or another school in the district.

The Stay Over program allows families with school age children stay as many nights as they need. Photograph: Gail Cornwall/Courtesy the Hechinger Report

One of the program’s core components is to do more than offer temporary shelter. Walking through the door brings with it entry into a robust case management system. When she first arrived at BVHM in fall 2019, Flores wanted nothing to do with attempts to find new lodgings – she thought she’d just be shuffled to another shelter. But she appreciated having a reliable place to stay. Her headaches started to subside. She was sleeping again.

“We were making jokes,” she said, “We had that community.”

In some ways, it felt like a home. But it wasn’t, and eventually Flores welcomed case management help from Jacqui Portillo, the program director from Dolores Street Community Services.

“The way she talks,” Flores said, “that’s what convinced me that I can trust her. Jacqui is like an angel for me.”

A trained nurse in El Salvador, Portillo came to America with her three children and had little money after separating from her husband. They stayed, for years, in one half of a garage. For newcomer families especially, Portillo offers empathy, not sympathy. And empathy is what fuels her determination to make the program’s small budget stretch as far as possible.

Soon after Flores agreed to accept Portillo’s help, she was placed in a residential shelter with a private room for her and Mateo. It wasn’t what she’d envisioned. “When I saw the room, it was like what’s in the military,” she said. “A small room, and it has – what do you call it? – bunk beds.”

Maria Flores eventually welcomed help from Jacqui Portillo, the director of the Stay Over program, who eventually got an apartment for her and her son, Mateo. Photograph: Marissa Leshnov/Courtesy the Hechinger Report

Disappointed, she sat down and cried. So did Mateo. “I felt like I was so abandoned,” Flores said.

She had kept all her meetings, done everything right, and still had so much further to go to reclaim the type of home she’d had prior to being evicted.

Flores’ experience is a reminder that the stability and community offered by the school-based shelter is temporary. The path to stable housing is as long and frustrating for each individual family as the pursuit of eliminating homelessness has been for San Francisco and the nation.

“We will not fix homelessness until the federal government believes that housing is a human right,” said Ronen, the city supervisor. “Hopefully we will not need [a program like] this in the future, but right now we do.”

Flores and Mateo hadn’t been abandoned, though. They continued to get help from caseworkers and moved into a subsidized studio apartment in November. There are no more creaky bunk beds. They have a bathroom they can access any time and showers without a time limit. They got boxes out of storage. “I have my furniture,” Flores said, “my vacuum!”

Mateo is getting the sleep he needs to focus on his classes at the City College of San Francisco: math, English, and criminal investigation. But he still doesn’t have his own room, and Flores said they won’t stay here permanently.

“It’s another stop,” she said. “We are getting closer.”

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Below is a list of the best sleep specialists in San Francisco. To help you find the best sleep specialists near you in San Francisco, we’ve compiled our own list based on this review score list.

San Francisco’s Best Sleep Specialists:

The top rated Sleep Specialists in San Francisco are:

• Dr. Greg Larson – San Francisco Center for TMJ and Sleep Apnea
• Dr. Douglas Chenin – Dental Sleep Medicine in San Francisco
• Dr. Leslie Silverman – Treatment for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Dr. Joy Meng – San Francisco Neurology and Sleep Center
• Dr. Jamil Alkhoury – TMJ & Sleep Therapy Center of San Francisco

San Francisco Center for TMJ and Sleep Apnea

Dr. Greg Larson attended the prestigious University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco, where he received his doctorate in dental surgery in 1999. Believing the best professionals never stop learning, he has completed over 4,000 hours of postgraduate education, including two residencies with Dr. Steve Olmos and TMJ and Sleep Therapy International.

From 2007 to 2012, Dr. Larson, after completing a demanding two-year TMJ and occlusal rehabilitation curriculum that resulted in a fellowship award, took up a position as a clinical instructor at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, where he mentored and coached hundreds of dentists on the the whole world. Dr. Larson also strives to provide its patients with the highest levels of quality and service that modern techniques and technologies can provide.

He has hired a highly skilled team that understands their commitment to excellence. Dr. Larson and his team are excited to bring their knowledge, expertise and smiling faces to the Bay Area and beyond. The SF TMJ and Sleep Apnea team strive to create personal connections with their patients, and they know that the patient experience is the ultimate measure for a dental office.

Products:

TMJ solutions, sleep apnea

LOCATION:

Address: 498 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: (415) 872-5116
Website: www.tmjandsleepapneasanfrancisco.com

REVIEWS:

“I had the pleasure, Dr. I’ve known Larson for a number of years and have seen his results firsthand. He has a wealth of knowledge and takes wonderful care of his patients. He has received extensive training and is always trying to improve his skills. You will find his office reassuring, friendly, and always honest. His craniofacial pain and dental sleep medicine skills are unique in that he requires thorough study to reach his level. Two thumbs up for Dr. Larson! “- Daniel K.

San Francisco Dental Sleep Medicine

Dr. Douglas Chenin treats patients primarily through oral device therapy, a medically proven, patient-friendly therapy that is now the most popular CPAP alternative. Dr. Chenin uses state-of-the-art technologies for the highest level of diagnostics and works together with sleep doctors, ENT specialists, oral and maxillofacial radiologists and other specialists in order to offer all of its patients the highest level of care. Dental sleep medicine in San Francisco focuses solely on treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea, upper airway resistance syndrome, and chronic snoring.

Your director, Dr. Douglas Chenin, is an international expert in dental sleep medicine, advanced dental technology, and 3D imaging of the respiratory tract and skull. Dr. Chenin has worked on numerous research projects, has written and co-authored an extensive list of specialist publications and regularly gives lectures at specialist symposia, conferences and training courses at home and abroad. For several years he has been a guru to hundreds of dentists teaching them how to implement the advanced 3D imaging technology he helped develop.

Products:

Obstructive sleep apnea, upper respiratory resistance syndrome, chronic snoring

LOCATION:

Address: 2001 Union St # 420, San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: (415) 424-3313
Website: www.sfdsm.com

REVIEWS:

“I was diagnosed in a busy, large medical center where I had to wait more than 6 months for a follow-up appointment to be able to speak to a doctor again. Dr. Chenin was the first to talk to me at length about what was wrong with me, the science behind it, and what I could do to improve my condition (as he did) through it, both physically and personally Trip by yourself). I’m still in the process of undergoing treatment, but I’ve seen significant improvements in my condition over the past few months and I don’t know where to go without Dr. Chenin would be. He is also very communicative outside of scheduled appointments and goes beyond what is required for his job. I can only recommend him! “- Neale J.

Treatment for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea

Dr. Leslie Silverman limits their practice to the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea through oral device therapy. She made her first oral device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in 1994 and is an active member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. She has taught dentists in the United States in numerous highly acclaimed educational seminars for over a decade.

Dr. Silverman uses FDA-cleared oral devices recognized by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as the first line of treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea in those who prefer it and in those with severe obstructive sleep apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP. These devices can be used alone or in combination with other sleep apnea treatments such as CPAP. It’s Dr. Silverman’s goal is to help patients lead healthier lives with relaxed sleep and good partner relationships.

Products:

Snoring, sleep apnea, diagnosis, treatments

LOCATION:

Address: 450 Sutter St # 1610, San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 233-4402
Website: www.revesleep.com

REVIEWS:

“One of the few dentists who make oral devices for sleep apnea and one of the most comfortable and competent dentists out there. Helpful receptionist too. “- Roger G.

San Francisco Neurology & Sleep Center

DR. Joy Meng is a certified neurologist and sleep specialist at the San Francisco Neurology and Sleep Center in Chinatown, San Francisco. Dr. Meng is fluent in English and Mandarin and is dedicated to providing the best possible care for patients from all walks of life. Dr. Meng received her medical degree from Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China. She completed an internship in preliminary internal medicine and completed her degree in adult neurology at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York.

She completed her fellowship in Sleep Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California. Dr. Meng specializes in sleep research as well as neurological diseases such as dizziness and dementia. With benefits at the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, it offers comprehensive care for sleep disorders and neurological diseases.

Products:

Sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, dementia, stroke, dizziness, botox, migraines

LOCATION:

Address: 950 Stockton St # 368, San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) -666-2536
Website: www.sf-neurology.com

REVIEWS:

“Dr. Meng’s diagnostic and patient skills are remarkable. She immediately diagnosed me with something I had tried for years without help. She quickly got my treatment authorized and understood my needs. I couldn’t believe it was that simple. She is well educated, empathetic and such an effective specialist. I’ve seen a lot of doctors who are great but it’s so difficult to get things done in the office. She navigates insurance companies and bureaucratic permits like a pro. She called me the next day to let me know they could treat me. In my experience this can be a very unrefined process in other offices. I don’t know how she manages all of this, but she seems to do it with compassion and ease. Highly recommended ! ” – Liberty DS

TMJ & Sleep Therapy Center of San Francisco

DR. Jamil Alkhoury graduated from the University of California at San Francisco with a degree in Advanced Education in General Dentistry. With his cravings for knowledge, he has completed extensive training in the areas of craniofacial pain, temporomandibular dysfunction, sleep breathing disorders and dental sleep medicine.

He has also completed several internships and training courses with Doctor Steven Olmos and TMJ & Sleep Therapy Research. Dr. Alkhoury’s mission is to provide pain relief and improved quality of life to patients in San Francisco and Bay with craniofacial pain, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic headache, and TM joint dysfunction.

As an artist in his spare time, Dr. Alkhoury the particular human structure and vital relationships required for optimal comfort, function and general health. He was selected to join TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centers International with the opening of a center in the San Francisco area.

Products:

Temporomandibular joint, insomnia, headache – craniofacial pain, facial pain, neck and jaw pain

LOCATION:

Address: 450 Sutter St # 1708, San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 870-7232
Website: www.tmjsleeptherapycentre.com

REVIEWS:

“Amazing Dentist! I know dr. Alkhoury for more than 7 years. He is one of the most qualified and experienced dentists I know for TMJ and sleep therapy. “- Naren A.

Shera Elliott graduated from New Mexico State University with a major in biology and a minor in biological foundations of behavior and health management. Shera grew up in Los Angeles but moved to college in Las Cruces. Shera has written for several major publications, including the Albuquerque Journal and NPR. Shera is a community reporter and also shares stories that are important to all Americans.

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